The market and media are both continuing to speculate on Bill Ackman’s attention-getting theoretical offer finance a purchase of Barnes & Noble and merger with Borders. Barnes & Noble stock jumped sharply in early trading yesterday and gave back some of the gains to finish at $14.69 a share. But they have rallied again today, almost touching the $16 price floated by Ackman about an hour ago. Borders, which is almost a penny stock, rose even more on a percentage basis yesterday on huge volume, but is down for the day today. As we suggested yesterday, the most likely outcome […]
Now Kindle Editions, Of Course
Amazon waved their pr hands furiously during Barnes & Noble’s introduction of Nook Color, and today they make news for the possibility the company is developing their own browser-based equivalent to Google eBooks. To be fair, and clear, the company did not make any announcement: a short piece in Computerworld with just a glimmer of information has spread far and wide. Amazon told Computerworld they will offer some kind of unspecified “demonstration” today of a revised, expanded vision of their Kindle for Web app, which currently only shows and shares book samples. Just like Google eBooks, it will “enable users […]
Indies and Google eBooks: Second-Day Scrutiny
As reported yesterday morning, Google eBooks rolled out in various forms during the day yesterday, including integration with participating partner stores from the American Booksellers Association’s ecommerce platform. The ABA posted a list of stores “that have opted-in to sell Google eBooks online”–but as of our check earlier this morning, only 61 of the listed store websites have integrated Google eBooks and let customers know that somewhere on their home page (while 62 store sites have yet to do so.) While there was celebration that at some indies went live in concert with Google–and WORD Books of Brooklyn, NY reported […]
Another Top Tenish List
Salon critic Laura Miller’s top books of the year look a lot like the other lists, so our preliminary Best of the Best of 2010 compilation from last week is looking more solid by the day: FictionRoom, by Emma DonoghueA Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer EganFreedom, by Jonathan FranzenFaithful Place, by Tana FrenchSuper Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart NonfictionThe Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, by Elif BatumanThe Big Short, by Michael LewisI.O.U., by John LanchesterLet the Swords Encircle Me: Iran — a Journey Behind the Headlines, by Scott PetersonThe Immortal […]
Friendly Google Video Shows You What eBook Cloud Looks Like
Just posted on Google’s YouTube: “The idea behind google ebooks is to truly set your reading from all these limitations.”
All Kinds of Etc., and People News, Too
Hachette Book Group is celebrating making Crain’s Best Places to Work in NYC for the second year in a row, rising to No. 19 (from 24 a year ago). Norton has named Edward Crutchley the next managing director of its UK subsidiary, effective February 1, 2011, after Alan Cameron retires. Cameron is the firm’s founding managing sirector, joining Norton in 1979. Crutchley has been most recently regional sales director, institutional online sales at John Wiley UK, which he joined when the parent company purchased Blackwell. (Norton uses Wiley UK’s warehouse.) Steven Wilson has joined Book Sales Inc. New York as […]