Among the interesting stories in Brad Stone’s just-published THE EVERYTHING STORE: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon is the chronicle of the creation of Kindle. Initiated in 2004, by the end of that year the engineers at Amazon’s Lab126 (1 = A; 26 = Z) dubbed the project Fiona. It was named after a character in Neal Stephenson’s novel THE DIAMOND AGE. It wasn’t until 2007 that Michael Cronan (who also named TiVo) came up with Kindle, “But by then [Steve Kessel’s] team was devoted to the name Fiona and the group tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Bezos to keep […]
Bookstores
November Indie Next Picks
Allie Brosh leads the ABA’s November 2013 Indie Next list, which includes four titles you can start reading right now in our Publishers Lunch Buzz Books free ebook (asterisked): Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, by Allie Brosh Two Prospectors: The Letters of Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark, Chad Hammett, Ed. We Are Water, by Wally Lamb* The Valley of Amazement, by Amy Tan* Bellman & Black, by Diane Setterfield Death of a Nightingale: A Nina Borg Thriller, by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis Tatiana: An Arkady Renko Novel, by Martin […]
French Bill Targets Amazon
The French government is definitely thinking very seriously about the possibility of putting their foot down just a tiny bit regarding Amazon’s discount book offers. The National Assembly passed a weakened bill acknowledged in debate to target Amazon that would outlaw combining the massive maximum-allowed discount of 5 percent on new books along with free shipping. The bill will go to the Senate, and then, according to reports, back to the National Assembly. President of Amazon France Roman Voog told French newspaper Le Figaro: “Many consumers live a long way from a bookshop and appreciate being able to buy their […]
Bookselling: Tattered Cover Keeps Downtown Lease, Loses One Floor; Chapitre Bookstores for Sale in France; and More
Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado will stay put in its current downtown location (one of three stores, which the bookstore has rented since 1994) but with a catch: it must consolidate two floors into one. Owner Joyce Meskis told the Denver Business Journal that “in January, we will start the demolition of the [store’s] grand staircase with the goal of being resettled in our reconfigured first-floor space by mid-March.” Meskis did not disclose terms of the new rental deal, but added the one-floor store will have “approximately the same number of books,” with “much more tightly packed” shelves, but […]
October Bookseller Picks
Amazon named their best books of October, with Donna Tartt’s novel as their “spotlight” pick and Graeme Simsion’s novel (excerpted in our free Publishers Lunch Fall/Winter Buzz Books ebook sampler) as the “featured debut.” Two more Buzz Books from Elizabeth Gilbert and Luke Barr also make the list: The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert Provence, 1970, Luke Barr Thank You for Your Service, David Finkel One Summer: America, 1927, Bill Bryson Allegiant (Divergent Trilogy), Veronica Roth Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane The Circle, Dave […]
eNews: Penguin Does Allow Direct Kindle Borrowing on OverDrive; Sony Won’t Sell New Reader in US; And More
Just two days after Penguin resumed selling digital library copies to OverDrive, the company has relinquished its requirement that library users who borrow Kindle editions from OverDrive must sideload them via USB. As OverDrive announced in a blog post, Penguin titles will be available for wireless download via OverDrive’s “Get for Kindle” button, which redirects to Amazon’s website. A spokesperson for Penguin declined to comment on what persuaded them to change their policy. Sony‘s latest e-reader, the PRS-T3, will not be sold in the US, effectively signaling the company’s exit from the market here after years of apparent decline and disinterest. […]