The Wednesday opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in $68.5 million at the box office–a record for a Wednesday debut, though slightly shy of New Moon’s opening of $72.7, though that come on a Friday.HR A report from the European Commission estimates that the Europe has over 3 million in-copyright orphan books, though it’s a rough calculation. “There are approximately 600,000 orphan works in the UK. Based on the same key factors extrapolated to the rest of the Member States, the number of orphan books in EU would be about 3 million.” As they note, in Europe there is […]
Archives for July 2010
eNews: iBookstore for Canada, SuperKindle Flies Higher, and More
Canada’s iBookstore went live with paid books yesterday according to users (or today according to other official announcements). This morning Simon & Schuster Canada and Hachette Book Group both announced that they are among publishers now selling through the store, and Harper Canada has confirmed to us they are live in the store as well. Today Amazon announced they are taking pre-orders for a new version of the SuperKindle, shipping as of July 7. The new model is priced at $379 (compared to $479 for the original model), and is said to have “an all new, high contrast electronic ink […]
People: Hitchens, Merwin, and More
In a brief statement yesterday, Christopher Hitchens explained his sudden book tour cancellations: “I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice.” News outlets concluded that the treatment is related to esophageal cancer, which is linked to both smoking (Hitchens was a heavy smoker until recently) as well as drinking alcohol. Two-time Pulitzer-winner (most recently in 2009 for the collection The Shadow of Sirius) W.S. Merwin has been named the Library of […]
Occasions: Westhampton Store Opens, Bertelsmann’s Anniversary
Books and Books Westhamtpon Beach has their official opening today, on schedule.Site Today is the 175th anniversary of the founding of C. Bertelsmann Verlag in Guttersloh, Germany.Billboard