Sarah Palin's appearance on behalf of her new book, America by Heart, at a Borders in West Des Moines, Iowa, drew many hundreds of fans, "at least five times the number of people who turned out here the previous week for Newt Gingrich," the New York Times wrote.
Security was tight: Palin signed at a desk in an area partly blocked by black curtains; people with her book were allowed to approach in small groups but had to surrender cell phones and cameras; except for photographers, media were held at a distance; and Palin arrived and left from a side entrance.
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Books trailer of the day (and a hilarious cautionary tale): Forgetting English: Stories by Midge Raymond (Ewu Press) and The Tourist Trail by John Yunker (Byte Level Books).
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Cool idea of the day: a reading, book signing and pet cancer awareness event tonight at Katz & Dogs Animal Hospital in Upper Montclair, N.J., featuring Dana Jennings, author of What a Difference a Dog Makes: Big Lessons on Life, Love and Healing from a Small Pooch (Doubleday).
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Wimpy Kid for President? While New York magazine was searching Manhattan's indie bookshops for copies of former President George W. Bush's bestseller Decision Points, and the Associated Press (via ABC News) was reporting that President Barack Obama's Of Thee I Sing is the fastest-selling picture book in his publisher's history, USA Today noted that Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, the fifth book in Jeff Kinney's series, topped both presidents as the number one book on USA Today's bestseller list and had "a 60-foot-long, 56-foot-tall balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York."
Kinney said he was thrilled by the balloon, but added, "I have no place left to go--but down.... [America by Heart by Sarah] Palin is coming, but she doesn't have a balloon."
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Sony's website
has revealed plans to launch an e-book store for Android devices and
iPhones in December. "Presumably, however, you won't have to own a Sony
Reader to access content from its bookstore on the iPhone or Android
devices; just like users can download the Kindle app on a mobile device
and buy books without actually owning a Kindle. There was no specific
mention of synching, which would allow you to stop reading on an iPhone
or Android phone and pick up on the Reader or PC," PC Magazine wrote.
In addition, Sony's e-readers will be re-introduced in Japan beginning December 10. The Wall Street Journal reported
that the decision is a "rare example of a consumer product being
reintroduced in Japan after an initial flop at home and then finding
success abroad."
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Nearly a month after Cornerstone Books, Salem, Mass., closed, the Boston Globe
reported that the "neighborhood bookstores in communities north of
Boston have long attracted kids eager to learn about dinosaurs. Now
those stores are working hard to ensure that they, too, don't become
extinct."
"We're constantly looking for new ways to stick around," said John Hugo, general manager of the three HugoBookstores, which began offering e-books on a redesigned website earlier this year.
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The Guardian
featured its best books of the year as chosen by writers including
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, John Banville, Julian Barnes, A.S. Byatt,
Roddy Doyle, Margaret Drabble, Geoff Dyer, Dave Eggers and Richard Ford.
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Ruta Drummond has joined Tiger Tales as associate publisher. She was formerly children's book buyer for Borders Group.
In her more than 25 years at Borders, "I've read, bought, and sold books," she said. "Now I'll be able to help create them."
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Effective today, Shane Norman is joining HarperCollins as director of interactive marketing and will be involved in "developing and coordinating an integrated digital consumer marketing strategy for high profile authors and titles." He formerly managed interactive sales and marketing efforts for Fox Television stations in New York.