Entertainment Weekly features the author as its cover story, as anticipation builds for her latest release. Borders’ director of children’s merchandising Diane Mangan says, ”I kept saying that there will never be another book in my career like Harry Potter 7. Who would have thought a year later we’d be talking like this again?” EW notes: “Despite wincing over the occasional Amazon.com one-star review, Meyer can’t help but pore over the message boards. She loves her fans and wants to know how they’re responding to her work. ”Sometimes the feedback is helpful,” she says. ‘I want to be a better […]
Mayer's New Book Says CIA Engaged In Torture
Jane Mayer’s book THE DARK SIDE: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals–publishing next week from Doubleday but obtained by the NYT–says that “Red Cross investigators concluded last year in a secret report that the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation methods for high-level Qaeda prisoners constituted torture and could make the Bush administration officials who approved them guilty of war crimes.” Mayer “acknowledges that Red Cross investigators based their account largely on interviews with the prisoners. But she writes that several C.I.A. officers she spoke with confirmed parts of the Red Cross […]
And Then There Are Online "Open Textbooks"
In contrast to the WSJ story about college textbook companies that sell students lightly customized books and pay colleges royalties to help keep the students locked in to over-priced books, USA Today reports on an alternative approach. Open textbooks “are free textbooks available online that are licensed to allow users to download, customize and print any part of the text. Professors can change content to fit their teaching styles. Some authors offer a print-on-demand service that produces professionally bound copies for $10 to $20.” Eric Frank, who used to work for Pearson Education, launched Flat World Knowledge with a partner […]
UK Market-Share Stats
Here are figures for the first 24 weeks of 2008, according to Nielsen BookScan Total Consumer Market: UK Market-Shate Publisher Sales (pounds) Share 20081 Hachette Livre UK £105,912,663 15.3%2 Random House £104,515,833 15.1% 3 Penguin £68,827,003 9.9%4 HarperCollins £56,790,193 8.2%5 Pan Macmillan £23,543,369 3.4%6 Bloomsbury £17,316,123 2.5%7 Pearson Education £13,023,242 1.9%8 OUP £12,770,894 1.8%9 John Wiley £11,900,951 1.7%10 Simon & Schuster £11,195,056 1.6%
Personnel News
In the Dutton and Gotham publicity department, Beth Parker has been promoted to associate publicity director and Amanda Walker has been promoted to publicity manager.
August 2008 Indie Next
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows The Lace Reader: A Novel by Brunonia Barry The Gargoyle: A Novel by Andrew DavidsonThe 19th Wife: A Novel by David EbershoffThe Seamstress: A Novel by Frances De Pontes Peebles What Happened to Anna K.: A Novel by Irina ReynIodine: A Novel by Haven KimmelThe Likeness: A Novel by Tana FrenchAwesome by Jack PendarvisBikeman: An Epic Poem by Thomas F. Flynn The Little Book: A Novel by Selden EdwardsThe Spirit of the Place by Samuel ShemThe Mercy Rule: A Novel by Perri KlassWaiter Rant: Thanks […]