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Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith and a representative for Tom Cruise both deny that the Amazon UK removed from sale John Duignan’s THE COMPLEX under pressure from the actor after he visited the company’s Seattle headquarters. The book critical of Scientology was taken off of Amazon UK after an unidentified “noncelebrity” alleged that the book’s “false claims” were defamatory. “UK law gives us no choice but to remove the title from our catalog,” Amazon had said.NYDN item

* We’ve often wondered about the possibilities of subscription programs to bring publishers–particularly those with a consistent focus–closer to their core readers. (As noted here previously, Powell’s has been building a strong foundation for their subscription program Indiespensable. It turns out that the recently-launched Open Letter press, based at the University of Rochester and specializing in literature in translation, is selling “season subscriptions” to their list. They’ve offered the six fall titles for $65 plus shipping, or 12 fall and spring 09 titles for $120 plus shipping. Chad Post says subscriptions were part of their plan “right from the start.” […]

Pat Holt has restarted her online column Holt Uncensored. The first of three things she would like to see is live, online royalty accounting for authors: “If you were an author, wouldn’t it be great if your publisher gave you a password to your own royalty account? This would be an online, frequently updated, always accessible, entirely confidential page on your publisher’s website that would replace the current system. As frequently as you wish, you could check sales of your book, the rate of returns, the percentage taken out for reserves and varying royalty rates for bulk sales, special sales, […]

Apparently Amazon recognizes distributors of the year, and this year they are honoring Macmillan, Random House Publisher Service, and IPG. Criteria include “the shortest and most consistent receive lead times” for books, “actively growing” Kindle availability, using Amazon’s print-on-demand, providing correct ONIX data, and strong search inside the book participation. Amazon books vp Russell Grandinetti says in the announcement, “By working together, we’re able to improve the rate at which their books are in stock on Amazon, lower prices through lowering operational costs and help customers find, discover and buy great books…. We’re proud to work with such great distributors […]