Discovery Communications filed a patent suit against Amazon.com in Federal court in Delaware, alleging that the Kindle and the ways in which Amazon sells and delivers documents to the device infringes a patent filed for in 1999 and awarded in November 2007 for an “Electronic Book Security and Copyright Protection System.” Discovery general counsel Joseph A. LaSala, Jr. says in the announcement, “The Kindle and Kindle 2 are important and popular content delivery systems. We believe they infringe our intellectual property rights, and that we are entitled to fair compensation.” A Discovery spokesperson underscores that they do not want an […]
Archives for March 2009
Seattle P-I Book Critic's Last Column
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer prints its final edition today, and book critic John Marshall reflects on over a decade at the helm with “a farewell list of the extraordinary, the strange, the faves and flops” he remembers, including: Strangest moment: Memoirist Mary Karr (“The Liars’ Club”) packing as I asked questions in her hotel room. No other author folded tiny bikini undies during an interview. Most unforgettable book-launch party: Grove/Atlantic’s poolside soiree at the Playboy Mansion during the 1999 BookExpo in L.A. Yes, Hef wore his pj’s. Seminal figures in Seattle’s reputation as a book town: Rick Simonson of The Elliott […]
Millard Kaufman, 92, Dies
Millard Kaufman,the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “Bad Day at Black Rock”, co-creator of Mr. Magoo, and author of the novel Bowl of Cherries (2007) died Saturday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles two days before his 92nd birthday. Kaufman’s second novel Misadventure will be published by McSweeney’s Books this fall. LAT obit
Walker and Bloomsbury Join IPG
A week after Bloomsbury joined the Independent Publishers Guild in the UK, Walker has followed suit “with immediate effect.” The signing of both companies comes as a result of incoming chairman Andrew Johnston’s pledge to recruit more mid-sized and high profile companies to the trade association.Bookseller
People and Announcements
At The Overlook Press, Juliet Grames and Aaron Schlechter have both been promoted to Editor. Sara Goodman has been promoted to Associate Editor at St. Martin’s Press. Douglas & MacIntyre have announced a number of personnel changes: Chris Labonté has been promoted to Assistant Publisher and Acquiring Editor, Fiction; Richard Nadeau has been promoted to National Sales Director; Emiko Morita has been promoted to Marketing Director; Jennifer Gauthier has been promoted to Sales Coordinator, North America, and Leigh Wall joins the company as Executive Assistant, taking over Labonté’s former duties as Assistant to the Publisher. Egyptian writer and scholar Youssef […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, March 16
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Inspirational Platinum-selling country recording artist Sara Evans’ debut novel, the first in […]