Further to yesterday’s story, we caught up with OverDrive ceo Steve Potash. While the implementation of Kindle lending to all of the over 11,000 public and school library systems served by OverDrive in the US was “still ongoing” yesterday afternoon, Potash said they were activating more systems every hour. He expected they would complete the task by late Thursday or sometime Friday, and noted that all systems had notices that either said they were live or that the service was coming soon. As to the questions about privacy, Potash conceded that the Kindle lending is an opt-in service where patrons […]
Archives for September 2011
BN’s Privacy Issues Are Holding Up the Other Borders IP Sales
A lengthy hearing in federal bankruptcy court Thursday did little to resolve a dispute over recommendations from a consumer privacy ombudsman that leaves Barnes & Noble’s $13.9 million bid for Borders’ intellectual property still in doubt. The asset purchase agreement called for a “drop-dead” deadline of September 30, but Judge Glenn flat-out said there was “no way” any deal could be reached in time at the current rate. For now, the parties will reconvene Monday, September 26 at 4 PM. As Judge Glenn heard statements from lawyers for Borders, the creditors committee, Barnes & Noble, as well as the privacy […]
Powell’s Reorganizes Management As Eight Executives Depart
Powell’s Books has laid off “eight managers with many years of service to the company” as part of a reorganization of their corporate management structure. The company say it’s part “a continued effort to respond to the rapidly changing book industry.” Emily Powell acknowledges, “This is a difficult and painful time for Powell’s. The managers who were laid off today will be greatly missed.” CEO of Operations Ann Smith is retiring after 26 years at the company. Emily Powell will serve as president and ceo, managing marketing and store operations, as Miriam Sontz expands her role as chief operating officer, […]
Harper to Put Thousands of Backlist Titles On Espresso Machines for Bookstores
HarperCollins has announced an agreement to make the bulk of their backlist trade paperback titles available for printing and sale by US bookstores with an Espresso book machine, currently comprising eight independent bookstores and up to another eight machines at university bookstores. Starting in November, they will make approximately 5,000 backlist trade paperbacks available. (The backlist titles not included–numbering about 3,500–are ones with physical attributes that don’t lend themselves to printing on the current machine.) The POD books will carry the same retail prices as the editions fulfilled by Harper, but in a significant change, the publisher will sell the […]
Knopf Announces New Bill Clinton Book for November
Former President Bill Clinton’s BACK TO WORK, a book on “the urgent challenges facing the United States and offering a plan to get America ‘back into the future business,'” will be published by Knopf on November 8. Knopf chairman Sonny Mehta acquired the book again, from attorney Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly. (The $22.95 book will run 208 pages.) Clinton says in the text, “I wrote this book because I love my country and I’m concerned about our future.” And he defends the current administration’s philosophy: “There is no evidence that we can succeed in the twenty-first century with […]
Kindle Lending: “Somebody Should Explain….”
As Kindle’s library-lending initiative went from a Seattle-area beta on Monday to a full rollout yesterday, the expected wave of confusion began. Amazon’s press release said customers “can now borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 local libraries in the United States” but that declaration was premature. The implementation of the library offerings comes through service provider OverDrive, which did not have all of their library customers activated when the press release landed. The company said on their own blog that they are “quickly updating all US public and school library partner websites to support Kindle compatibility and will complete […]