US District Judge Marsha Pechman agreed with the argument that North Carolina’s request from Amazon for personal customer data that could be matched to their purchase records violates the First Amendment. She affirmed that an individual’s purchases of books, music, and other products is protected. Pechman indicated that the state was free to make a new request for customer data “provided it destroys any detailed information that the department currently possesses.”Bloomberg
Free
With No Buyer, Salem, MA’s Cornerstone Books To Close
Owner Gilbert Pili told customers by e-mail that the store will close on November 1. Pili works in the financial industry and decided Cornerstone needs a full-time on-site owner. The store notably helped launched Brunonia Barry’s THE LACE READER and “developed a devoted following as host of the city’s literary festival and numerous book signings, readings, club meetings and other events.”Gloucester Times
Amazon to Borrow Nook’s Lending Feature; Company Discloses $269 Million Sales Tax Bill from Texas, and a Patent Lawsuit
On Friday Amazon announced on their Kindle forums that “later this year” they will borrow Nook’s “Lend Me” feature and make ebooks available for limited lending, using the same basic rule set: “Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.” Everyone’s having lots of fun citing Jeff Bezos’s remarks on Nook’s Lend Me feature to Deborah Solomon in the […]
People, Etc.
Following last week’s intense gossip among agents that former Simon & Schuster publisher David Rosenthal has been negotiating to set up an imprint at Penguin, Crain’s ran a short item memorializing the rumor. The parties are not commenting.Crain’s At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Michael Szczerban has been promoted to associate editor. Former President George Bush will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 9, the release date for his book DECISION POINTS. Steven Spielberg is going to direct the film version of Daniel H. Wilson’s forthcoming novel ROBOPOCALYPSE, with photography scheduled to begin in January 2012 for theatrical […]
People
Author of Which Witch?, Journey to the River Sea, The Secret of Platform 13 and many other children’s books Eva Ibbotson, 85, died at home on Wednesday.Guardian Harper UK is restructuring their sales divisions and group sales and marketing director (and former Borders UK executive) David Roche will leave at the end of the year. He says his agreement from the beginning was to stay for only two years, the Bookseller reports. His position will be eliminated, and Simon Johnson has been promoted to managing director of commercial, with responsibility for sales and rights, along with strategy, business development, and […]
Amazon Boosts Sales But Margins Suffer, Worrying Wall Street, and Media Sales Slow
Amazon reported yesterday that third quarter sales rose 39 percent to $7.56 billion, with net income of $231 million and operating income of $268 million, up 7 percent. While they beat analysts’ expectations, somewhat moderated after coming up short in the second quarter, operating margin looks to have fallen considerably, from 4.6 percent down to 3.5 percent. With earnings lagging sales growth throughout this fiscal year, the company’s shares were down sharply last night in the after-market, but investors reconsidered this morning and the stock is rising again. The press release “highlights” are almost all Kindle, so you have to […]