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Reading Is Less Fundamental in Bush Budget CEO of Reading Is Fundamental Carol Rasco issued a statement warning that “President Bush’s proposed budget calling for the elimination of Reading Is Fundamental’s (RIF) Inexpensive Book Distribution program would be devastating to the 4.6 million children and their families who receive free books and reading encouragement from RIF programs.… Unless Congress reinstates $25.5 million in funding for this program, RIF would not be able to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation’s youngest and most at-risk children.” Release Andrew Franklin on Kate Jones Writing in the Independent, the head of Profile […]

Modern Love Breeds Books Today’s Observer notes: “First-time authors looking for a book deal could do worse than to have a piece published in Modern Love, the New York Times Sunday Styles column that tends to provoke eye-rolling among the chattering classes — if they admit to reading the thing at all. But since it started, in 2004, with The Bastard on the Couch author Daniel Jones as its editor from his home in Northampton, Mass., no fewer than nine book contracts have been signed based on Modern Love columns, which, given the vagaries of the publishing industry, is a […]

Bhutto Was Warned of Death Threats Excerpts from the late Benazir Bhutto’s forthcoming book RECONCILIATION ran in London’s Times on Sunday and the AP reports further, confirming based on its own copy of an uncorrected proof. Bhutto writes, “I was told by both the Musharraf regime and the foreign Muslim government that four suicide bomber squads would attempt to kill me.… These included, the reports said, the squads sent by the Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud; Hamza bin Laden, a son of Osama bin Laden; Red Mosque militants; and a Karachi-based militant group.… I wrote a letter to Musharraf. I told […]

Australian Finds Written School Report on Beah to Confirm Their Timeline The Australian continues to pursue the Ishmael Beah story with vigor, clearly piqued that “Beah and his handlers have remained adamant that the book is an accurate non-fiction account” and “have accused The Weekend Australian of having a hostile agenda.” Their latest story reports that two men who say they were Beah’s teachers, Abdul Barrie and Joseph Benya, have produced “the academic results sheet for the second term, from January to March 1993” at their school which includes marks for Beah. (In the book, Beah flees his town in […]

ICM UK’s Kate Jones Dies, Just as Deal with Curtis Brown UK Was Getting Closer The head of the ICM Books office in London and former Viking UK and Hamish Hamilton editor Kate Jones died this morning. The funeral will be private, though some kind of memorial event is expected to follow. That news comes just on the heels of fresh reports in the UK on the longstanding business discussions between ICM and Curtis Brown UK. A source involved in the negotiations told us that ICM’s focus for now is attending to Kate Jones’s family and taking care of her […]

Amazon Offers to Acquire Audible This morning Amazon announced it is offering to acquire Audible, valuing the company at approximately $300 million. Amazon is offering $11.5 a share, a 23 percent premium over yesterday’s closing price (though substantially lower than the company’s 2007 high point of $14 a share). The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of 2008. Ever since it was indicated in 2005 that Amazon was interested in selling digital audiobooks directly instead of through its partnership with Audible — bolstered by the launch of Amazon’s MP3 music service last year and its acquisition of […]