A truce has been declared in the battle between Random House and Andrew Wylie (Shelf Awareness, July 22, 2010) regarding the Wylie Agency's recent launch of its Odyssey Editions e-book publishing program.
In a joint statement, Markus Dohle, Random House's chairman and CEO, and Wylie said the titles in question "are being removed from that program and taken off-sale. We have agreed that Random House shall be the exclusive e-book publisher of these titles for those territories in which Random House U.S. controls their rights. The titles soon will be available for sale on a non-exclusive basis through all of Random House's current e-book customers. Random House is resuming normal business relations with the Wylie Agency for English-language manuscript submissions and potential acquisitions, and we both are glad to be able to put this matter behind us."
The Associated Press observed that the "exclusive e-book deal... is no longer exclusive, and no longer a deal."
"It sounds like good news," said Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association. "We've always felt that exclusivity is never good and if this means that Wylie authors' e-books will now be available to all retailers, the reading public will benefit."
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It wasn't quite an international incident, but when President Obama accepted an ARC of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom last weekend from Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Vineyard Haven, Mass. (Shelf Awareness, August 23, 2010), he managed to "set off a small panic in the publishing world," the New York Times reported.
Some media organizations incorrectly reported that the president had purchased a copy of the embargoed novel, which has an August 31 release date. "Other bookstores, believing that Bunch of Grapes had broken the embargo, threatened to sell the book early. Rumors swirled that Farrar, Straus would move up the on-sale date. Eager readers who saw that Mr. Obama had the book in hand tried to get their own copies, only to be told that it wasn't on sale yet," the Times wrote.
"People are confused," said Jake Cumsky-Whitlock, a manager at Kramerbooks, Washington, D.C. "One gentleman was somewhat indignant. He was sure that we were wrong."
A bookseller at heart, Sam MacLaughlin of McNally Jackson Books in New York City said that while many customers had asked for copies, "I've been trying to foist The Corrections on them in the meantime."
FSG's Jeff Seroy noted that the publisher did not plan to move up the release date, and he wasn't complaining about the unexpected link between the president and Franzen's novel. "You can't pay for that kind of publicity," he said. "You can't even dream of it."
On Twitter, Denise Berthiume of Books & Books, Westhampton Beach, N.Y., commented: "Re Franzen: 15 requests this wkend from all the publicity; my custs on vacation here so these are 100% lost sales for me."
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Mockingjay: the day after. Yesterday's midnight release of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins generated substantial national media coverage, including focus on a children's bookshop that was rewarded for supporting the author from the start. The Associated Press (via NPR) reported that Collins, "her gentle smile and soft features framed by waves of blond hair, looked out upon hundreds of fans crowded into the Books of Wonder store in Manhattan and unveiled the most anticipated young adult novel of the summer."
Fans who "stood for hours outside under mist and drizzle" in anticipation of the event were "each greeted personally by store owner Peter Glassman, a longtime supporter of Collins whose loyalty was rewarded with her appearance early Tuesday, a special outing for an author who cares little for publicity," the AP wrote.
"When others' interest waned, Peter was there," said Collins, whose first reading ever was at the bookshop about eight years ago.
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Are e-books changing reading habits? The Wall Street Journal reported that in a recent study of 1,200 e-reader owners, which was conducted by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. (and paid for by Sony), "40% said they now read more than they did with print books. Of those surveyed, 58% said they read about the same as before while 2% said they read less than before. And 55% of the respondents... thought they'd use the device to read even more books in the future." The study looked at owners of the Kindle, iPad and Sony Reader.
The Journal also noted that the study found 86% of e-reader owners read on their device more than once a week and 51% on a daily basis.
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The "only secular Yiddish bookstore in New York" is on the verge of losing its home. The New York Times reported that the shop, which "bears the decidedly uncatchy name of the nonprofit Central Yiddish Cultural Organization," must relocate by December because its foundation patron and landlord, the Atran Center for Jewish Culture, "is liquidating three floors, including the bookstore, and downsizing to a home PC."
Another reason for the change is that the shop "makes too little--$11,220 last year--to support its laughably cheap monthly rent of $550 and [director Hy] Wolfe’s annual $9,982 salary. He hasn’t paid himself since June."
Shane Baker, "a 41-year-old Episcopalian from Missouri who fell in love with Yiddish," is helping Wolfe find a new home because, he said, "a little part of New York dies if this bookstore goes away."
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On a tour of Manhattan's small used and rare bookstores, WPIX-11 visited Mysterious Bookshop, Mercer Street Books and Argosy Book Store.
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In its exploration of the potentially lucrative world of crowd funding, Entrepreneur magazine cited several examples of the trend, including Janet Geddis, who hopes to open Avid Bookshop in Athens, Ga., in the near future.
Entrepreneur noted that Geddis plans to use the $1,559 given by 32 people through IndieGoGo.com, "along with her savings, as equity toward a bank loan. In return for their help, Geddis' supporters received locally roasted coffee beans, autographed books, pint glasses and handmade stationery."
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Peter Steinberg, co-founder of Flashlight Worthy, suggested "6 'Flashlight Worthy' Children's Books to Read After You Finish Mockingjay" in the Huffington Post.
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A bookish response to the recall of 450 million salmonella-laced eggs was offered by the Christian Science Monitor, which suggested: "After checking the eggs in your fridge against this recall list, sit down with a book from one of these authors who could (but probably wouldn't) say they saw this coming. "
The recommended books were What to Eat and Safe Food by Marion Nestle, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and Minnie Rose Lovgreen's Recipe for Raising Chickens by Minnie Rose Lovgreen.
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CNET's Crave blog showcased the Inkling app, which "brings interactive textbooks to iPad." The initial four titles, "in collaboration with McGraw-Hill, are now available via the Inkling app. The application is free, but the books--McGraw-Hill bestsellers in biology, economics, marketing, psychology--are now selling at an introductory price of $2.99 per chapter or $69.99 for the entire volume. Subsequent textbooks are expected to cost $3.99 per chapter or $84.99 per book."
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"She drove to IKEA at Kungens Kurva and spent three hours browsing through the merchandise, writing down the item numbers she needed. She made a few quick decisions," wrote Steig Larsson in The Girl Who Played with Fire. Apartment Therapy deconstructed the subsequent passage in which Lisbeth "moves into a new apartment and goes shopping at IKEA--a rather mundane activity that IKEA fans will enjoy as they recognize specific product names and remember some of the discontinued products that are missed."
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Obituary note: Roland Haas, author of Enter the Past Tense: My Secret Life as a CIA Assassin, died last Sunday in Atlanta from a gunshot wound. His publisher, Potomac Books, noted that Haas, who was recruited in 1971 to become a CIA deep-clandestine operative, spent 30 years serving the agency on an as-needed basis. He was most recently the deputy director of intelligence for the U.S. Army Reserve Command.
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Book trailer of the day: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin (Bloomsbury), which will be published in September.
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Barnes & Noble has made two major e-appointments:
Jamie
Iannone has been promoted to president of Barnes & Noble Digital
Products, where he will be responsible for all Nook e-readers and
related products and services; e-books and digital content; and
third-party partnerships. Iannone joined the company a year ago as
executive v-p and earlier worked at eBay and Booz Allen & Hamilton.
John
Foley has joined the company as president of Barnes & Noble
eCommerce and is responsible for B&N.com, merchandising, online and
search marketing. Foley had spent 13 years at IAC, where he was most
recently CEO of the Pronto Nework and oversaw Evite.com, Gifts.com, IAC
Advertising and Proust.com as well.
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Borders Group has made a series of appointments, too:
Michele Delahunty-Cloutier has joined the company as executive v-p, chief merchandising officer, and will oversee merchandising, marketing and the supply chain. She was most recently brand president for Chico's FAS, Inc., and earlier served as chief merchandising office and general merchandising manager for the women's specialty boutique retailer. Before that, she was senior v-p, general merchandise manager, for Ann Taylor Stores and held several positions at the Gap.
Eric Kovats has joined Borders as regional v-p for the Southeast. He was formerly regional v-p, stores, for Heartland Automotive Services, the largest franchisee of Jiffy Lube Stores. Earlier he was executive v-p, stores organization, for Friedman's Jewelers, regional v-p for Jo-Ann Stores and senior v-p, store sales organization, for Service Merchandise Co.
Beatrice Vicente has been named regional v-p for the West Coast. Earlier she was regional v-p of stores, Pacific region, for Toys R Us, group director for Target, senior v-p, director of stores, central offices for Charlotte Russe and senior director of financial and store operations for Banana Republic.
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Adri Cowan has joined Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, as senior publicist. She formerly worked at Mark Batty Publisher.
"When you know exactly what books you want to read on vacation, big chain bookstores or Amazon are quite convenient options. But when you're not quite sure what you'd like to read on the beach, or in the mountains or by that lake... when you're just experiencing an inchoate craving for a certain literary texture, you simply can't do without an independent bookstore. And while it's a comforting feeling to have your reading material lined up ahead of your vacation, I say it's even more fun to hit a terrific bookstore that's far from home."
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In this triumphant conclusion to Suzanne Collins's trilogy, the Hunger Games bleed out of the arena and into the country of Panem at large. District 13. As far as the citizens of Panem knew, it did not exist. It was obliterated by the Capitol. But that's where Katniss Everdeen, now 17 years old, finds herself at the start of the novel. Deep underground. Because the Capitol wants District 13's cache of nuclear weapons and its air fleet, it could be perceived either as a safe harbor, or a "prison of safety," as Katniss puts it. President Coin, who heads the Rebel forces, seems to enjoy her power nearly as much as President Snow in the Capitol prizes his. Does Coin see Katniss as an ally or as a competitor? It's modern warfare in which ordinary citizens become insurgents in service of a cause that terrorizes men, women and children whose greatest wish is to feed their families and keep them safe. With their own District 12 buried in ash, Katniss and her hunting partner, Gale Hawthorne, have a penetrating exchange early in the novel, just after Katniss has arrived in District 13. She asks him, "Who are these people?" And he answers, "They're us. If we'd had nukes instead of a few lumps of coal." If the jabberjays (from book one) mimic the voices of loved ones being tortured, then the breakthrough in this novel is the ability to "hijack" memories, to take real memories and manipulate them in order to torture your prisoners. Some even manipulate their own memories, to spare themselves their violent pasts. And Collins taps into moments from the previous two novels for material as rich as the resources in the coal mines of District 12 and the quarries of District 2 and the buried treasures of District 13. Her twists and turns are even more mind-blowing than in the first two books because of the foundation she has built, and the complexities of Katniss's character. Sometimes what moves us to survive also causes our downfall, and sometimes what causes our downfall moves us to compassion. She leaves us with haunting questions: Can individuals survive as a collective? Or will a united cause subsume the individual? And how much of what makes us individuals are we willing to sacrifice?--