Some major publishers have characterized the initial round of meetings
with Borders Group "disappointing" mainly because "Borders has failed to
provide details on its refinancing efforts and its strategy," the Wall Street Journal reported.
Borders
is seeking to refinance debt with GE Capital, which has asked the
struggling retailer to talk with publishers about delaying payments and
accepting notes in lieu of payment. Some publishers told the Journal they doubt they will go along with such a plan.
Borders will likely meet with some publishers again today.
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California Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 eliminates state funding for public libraries, a loss of $30.4 million for the Public Library Fund, Transaction Based Reimbursement and the California Library Literacy & English Acquisition Service.
In a formal response, Paymaneh Maghsoudi, California Library Association president--and director of the Whittier Public Library--contended that Brown's proposal "is both disastrous and disheartening. Since the early 2000s, public libraries have been one of the hardest hit segments of local government, with deep reductions totaling more than 75% made to these programs by the previous two governors combined. We understand fully California's dire budget situation and the challenges of the recessionary economy, but the public libraries have done more than their share to assist with the Budget deficit over the years by absorbing painful cuts. The time has come to stop the bleeding and CLA respectfully asks the members of the legislature to oppose these proposed cuts to our valuable programs."
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Congratulations to Books Inc., which this year is celebrating the 160th
anniversary of its founding by Anton Roman! Books Inc., which has 11
stores in California, most of which are in the Bay Area, is also
celebrating the 65th anniversary of operating as Books Inc.
For a
company with nearly a dozen stores and 160 years of experience, it's no
surprise that there are some other anniversaries to celebrate: this
year marks the 35th anniversary of the opening of the Laurel Village
store in San Francisco and the 10th anniversary of the openings of the
Mountain View and Disneyland stores.
 |
| In 1995, Books Inc. president Michael Tucker (l.) and the late Michael Grant, former co-owner of the company. |
And last year, the company
celebrated the 15th anniversaries of the opening of the Market Street
store in the Castro in San Francisco and the Compass store at San
Francisco International Airport as well as the 10th anniversary of the opening of the
store in Burlingame.
So how's the store celebrating all these
milestones? Books Inc. president Michael Tucker laughed and said, "By
opening another store!" The new store, which is being built out at the
moment, will be in the airport's new Terminal 2, the former Central Terminal that
opens this spring and will be the home of Virgin America and American
Airlines. Tucker called it "a fantastic location in a beautiful new
terminal." In a most modern setting, the store will feature a throwback
to old times: a reconstructed letterpress.
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Google has acquired eBook Technologies. Anticipating your next question--"So what exactly is eBook Technologies?"--TechCrunch noted that specific details on the company's homepage are "scant--the site just has a banner that says, 'eBook Technologies supplies a family of intelligent reading devices and licenses technologies that enable automated publishing and control over content distribution.' Most links on the site, including the Product page, just redirect to this homepage. However, a little digging through Google's Cache reveals more details. Note that it's unclear which of these technologies Google intends to use, but it could clearly take advantage of them to bolster its Google Books product, which recently launched its eBook store."
"We are happy to welcome eBook Technologies' team to Google," a spokesperson for Google told TechCrunch. "Together, we hope to deliver richer reading experiences on tablets, electronic readers and other portable devices."
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Nora Roberts is the latest author to enter the Kindle Million Club, joining Stieg Larsson and James Patterson as the third writer to surpass a million paid copies in Amazon's Kindle Store.
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In a TechCrunch piece headlined "First Amazon Took Down Booksellers.... Are Publishers Next?" Sarah Lacy, author of the upcoming book Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos, wrote: "It's not that Amazon set out to destroy small book stores. They just offered a better option for a large number of people. Now, Amazon is increasingly offering small features here and there that taken together may start to make a traditional publisher a lot less necessary for authors."
"No one is more shocked by that sentence than I am," she added.
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We heard this week that 49 of the 50 states have at least some snow
cover, making the publication of a new Artisan book particularly
well-timed. Snow
Play: How to Make Forts & Slides & Winter Campfires Plus the
Coolest Loch Ness Monster and 23 Other Brrrilliant Projects in the Snow by Birgitta Ralston should have a wide market.
Ralston
undoubtedly adds some elegance to snow play: she is head of the
creative team of Ralston & Bau, an interior, furniture and product
design firm with headquarters in Norway. Clients include Fauchon,
Lancôme and Maison de Van Gogh.
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Sad news about Pierre Vos-Camy, a bookseller at Schuler Books and Music,
Grand Rapids, Mich. While vacationing with his family and wife's
extended family in Puerto Rico, thugs broke into his rental home.
Responding to cries for help from family members, he was shot and is now
paralyzed from the chest down.
Last week he was transferred to a
hospital in Miami, where his wife, Jolene, has stayed. The children
have returned to Grand Rapids. He will soon transfer to a rehabilitation
hospital in Grand Rapids. His church, Church of the Servant, has begun
to set up a fund to help the family meet unexpected expenses, including
alterations to their home. Please send any contribution--made out to
COS-Benevolent Fund with Vos-Camy Family on the memo line--to Church of
the Servant, 3835 Burton St. S.E., Grand Rapids, Mich. 49546. The church
will also deliver any mail messages to the family. The church may be
reached at 616-956-7611.
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Dan Wedge, owner of Dove & Hudson used bookstore, Albany, N.Y., "still enjoys his work," but he told the Times Union that it may be time to "kick back a bit."
"I've always said that I like everything about what I do, except for the fact that I don't do anything else," said Wedge, who has decided to close his shop during the first week of each month. The Times Union noted that he has no intention of shuttering the bookshop permanently: "And why would he? He likes the work and enjoys his customers. Plus, Dove & Hudson is profitable."
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On its bookstore blog, Lemuria Books, Jackson, Miss., posed some relevant questions regarding paradigm shifts in the book industry: "Will publishers give bookstores the information and tools to help preserve the hardback read? Will publisher sales reps go to bat to preserve their stores and keep reading vital? Will marketing become more credible and more important to the independent bookseller? Will the publishers recognize a need for real bookselling, word of mouth in our stores and on our web presence? Will all these changes make readership grow? As the demand of maximizing our reading time increases, will these changes add more value to our lives?"
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Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will host a special International Fan Event to coincide with the April release of The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Little, Brown will select one fan from the U.S. and one from Canada, and is partnering with the Twilight Saga publishers in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Taiwan and the U.K. to find each country's lucky Twilight fan. The 10 winners will receive an advance copy of The Official Illustrated Guide and have the opportunity to talk extensively with Meyer.
The official rules for the sweepstakes to select a fan from the U.S., as well as one from Canada, can be found here.
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For every challenge, there can be an unanticipated solution. Concerned about the future of the book, artist Veronika Teuber "spends her days on the Lower East Side preserving her library in beeswax," the Wall Street Journal reported. Teuber has preserved more than 600 books, and has sold 80 volumes at prices ranging from $600 to $800.
"I was at a lecture in early '97," she said. "They were talking about publishing books in the past, present and how it will be in the future. It will be a very sad day for me if books are not published any more. The electronic format isn't interesting to me. The electronic book is always the same.... On the one hand, technology is fantastic. On the other hand, if you have an apartment and the book shelves are empty and there's one Kindle standing there, that's depressing."
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The Independent featured the "Greatest Literary Moments in Film," noting that the "fear that a film will butcher a beloved book is so widespread that you sometimes wonder how people gave vent to their feelings before online film forums existed.... Film and literature are the two great storytelling forms of our times. If there is sibling rivalry between them, then there is also love. Films can introduce us to writers for the first time; they can remind us of the power of reading; they can even bring into being books that didn't exist before."
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Boing Boing showcased a 1957 letter from Jack Kerouac to Marlon Brando, which included the proposition: "I'm praying that you'll buy ON THE ROAD and make a movie of it.... I visualize the beautiful shots could be made with the camera on the front seat of the car showing the road (day and night) unwinding into the windshield, as Sal and Dean yak.... You play Dean and I'll play Sal."
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Author Edmund White chose his top 10 New York books for the Guardian. While writing City Boy, he "immersed myself in books about New York, partly to remind myself of its past and partly to enhance my ability to see the cityscape around me."
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"Celebrities may live glamorous lives, but at the end of the day, we'd like to think that a good number of them curl up at home with a good book," Flavorwire observed regarding its "Libraries of the Rich and Famous" photo tour.
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Book trailer of the day: The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (Pamela Dorman Books/Penguin).
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Ingram
Content Group will provide e-content management through CoreSource,
Ingram's digital asset management program, for the University of
Michigan Press and the University Press of Kentucky. Ingram will archive
and distribute material worldwide. In the case of the University of
Michigan Press, Ingram will handle digital file management and
distribution of both frontlist and backlist titles. For the University
Press of Kentucky, Ingram will handle all frontlist and select backlist
tiles; the press currently uses Ingram's Lightning Source for POD.
Marcus
Woodburn, v-p of digital products, Ingram Content Group, commented:
"The book industry is in the midst of transformation, and publishers
need innovative and flexible digital title management solutions to
respond to an evolving market."
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Effective February 9, Andi Sporkin is joining the Association of American Publishers as v-p, communications, a new position.
She
was formerly v-p, communications, of National Public Radio from
2005-2008 and earlier held executive
communications positions at CBS, Disney and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
She will be based at the association's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and may be reached at asporkin@publishers.org.
"An ideal reader, thankfully, is interested in what you're interested in, delights in what you delight in, and thus reads your work eagerly, and with compassion. That's not to say they’re your mindless yes-man, either... As much as my ideal reader inspires and motivates me, she also keeps me honest. That woman, she's a tough cookie! I want to entertain, beguile, discomfit and move her. I'm beholden to her."
Bricks-and-mortar stores still lead the way in mystery/crime fiction sales, and women over 45 constitute the majority of buyers in the genre, according to a collaborative study, "The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age," released this week by BINC.1118.T2.2024YEARENDCAMPAIGN.jpg)
A Sick Day for Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal, is the story of a zookeeper who tends
to the animals in his care in unorthodox ways; when he stays home sick, the
animals come to his house and tend to him. Erin Stead illustrated it. Philip
Stead, her husband, wrote the manuscript for her. Recently, they moved from a
cozy space in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a 100-year-old farmhouse in their native Michigan.
But their studio is still a cozy place. Here Erin Stead talks about how she
works with Philip and how she approaches her art. 
Since you and Philip
are both artists, do you confer on what the illustration might look like? Or is
it more like traditional writer-artist situations, and Philip gave you the
manuscript and said, "Go!"?
Can you describe your
process of working with woodcuts? Your line is so delicate!