Notes: Google Settlement Legal Advice; 'Wal-Mart of the Web'
The Justice Department recommended Friday that the proposed Google book settlement "not be approved by the court without modifications," the New York Times reported, adding that the department encouraged all parties involved to "continue talks to modify the agreement and overcome its objections." The Times also noted that the Justice Department "is not a party to the case but legal experts say the court is likely to seriously consider its views."
"As presently drafted the proposed settlement does not meet the legal standards this court must apply," the department concluded. "This court should reject the proposed settlement and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to comply with Rule 23 and the copyright and antitrust laws."
"Clearly the Justice Department sees the tremendous value that this settlement would bring to readers, students and scholars," said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. "We don’t want this opportunity to be lost."
A joint statement from the guild, the Association of American Publishers and Google said: "We are considering the points raised by the department and look forward to addressing them as the court proceedings continue." The Times reported that Federal District Court Judge Denny Chin has scheduled a hearing on the case for October 7.
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"Can Amazon be Wal-Mart of the Web?" asked the New York Times in reporting that the company is "shaking up retailers, both big rivals and small independent stores, as it speeds its way beyond books toward its goal of becoming a Web-sized general store."
"Amazon has gone from 'that bookstore' in people's mind to a general online retailer, and that is a great place to be," said ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo, who predicts that e-commerce will grow to 15% of overall retail in the next decade. "If Amazon grows their market share throughout that period, and honestly I don't see anything stopping it, that is pretty scary."
The Times also reported that, with "a flash of humility, a trait that Amazon executives try to cultivate in public, Jeff Wilke, the vice president, concedes that 'there are going to be niches that no matter how hard we try, we will never be great at.'"
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Congratulations to Moe's Books, Berkeley, Calif., which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The legendary bookstore was founded by Moe and Barb Moskowitz in 1959 and has been a Bay Area cultural and literary epicenter for a wide range of customers ever since.
"Yes, we have a $5,000 copy of Gone With the Wind, and we also have one for $2.50. Our customers value their freedom of choice," said Doris Moskowitz, Moe's daughter.
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The Louisville Courier-Journal offered Kentucky readers tips on visiting "Obama's Chicago," including "57th Street Books [one of the Seminary Co-op Bookstores]--This bookstore has seen lots of interest since the election of its 'most famous member,' a manager says. It prominently features a section of books by and about the president, including children's books and a Barack Obama paper doll."
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In November, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, Wash., is adding an Espresso Book Machine, making it one of only a handful of general bookstores in the U.S. with the POD machine made by On Demand Books.
Among the other general stores that either have an Espresso Book Machine or will soon set one up: Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt., the Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass., Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., Boxcar & Caboose Bookshop and Cafe, St. Johnsbury, Vt., and Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids, Mich.
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This coming Friday, September 25, is E. Lynn Harris Day, celebrating the life and work of the author who died in July. His final novel, Mama Dearest, will be launched by Outwrite Books, Atlanta, Ga. (where Harris lived), on Tuesday with readings by Eric Jerome Dickey, R.M. Johnson, Tina McElroy Ansa, Clarence Nero, Tracie Howard, Laura Gilmore and Harris's mother, Etta Harris. On Friday, authors and bookstores across the U.S. will join together for the E. Lynn Harris Tribute Tour.
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Sales of abridged audiobooks have declined in popularity with the advent of downloadable, unabridged versions. But the New York Times reported that Hachette will attempt to breathe some life into the format starting tomorrow when the publisher begins "releasing on iTunes a serialized version of Transition by Iain M. Banks, a British author, a day before the hardcover release. The abridgment will be divided into 23 episodes, uploaded Tuesdays and Fridays for 12 weeks."
Each episode will start with an announcement: "This is a free podcast of the abridged edition of Transition, with a total run time of six and a half hours. Get more Banks for your buck with the full 13-hour unabridged edition, and don't miss a word."
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Although the rare book business is expanding in Kathmandu, Nepal, rare book dealers "are quite rare," according to the Kathmandu Post, which reported that "the sellers do not want to divulge much information, because they don't want their competitors to know their trade secrets. So it's a difficult task finding out what really goes on in this sector. It is difficult to find out who is engaged in the business."
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Award-winning science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson "hit out at the literary establishment, accusing the Man Booker judges of 'ignorance' in neglecting science fiction, which he called 'the best British literature of our time,'" the Guardian reported. Robinson's choice for this year's prize would be Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts.
"Speaking as an outsider from California and as a science fiction writer I see these very brilliant writers doing excellent work who are never in the running at all," he said, "for no reason except their genre and who their publishers are--the so-called club members. It just needs to be said. The Booker prize is so big, the way it shapes public consciousness of what is going on in British literature, but the avant garde, the leading edge, is being ignored or shut out of the process entirely."
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A new specialist Australia-New Zealand bookstore in Paris may be an "indication of social trends," according to Agence France-Presse.
"There is a growing attraction for Oceania," said New Zealander Mark Oremland, owner of the Antipodes Bookshop, "the fourth boutique in the same Paris street dedicated to the region, following a travel agency, a 'Kiwi' restaurant, and a store selling regional food, wine and crafts," AFP reported.
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In the Escape section of last Friday's New York Times, an account of spending three days on vacation on a barge on the Erie Canal included a stop in Brockport, N.Y., where "we strolled along Main Street and browsed in the friendly Lift Bridge Book Shop."
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The Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library in Manhattan "boasts one of the world's best libraries of material relating to Spain, Portugal and the Americas," the New York Times reported. "Beginning this Wednesday, an exhibition, 'chronotopes & dioramas,' by French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, will present a meticulously fashioned fantasy of a library in which shelves have become obsolete, and books, like examples of living creatures, are displayed in illusionistic dioramas that evoke those of the American Museum of Natural History."
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For those of you who have been wondering what players in the Australian Football League are reading these days, the Age reported on what "ranks highest on their literary ladders." While Joel Bowden of Richmond is a Noam Chomsky fan, West Coast's Ashley Hansen said "Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code was the first book that made me realize the enjoyment of reading and how a story can take you to another place and captivate you. At the moment my favorite author is Ken Follett."
Melbourne's Matthew Bates, who is currently reading three books, called himself a "bit of a book hopper" and noted that "a lot of my teammates do not read, however, there are clearly ones that do. We are a football club, not a book club, after all."
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Effective December 1, Waterford Press will be distributed to the trade by Independent Publishers Group. It had been distributed by Globe Pequot Press for more than nine years.
Waterford, Phoenix, Ariz., publishes nature reference materials, including the Pocket Naturalist Guides, by state and does custom publishing for various corporations, nonprofits and other groups.
