Twice a year, the German Book Office New York (GBO) presents its Rights Lists of adult fiction titles to North American publishers, providing editors the opportunity to read about new German-language titles that are appropriate for the American market. In addition, the GBO’s Web site features identical titles with expanded contact information and links to [...]
By Edward Nawotka CAMBRIDGE: Last Thursday—Thanksgiving Day in the United States—Lorem Ipsum Books, an independent bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced what they called a “new Black Friday Shopping tradition”: The Anti-Sale. “In this special, one-day only event, the bookstore with 19,000+ gently used books will be offering none of them for sale at a discount,” said [...]
By Edward Nawotka In our lead story, I asserted that perpetual big discounts offered on books by retailers, whether bricks or clicks, dedicated booksellers or not, ultimately lead to asset devaluation. I argue that book buyers are being becoming accustomed to never paying full price for books—something that is likely only to to only become more [...]
By Edward Nawotka and Siobhan O’Leary Black Friday had a different ring in the UK, where The Independent is reporting that the closing of Borders UK’s 45 stores may account for as many as 1,150 job losses. The Bookseller states that the going-out-of-business sales at the stores will begin tomorrow. Meanwhile, in The Observer, Rachel Cooke [...]
By Chip Rossetti SHARJAH, UAE: While many countries would like to encourage a “culture of reading” in their citizens, perhaps no government has taken a more direct role in promoting reading than the United Arab Emirate of Sharjah, through its official initiative known as “Knowledge Without Borders.” Conceived under the auspices of the ruler of Sharjah, H.H. [...]
By Edward Nawotka In March, Marwan J. Al Sarkal, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of Knowledge Without Borders project in the UAE emirate of Sharjah (as described in today’s lead article) acknowledged, “Nowadays, we all spend so much time in front of our computer and TV screens that reading is dying as a pastime.” He [...]
By Hannah Johnson and Siobhan O’Leary According Japanese business daily Nikkei (source: MarketWatch), Google has announced its plans to launch its e-book store service Google Edition in Japan in 2010. Prices will be determined by book publishers, and Google says it will keep 63% of the sales price. Google Edition is also scheduled to launch [...]
By Dennis Abrams and Edward Nawotka There are, essentially, just two different kinds of cookbooks. The first is what can indelicately be called “food p*rnography.” It depicts food that one wants to make but knows is virtually impossible to replicate in a home kitchen, food that exists only in restaurants and one’s fantasies. The second kind of cookbook [...]
By Erin L. Cox Famed food and wine writers Matt Lee and Ted Lee have made a name for themselves delving into the classic and delicious foods from their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Last month, the Lee Bros. released a new cookbook of their favorite recipes entitled, The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home [...]
By Hannah Johnson and Siobhan O’Leary Wattpad, which has dubbed itself “the world’s most popular ebook community,” is making headlines with the announcement that its mobile application will now be available on India’s largest cell phone carrier, Bharti Airtel. Paul Biba of Teleread said, “As mobile Internet users significantly outnumber broadband users in India this dramatically [...]
