Shortly after yesterday’s Lunch went out, an Amazon spokesperson responded to our query about the Kindle ebook titled “WikiLeaks documents expose US foreign policy conspiracies: All cables with tags from 1- 5000.” The company says “this book contains commentary and analysis regarding recent WikiLeaks disclosures, not the original material disclosed via the WikiLeaks website.” That note was then appended to the Amazon UK listing for the book, and now Amazon has also appended to the book’s title, in all caps, [DOES NOT CONTAIN TEXT OF CABLES]. The spokesperson did not respond to our questions about why the book had been […]
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Media Scrutinizes Other Amazon Offerings
The media is not ready to move on after Amazon quietly removed Phillip Greaves self-published “ebook” for pedophiles, scrutinizing the company’s catalog to find other still-active titles such as Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers. Leading the charge is plain-speaking TV anchor Anderson Cooper, who has made the etailer’s policy his latest keepinemhonest cause. An LA Times editorial looks at Amazon’s “muddy reasoning” in how they handled the removal of Greaves’ “book,” writing, “there is a world of difference between a right to speak and an obligation to publish…. Amazon made a bit of a hash of this issue, first by […]
1.5 Million Copy First Printing for Bush Memoir
Crown has set a 1.5 million-copy first printing for George W. Bush’s memoir Decision Points, due out on November 9. There will also be an enhanced e-book edition featuring video highlights of Bush’s presidency, photographs not included in the hardcover book and personal correspondence.AP
French Publishers Revolt Against Wylie’s E-Business Practices
Once Andrew Wylie and Random House settled their summertime differences over who controlled the e-rights to select backlist titles, all had been quiet on the Odyssey Editions front – or so it seems. But an open letter published in today’s Bookseller Daily indicates the French Publishers Association (SNE) is still very unhappy with Wylie for setting up shop as a digital publisher, and that at least four publishers – including Gallimard, which represents about 50% of Wylie’s rights business in the country – stopped doing business with the agency starting in July. The letter, which includes 50 signatories such as […]
Analysts Split on Whether to Upgrade or Downgrade B&N Stock
Today Goldman analysts downgraded B&N stock from Neutral to Sell and cut the stock price target from $15 to $13, saying that “following management’s recent proxy victory we believe a transaction is less likely.” Yesterday, however, Channel Trend Inc. went the other way, upgrading company stock from Unfavorable to Neutral. The share price dropped to $15.87 and is currently down in pre-market trading.Street Insider
Shaffer’s Publisher Clarifies Government’s Role In Changing New Book
Publisher of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer’s just-released OPERATION DARK HEART Thomas Dunne Books has addressed the reports that began with the Department of Defense asking for changes in the book and have led recently to rumors of a Pentagon-sponsored burning of the first printing. “The true facts are that the government bought the first printing in its entirety and we destroyed and recycled those copies at their request,” Dunne writes. The changes made to the manuscript “were made at the request of the author,” Dunne says, after meeting with government officials to hear their concerns. He adds, “The Department of […]