Randy Pausch’s LAST LECTURE was No. 1 and Eckhart Tolle stayed at No. 2–but Stephenie Meyer took four of the next five slots, and BREAKING DAWN, the fourth in the Twilight series, doesn’t land until August 2. (A Twilight film is set for December.)USAT
News
Weltbild: Clarified In Translation
More information on the potential sale of Germany’s Weltbild, which a colleague there calls “the biggest fish to come on to the market” in some time, with sales of approximately 2 billion euros a year, and a market value estimated at about 1 billion euros a year. Holtzbrinck is already a 50-percent owner of Weltbild’s publishing company Droemer and is thought to be interested primarily in that piece of the empire. Separately, Weltbild is a 50-percent partner with Hugendubel in a holding company that operates multiple bookstore chains, including Hugendubel, Weltbild plus and Jokers, and most recently, they took over […]
Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center Starts Lulu.com "Imprint"
The university has announced ECW Press, an academic imprint designed to experiment with “flexibility in publishing without the limitations encountered by traditional publishing.” They note in the release that “all ETC Press publications will be released under a Creative Commons license, and will also have associated websites to encourage and enable a community of collaborative authorship and discussion.” Lulu.com is their technology partner, providing print-on-demand along with downloads. The press can be found at http://etc.cmu.edu/etcpress/Release
Zell Aide on Book Pages
“Heard a conversation about how Book reporting doesn’t generate revenue and may have to go away. WAIT! Maybe Book reviews and coverage are one of those things that don’t generate revenue right now, BUT–are trademarks for newspapers and elicit high passion from readers. At XM, we had Opera channels. Low listenership…HIGH passion…AND–it was one of those things that even if people didn’t listen or even like Opera, it was one of those things you had to have for completeness. Maybe Book sections in newspapers are just dated. Not the idea…but the look and feel. Maybe they’re modeled after a book […]
Papers Say Direct Group France Sale Planned
Le Figaro and Les Echos have reported that Bertelsmann is working with Morgan Stanley to elicit offers for the Direct Group France division, which comprises both book clubs and the France Loisirs bookstore chain. One paper estimates the group could sell for 300 million euros, and the business newspaper says the sale could begin in September. But a spokesman for Bertelsmann said that no decision has been made yet, adding that “the news over the timing and the price are pure speculation.” Reuters In a broader story, FT Germany says the Bertelsmann has decided to sell off the Direct Group […]
Review Cuts at Cleveland Plain Dealer
Book editor Karen Long notes that her Sunday book section has been cut by 25 percent: “The pages are being cut to one and one-half. Nobody following the news biz can pretend to be surprised, but all of us can be sad, just the same. She emphasizes that “a reduction of 25 percent still allows us a passing grade, especially if we spend the real estate we do have more wisely. That means that shorter reviews gain a new currency, especially the brand of substance and succinctness practiced by, for example, Dave Walton and Michele Ross.” NBCC blog