Rizzoli International Publications is buying the assets of Hugh
Lauter Levin Associates, the publisher of illustrated books in the
fields of art, nature and wildlife, military history, Judaica and
popular culture whose list includes more than 200 titles. James Muchett,
v-p and general manager of Hugh Lauter Levin, is joining Rizzoli to
continue and expand its publishing programs. Founder Hugh Levin
commented, "My company is now part of a great publishing house with an
outstanding tradition and the resources to help these books reach an
even broader market. After over 34 years in my own publishing house, I
feel it is time to look for new challenges."
Rizzoli is distributed by Random House.
---
The suit by a film company that wants the return of at least $45,000 it paid for film rights for the novel Sarah has gone to court. The New York Times
implies that the film company would be happy if author "JT Leroy"--who
was revealed last year to be not a young man but middle-aged writer
Laura Albert--would give it rights to her life story as well so that it
could make a "meta-film." For an interesting legal defense and analysis
of Albert's deceptions, click here.
---
Shaver's Books, Huntsville, Ala., will close at the end of July, the
Huntsville Times reported. John Shaver, who has owned the store
for some 20 years, will continue to sell books online and at several
antique stores in the area.
The paper wrote, "For years, he's tried to make a niche in offering a
wide array of local books and old books and by being the guy who will
do whatever's necessary to find the book you want." But having to
compete with Yahoo and Google on top of the chains, Amazon.com and
Costco made the store's situation untenable.
Reading habits have changed, too. "Insomniacs used to read, but now
they turn on TV and there's 200 channels, with everything from the pope
saying mass in Brazil to Girls Gone Wild to QVC selling cheap
diamonds," he said. "I'm reading [Walter] Issacson's Benjamin Franklin,
and I was wondering the other day what Mr. Franklin would have
accomplished if he hadn't had time to think and time to contemplate and
time to reason."
---
After nearly two years as manager of Good Yarns
bookstore, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., Amanda Lydon is joining the
Tenement Museum in New York City as assistant director of 108, the
museum store and events. (The Museum is located at 108 Orchard St.)
She said she will miss Good Yarns: "I'm quite attached to this quirky
store; it's charming and I've gotten close with the customers and the
staff." But the Tenement Museum is "a good match" and she has been
hired, she continued, "to expand their event series, develop
relationships with the schools who already come through for tours, do
some of the buying and sort of manage the gaps between the visitor
center and museum shop."
Lydon has also been active in both the national and area Emerging Leader programs.
June 29 is her last day at Good Yarns. She starts at the Museum July 9. Congratulations!
---
Congratulations, too, to Beth Pelle, associate director of the Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick, Md., who has won the entire hardcover list of Unbridled Books for the library. The prize was for a BEA raffle by the publisher open only to librarians. Pelle said, "The titles we already own in our collection are very popular, so this new addition will make our patrons very happy."
---
An item in its entirety from the Chicago Sun-Times:
"A federal judge in Chicago ordered Borders bookstore in Oak Park to
reinstate wrongfully fired employee Clarice Prange, and ordered Borders
to pay her $333,229 in unpaid overtime and for time and expenses lost
due to the company's retaliation against her for filing her lawsuit in
April 2005. Prange, an hourly employee, worked 4,170 hours of unpaid
overtime from 2001 to 2004 in hopes of winning a promotion and on the
promise of compensatory time off, said her attorney, Jac A. Cotiguala.
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman also ordered Borders to pay
legal fees, which are estimated at $500,000 to $600,000."
---
No free livres. The Bookseller reported that Syndicat de la Librairie Française (SLF), the French booksellers association, "has vowed to sue all internet retailers offering free book delivery in France, after winning a court battle against Alapage. The Paris court of appeal last month ordered the online bookseller to pay the SLF €50,000 [about $68,000] in damages, saying that it had dipped below discounting limits by offering free book delivery and gift vouchers."
Benoit Bougerol, SLF president and owner of La Maison du Livre in Rodez, said the court order indicates "that the fox can no longer enter the chicken coop."
---
Unreserved Pottermania in the Windy City. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the city's libraries will have 1,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows available July 21, but advance reservations will not be allowed. "We believe that the first-come first-served system is the fairest way to go," said spokeswoman Maggie Killackey.
According to radio station WBBM, Chicago Library commissioner Mary Dempsey said the "last time a Harry book came out, young readers lined up outside a number of library branches waiting for the doors to open."