Harper Collins Australia apologized “unreservedly” yesterday to aboriginal Australians for part of their forthcoming Australian edition of the bestselling DARING BOOK FOR GIRLS which shows girls how to the play the didgeridoo. The publisher “will replace this item when the book is reprinted as clearly we had no intention to offend.” As the AP reports, “traditionally, women do not play the didgeridoo, a long, hollow wooden tube played by buzzing the lips into one end. [Head of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Mark] Rose said that women who break that taboo could face infertility or worse.” Rose told the Australian Broadcasting Company […]
International News
International News: Chinese Book Fair, and Random's South African Expansion
Consultant Rudiger Wischenbart is blogging from the Beijing Book Fair–this year actually being held 70 miles away in Tianjin. Among the currents in Chinese publishing, he sees a maturing and ambitious industry that wants to “localize” licensed international content to be more appropriate for the Chinese audience. He says the Chinese also hope to license and export more of their books to the rest of the world. Booklab A report from Technology Media & Technology China says that vice minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication Yan Xiaohong indicated at a convention forum “that the government would adopt […]
Japan's Shrinking Publishing Business
The Japan Times looks at the long-term trend of a shrinking publishing business in Japan. (Note carefully that they include books, magazines and manga together in a single category.) With sales of approximately $18.365 billion annually (2.08 trillion yen) sales are falling about three percent a year, and are down 21 percent since 1996. Readership is dropping, and so are the number of sales outlets: “Hundreds of small and midsize bookstores have closed in recent years. The number of shops belonging to the Japan Booksellers Federation, a national industry group of bookstores selling newly published books, came to 5,869 in […]
Rushdie's Day in Court
Salman Rushdie appeared in London’s High Court to hear former policeman and author of ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE Ron Evans apologize and admit that the first version of the book contained 11 “falsehoods.” Rushdie told the press after the hearing to settle his libel suit, “It is a very difficult thing to do, to stand up in the High Court of London and admit to be a liar. If they do that, it is enough for me.” (He did not seek damages.) An attorney for Evans and publisher John Blake still tries to insist that they “have voluntarily removed the […]
Denmark Intends to Publish MEDINA
Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has approved the publication of Shery Jones’s novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA in Denmark. A spokesperson told a Danish newspaper, “Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published. It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.” To that point, Jones’s agent Natasha Kern wrote to the society, “When you consider what’s happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed.”Danish story
Rushdie Wins Some Concessions from Author
Salman Rushdie’s lawyer Mark Stephens says that author of On Her Majesty’s Service Ron Evans has “accepted that much of the story published in the Mail on Sunday [excerpted from the forthcoming book] was false,” adding that Evans “was a police driver making out he was an armed special protection officer.” Stephens also says that “the authors have admitted that there were falsehoods in the original manuscript and have made amendments accordingly.” Publisher John Blake expects to have a revised version of the book ready for release next week.Guardian