By Edward Nawotka

Get it cheap at Waterstones

In the US, retailers may have put their Halloween costumes on sale, but in the UK, at least one major retailer is already discounting hot holiday books. The Bookseller cites the £9.99 r.r.p. for Jamie Oliver’s new book, Jamie’s America, which Waterstone’s is currently offering both online and off in the UK. At £9.99, that’s “62% off the £26” the cover price.

The promotion is limited to September 13 and it’s unlikely the bookseller will be making much, if any, profit on such a deeply discounted title. (My suspicions were confirmed — as of 4:35 a.m. GMT on Monday, the book was repriced online at Waterstone’s to £13.)

To me, at least, it appears that in this frustrated market, someone at Waterstones believes shoppers will remain tight-fisted and/or strapped for cash through the holidays and must be wooed early before their competitors get them in the door. Whether a similar tactic will be tried across the Atlantic in the US or elsewhere in Europe remains to be seen. We’ll keep you informed.

Publishers Weekly tracks the ongoing case surrounding the attempt of Swedish author Fredrik Colting to publish 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye — his pseudo-sequel to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye — in the US. An appeals court is now hearing arguments brought by Colting’s lawyers that an earlier injunction now needs to be vacated. After running through the arguments, PW’s Andrew Albanese commented, “The court gave no date as to when it would rule, but the stakes are high. If the court vacates Batts’s injunction, Colting’s lawyers confirmed for PW that they most certainly would seek to depose Salinger, putting the reclusive author’s desire for personal privacy on a collision course with his desire to stop Colting’s publication. If Salinger refuses to be deposed, legal experts have noted, the case could be dismissed.”