The CIA has felt it necessary to issue a press release in response to charges made in Ron Suskind’s THE WAY OF THE WORLD–keeping it in the news cycle. One of their denials only reasserts how wrong the Agency was on Iraq to begin with: “Suskind also alleges that the United States knew before the start of hostilities with Iraq that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of WMD. That, too, is both false and wrong. False because the Intelligence Community assessed that Saddam Hussein had such weapons. Wrong because it implies the Community chose to ignore information of which it […]
News
Patsy Kensit, Waiting to Happen
A UK papers reports that after discussing “her family’s murky connections to London’s underworld” on a BBc show, Patsy Kensit is shopping an autobiography through Simon Trewin at United Agents, but he “is touting Kensit as a fiction writer too. ‘This is not a one book proposition,’ he said. ‘Patsy is a whole publishing brand just waiting to happen.”The First Post
Bertelsmann Among Reed Bidders?
German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports that Gruner + Jahr, in which Bertelsmann owns a controlling stake, is among the bidders for Reed Business Information.Wire item
What Publishing Can Learn from Social Media
At Business Week, Sarah Lacy writes about a topic “near and dear” to her: how publishing can adapt and “stay everywhere” in the wake of changing social media and Web 2.0 applications: “A way to do that is to ensure that publishing learns how to exploit the full benefits of the social media tools now taking hold of the Web. Newspapers dragged their heels and look what’s happening to them. As great as the Kindle is, publishing has a long way to go.” Her five lessons for the industry include looking to Yelp, Digg and Twitter for ways to “make […]
Craigslist Ad Solicits Fake Author Autographs
A recent ad on Craigslist is soliciting people to sign copies of a newly released book on behalf of two authors who wish to remain anonymous. These “ghost signings” might net up to 14 lucky people $25 per 200 books signed, which has Gawker wondering: “with all the celebrity titles in circulation, this surely can’t be a brand-new phenomenon, but has anyone ever been quite so cheap and brazen about it?” Gawker
Amazon Exclusive on Obama Book Brings Repercussions
Chelsea Green’s plan to offer Robert Kuttner’s OABAMA’S CHALLENGE exclusively through Amazon for the first two weeks of publication, further driven by coupons for a 25-percent discount to be distributed at the Democratic convention, has backfired in a big way. Following expressions of concern and anger from independent booksellers–a group Chelsea Green has cultivated carefully in the past through such programs as their green partner stores–Barnes & Noble has substantially cut their order for the book. BN noted in a statement that “Chelsea Green Publishing has taken an unprecedented action to restrict the availability of Robert Kuttner’s ‘Obama’s Challenge’ by […]