Confirmed: Mobi Is In Amazon’s Pocket Subsequent to our initial report based on Franklin Electronic Publishing’s disclosure to the SEC of the sale of their stock in e-reading software company Mobipocket to Amazon, Lunch has confirmed via Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith that the company has acquired Mobipocket outright. Franklin was part of a group of minority shareholders, with a group of Mobipocket founders holding the majority of shares. The motivation behind the purchase, Smith says, “was mainly because they’ve got a great group of innovative engineers and we thought it was a smart move.” As to what Amazon might do […]

Schedule Note I’ll be at a publishing conference at Toronto’s Humber College on Thursday and Friday. Lunch will be served, but it may be on Canadian time. New Peterson Deal in the Making — And More A large number of publishers will be heading to the offices of Trident Media Group over the next few days for confidential reads of a 56-page book proposal from Sharon Rocha, the late Laci Peterson’s mother. According to a source familiar with proposal, it includes “personal information between a mother and daughter that hasn’t been revealed before.” Agent Dan Strone, who is representing the […]

Book Sense Winners Following their new protocol, the ABA announced the Book Sense Book of the Year Award winners today, though formal presentations will still be held at BEA. The winners are: Fiction JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL, by Susanna Clarke Nonfiction SHADOW DIVERS: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II, by Robert Kurson Children’s (Literature) CHASING VERMEER, by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist Children’s Illustrated DUCK FOR PRESIDENT, by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin For the first time, the organization also named four honor […]

Business Book Trends The Financial Times looks at the current state of business book publishing. Currency’s Roger Scholl says, “The market has forced us to be more discerning,” while Berrett-Koehler president Steve Piersanti remarks, “There has been a flight to the tried and true.” The FT says: “Readers appear to be more interested in turning to management classics than devoting time to the work of arrivistes. Publishers report a steady demand for titles such as Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, now in its 15th year in print, and Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard’s One Minute Manager, published in 1981 and […]

NYSE Boots AMS The latest installment in the sad slide of Advanced Marketing Services (AMS) is that the company’s stock will be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange before the opening on the market on April 19. The move is due to the company’s failure to file its annual 10-K report with the SEC. The company expects to continue trading on the OTC Pink Sheets, though warns “there can be no assurance” that this will happen. We asked a hedge fund friend for a quick interpretation: “Being de-listed is reflective more than indicative of the company’s issues. Generally the […]

Executive Changes: Marcus to Leave Scholastic, and Whalen Exits Running Press Scholastic president of children’s book publishing and company evp Barbara Marcus has “decided to leave the company” following this summer’s publication of the next Harry Potter book, after 22 years at Scholastic. Disney Children’s Books publisher Lisa Holton will take over for Marcus. Marcus says in a statement, “I have had a truly extraordinary experience and opportunity at Scholastic,” said Ms. Marcus. “The authors, illustrators and especially my colleagues have made my years here a most special time. I feel now is the right time to leave, having accomplished […]