With their 1,000-square-foot boutique in the Fifth Avenue FAO Schwarz opening on Thursday, Cambridge children’s publisher Barefoot Books is the focus of a feature in the Boston Globe. “Under the deal, FAO Schwarz isn’t charging rent, but revenue from book sales will be split 50-50.” (Schwarz ceo Ed Schmults made the deal after visting Barefoot’s store in Cambridge. “The deal vindicated [owner Nancy] Traversy’s decision to keep the 7-year-old shop open. Though her company as a whole is profitable, the store has never made a profit.” With reported sales of $6.8 million last year, the company’s revenues come in a […]
Rushdie's Day in Court
Salman Rushdie appeared in London’s High Court to hear former policeman and author of ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE Ron Evans apologize and admit that the first version of the book contained 11 “falsehoods.” Rushdie told the press after the hearing to settle his libel suit, “It is a very difficult thing to do, to stand up in the High Court of London and admit to be a liar. If they do that, it is enough for me.” (He did not seek damages.) An attorney for Evans and publisher John Blake still tries to insist that they “have voluntarily removed the […]
Biden Paperback Due Thursday
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 […]