Random House will have a 100,000-copy first printing of a new paperback edition of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Joseph Biden’s book PROMISES TO KEEP: On Life and Politics arriving in stores by Thursday, August 28. (The hardcover appeared on the NYT bestseller list for one week at No. 15 last August.) As they describe it, the book “shows us how the guiding principles he learned early in life–the obligation to work to make people’s lives better, to honor family and faith, to get up and do the right thing no matter how hard you’ve been knocked down, to be honest […]
On Laurence Urdang, 81
Lexicographer Laurence Urdang, managing editor of the first edition of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and contributor/publisher of over 100 dictionaries and other reference books, died last week from congestive heart failure. The NYT notes of the RH dictionary that it “was the first dictionary to be organized with the aid of a computer — Mr. Urdang presided over a seven-year research and compilation project that, at a cost of $3 million, was, at the time, the largest undertaking in the history of Random House, a company founded in 1925. But it was merely a foundation for […]
Author Solutions Pays to Settle Software Piracy Claim
Author Solutions has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle claims brought by the Business Software Alliance that the company was running unlicensed copies of computer software programs from Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec. CEO Kevin Weiss said the problem stemmed from “one of our companies prior to our ownership.”Indy Star
An Analyst with Some Sense on Kindle
McAdams Wright Ragen Tim Bueneman said on Friday in an e-mail that based on his meetings with management at Amazon, “There are already several new, improved versions of the Kindle in the works. But Amazon has no plans, however, for an MP3 music audio version. We guess the new version will have improved interface operating controls. This has been an issue with some buyers.” Bueneman’s letter notes that Amazon sees an opportunity to market Kindle to college students “market its e-book reader to college students” and it’s this threat that most of the press jumps on. Amazon’s Heather Huntoon comments […]
Denmark Intends to Publish MEDINA
Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has approved the publication of Shery Jones’s novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA in Denmark. A spokesperson told a Danish newspaper, “Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published. It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.” To that point, Jones’s agent Natasha Kern wrote to the society, “When you consider what’s happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed.”Danish story
Snowball Will Need to Gather Momentum without Buffett
One of the questions about Alice Schroeder’s authorized book about Warren Buffett, SNOWBALL, was always whether Buffett would participate in the promotion of the project. (Final bidders in the presumed $7 million-plus auction met with him in Omaha before the deal was sealed.) Bantam publisher Irwyn Applebaum acknowledges that no promises were made on that front. He tells the WSJ: “He gave her access to his contacts, his friends and the opportunity to get to know him better than any other writer, which is what makes the book so outstanding.” He added, “Would we love to have Warren Buffett doing […]