
Porter Anderson’s weekly round-up of writerly buzz from around the web previews this week’s AWP conference in Boston, B&N’s bad news, Ian McEwan’s doubts about fiction and more.

Dallas-based startup Bookshout is looking to disrupt the current e-book ecosystem with its new offering of Apple and Android mobile apps.

Your answer to the question of whether or not native apps or the open web should become the dominant distribution platform for books largely depends on what you value.
If Microsoft Takes Over Nook, What Next?
Microsoft is said to have offered Barnes & Noble $1 billion to buyout the Nook Media business. Where would that leave the retailer going forward?