Via the Internet, the
Guardian
in the U.K. reported on the "appearance" at the New York City bookstore
McNally-Robinson of Canadian Margaret Atwood, who from London signed
books with the LongPen "robotic arm," created by a company she founded
for the purpose.
By way of explanation, she told the
Guardian, "You're talking to
the person who was heading for Los Angeles when they had that
earthquake, was heading for New York on the morning of 9/11, and set
out to do a book tour in Japan when the SARS episode hit. I'm the
person whose limousine broke down on the New York freeway, green stuff
and smoke came out of it, and I hitched. I was actually rescued by the
marines." Atwood also said she believes the invention will allow
authors to "appear" in bookstores in towns authors on tour don't
usually visit.
But like so many demonstrations of new technology, the inaugural use of
the LongPen encountered a glitch, and the ink did not flow from London to
New York.
---
Cool idea of the day: Book Soup, Los Angeles, Calif., has its own
MySpace page. Check out the store's "personality," likes and dislikes
and more at
www.myspace.com/booksoup.
[Thanks to Jeff Yamaguchi, Web guru at HarperCollins and "blog guide" for Carl Lennertz!]
---
The Wild, which opened last October in Noblesville, Ind., is moving and expanding as of April 1, according to the
Noblesville Ledger.
Co-owner Jane Mills told that paper that in the "larger, more visible"
location, the children's bookstore will have more space for author
signings, special events, pre-school Spanish classes and specialty
offerings.
---
Using the University of Wisconsin's College Library in Madison as an example, the
Capital Times checks
out trends in college libraries, particularly the removal of books to
create more space for comfortable spaces where students study, read,
work in groups, hang out and even sleep; the opening of cafes in
libraries; and the proliferation of computers, both fixed terminals and laptops lent to students.
---
Not your developer's developer. The
Seattle Times
profiles the effort by Ron Sher, owner of Third Place Books, co-owner
of Elliott Bay Book Co. and a major developer, to add
apartments to the Crossroads mall in Bellevue.
---
Different kind of 'Crash.' On Friday, a car driven by a 75-year-old woman who mistook
the gas pedal for the brake drove into the front window of Maxey's
Discount Bookstore in Saginaw, Mich., according to the
Saginaw News. This time the categories crushed were--of all things--health, self-help and religion. Luckily no one was injured.
---
Thriller reading.
Boston Globe
columnist Alex Beam notes that Harvard Business School professor John
Deighton has updated his James Patterson case study and chronicles some
of Patterson's unusual approaches to the business of writing and
marketing his own titles.
---
Paul Haskins, who worked at Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., for 17
years and was a trade book buyer, has founded Adventures NW Publishing,
which is publishing the first issue of
Adventures NW, a free quarterly outdoor adventure magazine.
Adventures NW aims
to provide "individuals and families--nature-lovers, novice or elite
racers, serious outdoor enthusiasts, and even armchair
adventurers--with inspiration to get outside, be active, explore and
have new and exciting experiences."
Free copies will be distributed in the region at outdoor retailers,
libraries, parks departments, bookstores, restaurants, visitor centers,
financial institutions, newsstands and coffeeshops. It's also available
by paid subscription.
For more information, go to
www.AdventuresNWmagazine.com.
