Amazon is cracking down on "publishers" of "spurious or duplicative" e-books created using private label rights (P.L.R.), which have inundated the Kindle Store. According to the New York Times, "When P.L.R. is applied to e-books, someone writes something--say, a guide to marketing information on Kindle--and then sells the rights to others, who repackage it under their own name and title. In theory, the new owner is also supposed to refashion the text to make it his own, but this does not often happen. A search on 'Kindle marketing' in the Kindle Store turned up 12,990 results."
The Times cited reports last week from commentators on Warrior Forum, an Internet marketing site, that Amazon "was yanking their P.L.R. e-books from the Kindle Store. Amazon tells the offenders that their copycats 'diminish the experience for customers.' "
Amazon spokeswoman Brittany Turner said, "We have worked steadily to build processes to detect and remove undifferentiated or barely differentiated versions of e-books."
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The guessing game is on among analysts regarding the price of Amazon's much-anticipated Android tablet, which may debut later this year. Tim Barjarin of Creative Strategies speculated that the device might retail in the $249 range, UberGizmo reported, adding that "from his 'guestimates,' Amazon will be manufacturing the tablets for $300 each, but will be selling them at an even cheaper price to broaden its customer base. Amazon will then rely on the content sales (apps, books, music etc) to make up for the losses."
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Shakespeare & Co. in Paris is one of 46 French bookstores that will be nationally recognized as libraires indépendantes de référence (LIR), an award launched in 2009 by culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand. The Bookseller reported there are now 514 recipients of the honor, which "aims to maintain the national network of independents in France."
Requirements for the designation include "deriving at least half their turnover from the sale of books, proof of independence, diversity of stock, the quality of staff and services, and a strong program of events," the Bookseller wrote.
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The Gainesville Sun examined taxable sales at Alachua County bookstores from January through May (as reported by reported by the Florida Department of Revenue) to provide a retail snapshot of the region's book business.
After four straight years of declining numbers, "sales figures so far for 2011 indicate local bookstores are faring better," the Sun reported. Sales for the period were $22.3 million this year, up from $17.4 million in 2010, "largely the result of a spike in May 2011 in which sales reportedly totaled $6.7 million. Sales had not topped more than $2.4 million in any previous May for the previous five years."
Anne Haisley of Books Inc. said the recession had hurt business, but the situation has improved in recent months. "I'm guessing they either are more secure in their jobs or are tired of feeling poor," she said.
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Banned book of the day: Last Thursday, Virginia's Albemarle County School Board voted to remove Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet from sixth-grade reading lists because it was considered "age-inappropriate," but the Atlantic reported the case against Sherlock Holmes really "began with the parent of a Henley Middle School student challenging the book in May on grounds that it was derogatory toward Mormons."
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"Cool new websites every bookworm should bookmark" were showcased by Flavorwire, which noted that these destinations will "keep you sharp and informed while you are at work, at school, or as you sit in a café for hours and scowl at the patrons without laptops. (Please stop doing that, by the way.)"
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Fast Company explored the LetterMPress App for iPad, which "offers a detailed digital simulacrum of letterpress printing.... The app is highly skeuomorphic: almost everything in a real letterpress studio is photorealistically represented, from the scratched and worn metal plates on the press itself to the wood grain on the blocks of movable type, which are housed in a rustic-looking digital drawer alongside other tools of the printing trade. Even the press itself is operated quasi-literally: after selecting the ink color for the roller, you generate a digital 'print' by swiping the knurled metal crank on the press."
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"Why it's cruel to be Kindle" was the headline for a biblio-cranky piece by Jasper Rees in the National. Rees wondered "who reads on these things, and why, and indeed what? Plainly readers of e-readers are going to have a dominant geek gene. Which is why it's no surprise to learn that the most popular genre among e-books is popular mass-market fiction. It's the biggest-selling form of book anyway, but, to be tempted into a reductive conclusion, those who like the more challenging literature are more likely to have a romantic attachment to the tactile pleasure of leafing rather than scrolling.
"I count myself firmly in this category. The digitization of pretty much every other area of life I'm happy to accept. If they invented a digital dog-walker, a digital chef or a digital chauffeur, I'd probably invest. But a digital reader? Imagine a future devoid of browsing contentedly in bookshops, of spines lined up regimentally on your shelves at home."
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Flavorwire featured a literary mixtape for the Wife of Bath, noting that she "is one of the most developed characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which is somewhat unusual, since she is--gasp!--a woman. Also going by Alyson, the character is a strong proponent of female independence, and even dominance over men.... The Wife of Bath can get down with the best of them, so she'd definitely be into some deliciously crude fare, as well as some of your typical feminist empowerment rock. And of course, she'd only listen to lady singers. Who else? Here's what we think the Wife of Bath would gossip, spin her tale, and lay down the law to, but be warned: there is some parsing of Middle English ahead."
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The chair that thinks it's a bookcase: Bookshelf Porn featured the Tatik, designed by Tembolat Gugkaev.
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Book trailer of the day: One Love by Cedella Marley (Chronicle Books), in which Bob Marley's oldest daughter sings her father's famous song, which she has adapted into this October picture book.
Total retail sales in June rose 8.7%, to $396.8 billion, compared to the same period a year ago. For the year to date, total retail sales have risen 8.1%, to $2,267.7 billion.
In an episode of 
One Day, based on the novel by David Nicholls, opens this coming Friday, August 19. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess star as college graduates who meet in 1988. They lead largely separate lives but connect again once a year for 20 years. The movie tie-in edition is available from Vintage ($14.95, 9780307946713).
Right about now, according to the timeline of Drew Magary's debut novel, a genetic researcher in Oregon is trying to figure out a way to counteract the gene that produces red hair, and he's going to accidentally hit upon the key to halting the body's aging process permanently. (It's not immortality: You can still get sick, and you can still be killed.) As The Postmortal begins, it's the summer of 2019, and "the cure" is still illegal in the United States, but readily available on the black market, and John Farrell, a 29-year-old attorney in Manhattan, is taking the plunge.