On the quietest Saturday of the year, Berkley cancelled publication of Herman Rosenblat’s ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, scheduled for release in February. In a short statement the publisher, which initially defended the book following a long piece in The New Republic, said the cancellation came “after receiving new information from Rosenblatt’s agent, Andrea Hurst.” They also said that they “will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work.” (The NYT said later that it was sold “for less than $50,000.) In a statement […]
Two Looks at Used Books
Because it was in the NYT, David Streitfeld’s weekend column about “feeling sheepish” about buying and selling used books online has gotten a fair amount of attention even though it’s purely personal. Working from impression rather than fact, he decides the liquid online market for personal buying and selling of books is suddenly to blame for the industry’s troubles though it has been brewing for years. “Don’t blame this carnage on the recession or any of the usual suspects, including increased competition for the reader’s time or diminished attention spans. What’s undermining the book industry is not the absence of […]
Amazon's Bestsellers
Amazon has posted their annual lists of bestselling items for 2008 from a variety of categories. Stephenie Meyer’s BREAKING DAWN was their bestselling book (in units) while the Kindle was the top-selling item in the electronics category (alongside such other hits as the top home and garden item, the Oster 4207 electric wine opener.) In “products that were reviewed most positively,” Ron Paul’s THE REVOLUTION: A Manifesto led all others among books, while the Kindle lost out in electronics to a Samsung 46-inch LCD television. In their list of “products most frequently purchased as gifts” during the year, Kindle led […]
Berkely Cancels Holocaust Memoir
Publication of Herman Rosenblat’s forthcoming ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, has been cancelled by Berkley, which initially defend the book, “after receiving new information from Rosenblatts’s agent, Andrea Hurst” according to a short statement. They add that the publisher “will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work.” Earlier in the week Berkley had told the AP that Holocaust expert Michael Berenbaum said the book’s “general outline” was credible and hedged by asserting that “any memoir based on the memories of a survivor is […]
The Next Memoir Takedown
Herman Rosenblat’s forthcoming Holocaust memoir from Berkley ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, has been the focus of an international takedown effort for a while now (as we’ve been regularly advised by email) and now Gabriel Sherman at The New Republic files a long piece on the book. “The power of Herman’s narrative is largely due to the fact that the incredible story actually happened. Herman himself writes of his first encounter with Roma with such disbelief. ‘I noticed a small girl hiding behind a tree on the other side of the fence. I […]
NYT on eBooks
Finishing out the year of the most overcovered story, the NYT looks at the state of play for ebooks. Following massive increases in percentage sales, one percent of total volume at the big houses is in sight! There’s little new here, but the article does introduce another interesting fake statistic: “Amazon’s Kindle version of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle now represents 23 percent of total Amazon sales of the book, according to Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers.” Also, “after some initial hesitation, authors like Danielle Steel and John Grisham are soon expected to add their titles to the […]