Around The Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! In this edition we have news on more on the Agency DOJ trial with Penguin and Apple in the US, Avon starting up a site where authors can share their romance books to readers for feedback and more news in the world of publishing!

First up, I reported a few weeks ago that Penguin would probably settle in the EU over Agency pricing however in the US – Judge Coates has denied the right of a jury trial which may affect Penguin in dropping their case and settling instead. And like the other publishers Penguin will have to offer compensation to customers who were caught up in buying their agency priced books. It is not clear if Apple will relent as well but the trial will start on June the 3rd.

Avon Romance has created a site called Share Your Book which allows readers to …

Around the Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! We have news on Kobo’s new ereader device, Penguin may relent on Agency pricing in the EU as well as book and author news!

Amongst the heels of the Sony rumoured new ereader – Kobo has launched a new ereader model called the Kobo Aura, which is bigger than their previous readers. It also boasts a HD e-ink screen which produces sharper and crisper resolution and no glare. It also has an SD slot which adds additional storage to the 4 gig memory and it is claimed the glow-lighting tech is much better than the Kobo’s Glo and the Paperwhite. I think with a 6.8 inch screen it will be a perfect device to read mangas and comics especially with the crisper and HD quality e-ink.  It is available for order right now and the price range is around $170/£130 – for more details and …

Around The Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s edition of our news in the Bookish world. For this week we have news from upcoming movie and tv adaptations, Books on Board closing their doors for the time being, and Romantic Times award winners and much more news!

First up, a heads-up for those who have bought and have ebooks on their shelves at Books at Board, last Sunday, they announced they are temporarily closing and re-structuring due to financial issues because of changes stemming from Agency pricing which has harmed their sales. This is a huge shame because Books on Board use to be my go place to get ebooks when I first adopted an ereader but this will allow more customers to choose from the bigger sites like Amazon or Kobo and we as readers and publishers need more indies selling because it helps with competition. There is also an irony that Books on Board …

Around The Bookish World: Week-in-Review

 I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend  and welcome to this week’s edition of Bookish news! This week we have news about another struggling publisher which may go bankrupt, sad news concerning SF writer Iain Banks and much more author and book news!

Another year and another publisher heading into trouble, this time it is Night Shade books which primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. This week they announced they will be selling to Start Publishing and Skyhorse Publishing but this hasn’t gone down well with their authors who are understandably upset and irked by the mismanagement of the publisher. This  has led to the SFWA to state to its members who are signed with Night Shade to let them go under Chapter 7 bankruptancy instead of agreeing to this potential sale which will allow them to regain their rights or another body like Amazon if they are interested in purchasing …

Around The Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this edition of  our news post and for a quiet week, it has definitely ended with  a huge bang with the announcement that Amazon has purchased Goodreads.  We also have our usual book and author news as well books to watch out for!

My twitter stream last night was ablazed with the news of Amazon purchasing the social reading site Goodreads. I am not really surprised by the move of Amazon buying Goodreads. It makes a lot of sense, because it is the popular reading social site compared to the other sites like Library Thing and Shelfari (which Amazon owns). Although Goodreads in an interview stated there wont be any huge changes, I do suspect there will be more integration with Amazon’s online store and their buy buttons will be prominently displayed. And Library Thing’s, Tim Spalding states the same thing and is asking members of …

Around The Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post, in this edition we have news for more potential HBO projects for G.R.R Martin and a bit of a departure for Danielle Steel as well as our usual books to watch out for!

Horror author, James Herbert  sadly passed away this week at the age of of 69. His works has influenced other authors and has sold over 50 million copies which included books, The Rat, Haunted and Fluke. He also recently published his latest book, Ash which came out last week.

Romance novelist, Danielle Steel has announced she will be writing an illustrated Children’s book, which is a huge departure from her previous books and genre. The book which is entitled Pretty Minnie in Paris which follows the antics of a chihuahua in the French city. The press release also states: “Steel has one passion that her fans might not know about—her love for dogs. Pretty Minnie in Paris is inspired by …

Around the Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! For this edition we have some tidbits and news from Patricia Briggs’ upcoming Mercyverse anthology, Amazon’s new imprint and Google’s new time suck writing demo which allows you to collaborate with Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe .

First up! Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere has been adapted by BBC radio with an all star cast starring, Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer. The first episode of the 6 part series will air this Saturday at 2.30pm GMT at BBC Radio 4.  And this will be widely available worldwide via Radio iplayer which wont be restricted to geo restrictions for those who missed the live broadcast!

Amazon announced today it will be launching a literary imprint called Little A which will focus on publishing memoirs and short stories from the likes of James Franco and Jenny Davidson. It will also focus on a digital only spin-off imprint connected to Little A which will be called Day One – …

Around the Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news posts and it’s one of those weeks where the dramallama train has visited the world of publishing and decided to have an orgiastic train worth of drama full of author meltdowns and blow-ups – Which includes author stalking readers over bad reviews and how not to respond back to fan-mail.
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But this week opened up with the news that amazon has screwed up again by offering to remove copies of the self published version of Jamie Mcguire’s Beautiful Disaster from reader’s archives and offering a refund or credit to buy the new edition with Simon and Schuster. Readers complained about what was happening and which led to McGuire posting on her facebook page there were issues with returns but had no idea why Amazon would do this. It later transpired that the self published edition contained quite a sizeable chunk of lyrics from The Rolling …

Around the Bookish World: Week-in-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! But we have news on Barnes and Noble releasing their last quarter financial results which doesn’t bode well for the Nook’s future, and more book and author news!

I was quite taken by surprise when Barnes and Noble’s financial statement for the last quarter that hints all is  not well with the ebook store side of things. I reported a few weeks ago that there were rumblings that Barnes and Noble may be selling and closing some of their stores. But it looks like they are losing money on the Nook especially with the HD tablet which they have invested a lot of money to compete with Amazon and other devices. However it looks like the closed platform that the Nook uses was a huge hindrance and with apps available to other devices which customers found more attractive. There is now reports of Len …

Around the Bookish World: Week-In-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! For this edition we have news on an interesting lawsuit over DRM vs Amazon and the Big 6 publishers; Grand Central expanding its digital Forever arm; and an update from last week’s story over neo nazi linked security firm working for Amazon.

Three independent book stores are suing Amazon and the Big 6 over DRM. They are claiming it is creating a monopoly which allows the Kindle a stranglehold over the ebook market. Jane from Dear Author  has summarised the lawsuit which does not bode well for the plaintiffs as their claims are full of errors. There is a lack of understanding on what DRM is about as well as the fact there is other ebook formats such as PDFs and epubs. They do have a point about DRM being constrictive to customers but this is not the best approach, and I doubt …