Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge’s book THE TEST OF OUR TIMES: America Under Siege…And How We Can Be Safe Again (Thomas Dunne Books) has drawn attention primarily for a single passage–and Ridge has been making the press circuit trying to explain that he didn’t mean what people think his words say. Ridge wrote of discussions right before the 2004 presidential election, following the release of a new video from Osama Bin Laden, in which “a vigorous, some might say dramatic discussion ensued. Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level, and was supported by Rumsfeld. There was […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Sony Will Sell Wireless E-Reader for $399
Sony unveiled its first-ever wireless e-reading device at a press conference held at the New York Public Library Tuesday morning. The seven-inch touchscreen Sony Daily Edition will be priced at $399, work on AT&T’s 3G network, and will be available by Christmas. In addition to the devices (they also officially confirmed the $199 and $299 next-generation e-readers), Sony also announced several other initiatives, including a partnership with libraries that will let readers rent digitized books from their local library for free by downloading available e-books for 21 days, an update of the Sony Reader Ebook Library Software 3.0 for both […]
Next Oprah Book Club Pick Revealed on September 18
It’s been almost a full year since Oprah made her most recent book club pick of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, and according to the Newtonville Books Community Blog, #63 will be a Little, Brown trade paperback title priced at $14.99, with an announced first printing of 500,000 and ISBN # 978-0-316-08637-0. Amazon reports differing metadata, listing the Oprah #63 pick as a $23.99 hardcover with an ISBN of 978-0-316-08636-3. Neither listing includes an approximate page count. On Twitter, Oprah implored viewers to tune in on Friday, September 18, saying she’d “never made a selection like ‘this.'” […]
New Four-Book Deal for Lemony Snicket
Egmont acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for a new four-book series by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), whose 13-book “Series of Unfortunate Events” have sold over 60 million copies worldwide and been translated into 39 languages. The first book in the new, untitled series will be published in 2012. No US publisher has been announced, and when reached for comment, HarperCollins Children’s Executive Director of Publicity Sandee Roston said “I am not aware of a deal at this time.” Snicket’s agent, Charlotte Sheedy, is away on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.Guardian
Fall Forecasts from the AP, NYMag
“Cautious optimism” is the buzzword of the AP’s fall preview, as a fall season crowded with titles (especially literary fiction, not to mention one by someone named Dan Brown) has publishers in a better mood. “It’s not that we’re back to the extremely strong sales of more than a year ago, but we’re trending upward,” S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy said. “After taking our expectations down for so long, we’re finally taking them up.” Or as Left Bank Books co-owner Barry Leibman phrased it, “”We were down 20 percent this summer, which I used to think of as horrible. But we […]
Some Small Nuggets of News Contained Within THE LOST SYMBOL Hype
With little more than speculation to go on about the contents and the reception to Dan Brown’s THE LOST SYMBOL, USA Today’s writearound about “pent-up demand” teases out one amusing tidbit from Sessalee Hensley, the fiction buyer for B&N. She said 50 stores asked for advance copies: “I had to explain there aren’t any.”USAT But don’t look for an e-book edition in Germany, as Lübbe has no plans to release one of the German translation.Buchreport.de (via Publishing Perspectives)