Barnes & Noble is holding a special shareholders meeting November 17 at which it will seek a vote ratifying the company's poisoned pill plan--the same shareholders rights plan that was a major point of contention between Ron Burkle and the B&N board--according to preliminary proxy materials filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The poison-pill provision was enacted late last year in response to Burkle's purchases of B&N stock and limits the ability of individuals or groups to acquire more than 20% of B&N's outstanding stock without board approval. At B&N's annual meeting on September 28, shareholders defeated a proposal that sought to raise the threshold from 20% to 30% (Shelf Awareness, September 29, 2010).
---
Amazon is launching Kindle Singles, which the company describes as "books that are twice the length of a New Yorker feature or as much as a few chapters of a typical book." Kindle Singles will have their own section in the Kindle Store and "be priced much less than a typical book."
"Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format," said Russ Grandinetti, v-p, Kindle Content.
PC World noted that while it approved of the idea, "Amazon's description of the content available--in the company's words, 'a political point of view, a scientific argument, or a beautifully crafted essay on a current event'--seems too vague to envision." Alternative suggestions for content included investigative journalism, single short stories, episodic books, magazine highlights and nonfiction e-books "lite."
CNET observed: "Obviously, Amazon sees a potentially lucrative revenue stream in unearthing these shorter pieces, which haven't had a real marketplace to call home. Also, some feel that e-readers are conducive to reading shorter books and that in years to come we'll see content transformed to better suit new digital readers, which now include devices such as smartphones that have smaller screens."
---
After sitting in on the Google Editions session at this year's NEIBA trade show, Random House sales rep Ann Kingman suggested "6 things I would do today if I were a bookstore owner waiting for Google Editions" on her Booksellers Blog:
- Build my e-mail list.
- Optimize my website.
- Market my website.
- Educate my staff and interested customers about e-books.
- Determine ways to tie in e-books to my existing marketing strategy.
- Start thinking about mobile.
---
Old Bennington Books, which opened recently in Bennington, Vt., is owned by Tom and Martha Veitch, who "have been involved in the out-of-print and rare book business for more than 30 years--selling books online for the past 
decade as Lightgate Books," the Banner reported.
"We love books. We love to be surrounded by books and we wanted to have a place where people who love books can come in and enjoy our collection," said Martha.
The Veitchs worked as book scouts during the 1970s. "It really takes several years to learn which books are desirable and which books you should just ignore," Tom said. "When you're a book seller you handle hundreds of thousands of books over years and what you develop is a knowledge and an instinct of what books are interesting and what books you want to buy. So it's a matter of just randomly accumulating and finding things."
Old Bennington Books is located at 138 Union St., Bennington, Vt. 05201; 802-442-1515; oldbenningtonbooks@gmail.com.
--- 
Salman Rushdie is writing a memoir recounting his years in hiding after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini proclaimed a fatwa against him in 1989 because of his novel The Satanic Verses. Reuters reported that Rushdie "finally felt it was time to confront a difficult period in his life."
"I'm beginning to write this memoir," he said. "I've written about... 100 pages of book and I reckon very roughly that feels like a quarter of the story. I'm aiming, in my mind, for the end of next year (to finish it). So far I feel that I'm right--I'm not getting churned up and upset, I'm just writing it and I'm feeling quite pleased to be writing it."
Rushdie told Reuters his plans to finish the new book in 2011 hinge on "whether the movie of Midnight's Children, to be directed by Indian-born filmmaker Deepa Mehta, was made next year."
---
Rowling outranks the Queen. J.K. Rowling was voted the U.K.'s most influential woman by the National Magazine Company, edging out Victoria Beckham in second place and Queen Elizabeth in third, BBC News reported.
---
The Awl featured Tao Lin, author most recently of Richard Yates, helping Emily Gould make salad for an episode of Cooking the Books. His culinary secret: "I just do it as fast as possible."
---
"When it comes to writers' fashion choices, most people know better than to judge a book by its cover," Flavorwire noted in its feature, "Literature's 10 Best-Dressed Authors."
---
Lit Tatts redux: The Huffington Post featured a slide show of "15 Amazing Literary Tattoos From Diehard Bookworms."
---
The Orange Award for New Writers has been dropped "following a 'mutual agreement' with the Arts Council. Orange will instead launch an Orange Book Club and a new books website, which will highlight 'future' Orange Prize for Fiction contenders, including one new writer a month," the Bookseller reported.
Stuart Jackson, director of corporate communications at Orange, said, "2011 represents an exciting year in the evolution of the Orange Prize for Fiction, as we move Britain's most famous and unique arts sponsorship into the digital world, offering literary fans further opportunities to engage with the books and authors they love. Whether that's through the new Facebook site or the Orange Book Club, followers of the Orange Prize will now be able to access inspirational stories from exceptional writers wherever they are, whenever they want."
---
In Daily Finance, Sarah Weinman considered the possibility of literary wagering in the U.S. in light of recent media coverage garnered by British bookmakers for their handicapping of the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Man Booker Prize.
"So will betting on literature ever catch on in the United States? Will five-figure or even six-figure sums ever be laid down for the National Book Awards or the Pulitzer Prize's book categories?" asked Weinman, noting that Complete Review's M.A. Orthofer, who "comprehensively tracked the betting trends for the Nobel Literature Prize, doesn't think so. 'Literary coverage--in all forms of media--is simply missing: even the big prizes, with set short lists, don't get the kind of coverage Man Booker, Orange and others can count on in the U.K. And the names aren't as recognizable: recall the many National Book Award shortlists that are dominated by authors few have heard of.' "
---
Books as picture frames; books as clocks. Flavorwire showcased "10 DIY Projects for Your Old Books" and observed: "While we're all for donating old, unwanted books, there are some volumes that we find it impossible to get rid of--whether for sentimental reasons or because they're just too cumbersome to carry. If your bookshelf is getting tight and you're feeling crafty, why not re-purpose a favorite read into something that you'll be able to use around the house?"
---
Book trailer of the day: 61 Hours by Lee Child (Dell).
---
Bob
Wayne has been named senior v-p, sales, of DC Comics. He continues to
oversee sales in the direct market and bookstores and now will oversee
digital sales and international distribution, too. Wayne joined the
company in 1987 as retail promotions manager and became v-p, direct
sales, in 1998. He is the co-author of the DC comic book series Time
Masters.