E. Lynn Harris is “back after a two-year hiatus with his 10th novel, Just Too Good to Be True. In some ways, the book returns to some of his typical themes — family, relationships, fame — but Harris also takes on new territory, focusing for the first time on a straight relationship. His writing falls into several genres, including gay and lesbian fiction, African American fiction, urban fiction, and so on. And with 4 million copies in print, the books are also best sellers. Harris’ latest book took him four years to write, and while it was a challenge to […]
Archives for July 2008
New Indie Bookstore in Berkshires
“Pittsfield now has its own downtown bookstore. Chapters Bookstore, Inc., a new independently owned bookstore under the management of Aimee McLear, and Kelly Wright,” which opens today. The co-owners “have extensive bookselling and management experience.” The 2,000-square-foot selling space is at 78 North Street.iBerkshires
Kindle Rumor: Next Version In October?
TechCrunch says “an insider let slip that two new Amazon Kindle models will hit stores this holiday season, with the first coming as early as October.” [Remember how late Kindle 1.0 was in making it to release, however.] “The first is an updated version with the same sized screen, a smaller form factor, and an improved interface. The source told us that Amazon has ‘skipped three or four generations,’ comparing the old Kindle to the 1st gen iPod and the new version to something like the sexy iPod Mini. “The second new model, which is shaped like an 8 1/2 […]
Olsson's Wins Conversion to Chapter 11
Struggling under an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation filing from a group of creditors, Washington, DC-area bookseller Olsson’s was granted a conversion to Chapter 11 status by a Federal Bankruptcy court of Maryland last Friday. Olsson’s listed assets of $929,428 and liabilities of $1,951,629. In a filing from three major publishers, Random House has an unsecured claim of more than $175,000, while Penguin’s claim is more than $171,500 and Hachette is owed just under $40,000. Principal owner John Olsson still expresses hope that the store group will “maintain operations while implementing a plan for successful restructuring.” Comptroller says all they need […]
Bertelsmann Reverses Denial: Will Sell More Book Clubs
The AP has obtained a letter to Direct Group employees from Bertelsmann chief executive Hartmut Ostrowksi that admits “we have decided to initiate the sale process for our [book and music club] businesses” in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, plus the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Flanders (Flemish-language in Belgium), Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. At least for now the company intends to retain Direct Group units in German and French-speaking countries, plus Spain, Italy, and Portugal. (Note that the French media recently reported the hiring of Morgan Stanley to elicit offers for the Direct Group division.) AP
Getlin Among Those Leaving LAT
New York-based publishing beat reporter Josh Getlin is among those leaving the Los Angeles Times as part of a combination of buyouts and layoffs that aims to reduce the staff by approximately 150 people in the newsroom. Last week, LA Observed noted that “the last standalone Sunday Book Review-slash-Opinion section will run in the Times on July 27. After that, books coverage will be in Calendar.” There was no specific word on whether the amount of books space would decline as a result. But now the blog adds that “Sara Lippincott was an assistant editor of the Los Angeles Times […]