Notes: Next Round in Online Sales Tax Bout?; Mary Oliver
Amazon.com and other e-tailers "are winning some skirmishes against cash-strapped states that want to force them to collect sales taxes, but their victories may be short-lived," the Wall Street Journal wrote.
Some states are attempting to interpret laws requiring a physical connection to the state more liberally. But more significantly, "an effort by some states and retailers to streamline sales tax laws eventually could be used to force e-commerce companies to collect tax in 20 states," the Journal wrote. "Congress has considered bills that would allow states that meet certain uniformity and simplification standards in their tax systems to demand that out-of-state sellers collect sales taxes."
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The New York Times went to Provincetown, Mass., for a mesmerizing piece in yesterday's travel section about the terrain and creatures that inhabit the poetry of Mary Oliver, who has lived in the Cape Cod town for some 40 years. Concerning Province Lands park, which includes her beloved Blackwater Pond, the Times wrote that Oliver's "poems draw vivid pictures of all manner of life in this tightly contained ecosystem: blacksnakes swimming, foxes running, goldfinches singing, blue herons wading, and lilies that 'break open over the dark water.' "
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Two authors who relied on their "accumulated knowledge about the king of pop," wrote Moonwalk in Paradise, an instant biography of Michael Jackson that went on sale on Saturday, in 48 hours, according to People's Daily. At least 10 other Chinese publishers are planning to put out instant books about Jackson.
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In a column on the Huffington Post, Nancy Bass, co-owner of the Strand bookstore in New York City, recalled the evening in 2002 when Michael Jackson visited the store after hours. He, his children and entourage spent $6,000 on a range of titles, and at the end, Bass wrote, she wanted "to follow Tinkerbell, be sprinkled with fairy dust, open the window, and fly through the night sky."
She added: "But 7 years later, I now have kids and I read them fairy tales. And as we all know, fairy tales can also have a dark side. Even Peter Pan said, 'To die will be an awfully big adventure.' "
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Christina Baker Kline's fourth novel, Bird in Hand, is coming out in August from HarperCollins. As she works on her next novel, which she aims to finish in a year, she's writing about it on her new blog, A Writing Year: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing a Novel. There she talks about "what motivates and inspires me, what tips and tricks I use to keep going, and how I deal with the unexpected." She also has guest bloggers, who are published writers. It's a fun read--with lots of great pointers and reminders about the art and mechanics of fiction writing.
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Wanda Jewell, executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, is scheduled for surgery tomorrow for breast cancer and will be out for about two weeks.
In an e-mail to members, Jewell noted that "many folks have asked what they can do for me. Here is what all of you can do: Nothing would make me happier than to have you at the SIBA Trade Show in Greenville, S.C., Sept. 25-27. . . . If all goes well, and I expect it will, I will see you there and what could raise my spirits more than a kick-ass SIBA Show?"
We have Wanda in our thoughts and prayers and hope for a speedy recovery.
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FiledBy.com (Shelf Awareness, May 18, 2009) has added a feature that makes it easier for writers publishing a new book to promote and market the book online before publication, something that many in the industry are doing earlier than ever. As FiledBy CEO and president Peter Clifton noted, "Bookselling experts agree that authors should start promoting a new book well before it arrives in bookselling channels to build interest, community and sales."
The company's pre-publication websites include such things as author bios, author photographs, book information and cover art, links for ordering books in advance, links to the authors' presences on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and blogs, event listings, sample chapters, electronic press kits, testimonials and more. The sites can be added to regularly.