It turns out that Wednesday’s announcement of the National Book Awards was not entirely error-free, as in the early afternoon a sixth nominee in the Young People’s Literature category – CHIME by Fanny Billingsley, published by Dial – was added to the list. “We made a mistake, there was a miscommunication,” executive director of the National Book Foundation Harold Augebraum told the LA Times. “We could have taken one of the books away to keep it five, but we decided that it was better to add a sixth one as an exception, because they’re all good books.” Updating news from […]
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Lonely Planet Founders Buy Canongate’s Stake in Text Publishing
Founders of Lonely Planet Maureen and Tony Wheeler have bought Canongate’s stake in Text Publishing for an undisclosed sum. Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, who bought Text in tandem with Canongate in 2004 and created a joint venture whereby Text also published Canongate titles in Australia, will retain their share in the company and Heyward will stay on as publisher and managing director. Heyward added that Text and Canongate “will continue to work closely together to acquire books and authors.” “Our decision to sell our stake in Text was a strategic one that will enable us to focus more of our […]
Live From NY, It’s The $199 Kindle Fire and New Kindle Touch Devices
It was within a block of the West Side’s fragrant horse and carriage stables that Amazon set up tent this morning–literally with a large, air-conditioned tent on the street as a holding pen for press-conference visitors–to introduce their new devices: the Kindle Fire tablet, the new line of Kindle Touch ereaders, and an inexpensive version of its original Kindle model. Bloomberg jumped the gun by about 25 minutes quoting unnamed Amazon executives about the specs, but Wednesday’s press conference made it official: the Kindle Fire Tablet will have a 7″ full-color touchscreen and Wi-Fi, weigh 14.6 ounces, and will retail […]
Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction Over Parody of ‘Elf On The Shelf’
On September 22 Georgia District Court Judge Amy Totenberg denied CCA and B’s bid last month, as part of a 19-count lawsuit on copyright and trademark infringement, to stop the October 18 publication of Adams Media’s ELF OFF THE SHELF: A Christmas Tradition Gone Bad, a parody of the bestselling holiday children’s book ELF ON THE SHELF. In denying the permanent injunction, Judge Totenberg ruled that Adams Media’s book met the definition of a parody, that stopping publication of ELF OFF THE SHELF “until a trial on the merits would eliminate this prime time for Defendant’s book marketing” since Adams […]
Former Employee Sues Borders Over Layoff Procedure, and More Bookstore News
On the heels of Borders suing marketing firm Next Jump over trademark infringement now Borders is a defendant in a new complaint related to the company’s layoff procedures post-litigation. Former employee Jared Pinsker, who worked in Borders’ Ann Arbor headquarters, said in a suit filed last Friday in federal bankruptcy court that Borders did not adequately give employees notice when they were let go between July 23 and August 23. Not doing so, per the complaint, violates the WARN Act, which requires employers to give 60 days notice before conducting layoffs of at least 33 percent of a company’s work […]
Chorion Reportedly Close to Bankruptcy After Two Key Executives Resign
Literary brand management company Chorion, which controls the rights to the estates of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler and other notable crime writers, along with UK children’s properties like Noddy and Mr. Men, may be forced into administration by its lenders after failing to raise funds, according to a report in the Sunday Times. Though the paper indicated that Deloitte has been retained to oversee a potential bankruptcy “as soon as this week,” the Telegraph quotes a “source close to one of the banks” as indicating that several options were being considered. “Administration is not something we are about to push the […]