How Minecraft has bewitched 40 million of us

The worldwide domination of Markus Persson's building-blocks game is a triumph for the power of human imaginationA funny thing happened on the way to this column. Browsing idly through the Publishers Weekly site, I came on the list of the Nielsen bestselling books of 2014 (so far) in the US. The Top 20 list was dominated by "young adult" fiction, books such as Divergent by Veronica Roth and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, plus the usual movie tie-ins. At No 9 ,there's a religious book, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by missionary Sarah Young. At No 11 is Heaven is for Real ("A little boy's astounding story of his trip to Heaven and back").Two slots further down there's a "junior novelisation" of the Disney film, Frozen. At No 15 is an "activity book", complete with 50 stickers, based on the same film. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #young adult #veronica roth #john green #jesus calling #activity book

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Literacy Partners Turns 40

Dianne Kangisser opened the New York City chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA), a nonprofit that provides free literacy services to adults, in 1973, using $500 in federal grant money. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Millennial Media Buys Nexage for $107 Million

Millennial Media has acquired mobile ad exchange Nexage for $107.5 million in cash and stock to boost its programmatic offerings. Under the deal, Nexage’s real-time bidding tools and mobile Web and app inventory across publishers will be used to build out Millennial’s automated media buying and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #key reasons #big brands #mobile devices


Calvin Harris' Summer single is a million-dollar hit on Spotify

But how much the star will take home from his 160m streams depends on his label and publishing deals Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books-A-Million Has Solid Quarter

Books-A-Million reported that it cut its net loss for the second quarter ended August 2, 2014 to $3.0 million from $9.1 million in the comparable period last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books-a-million reported #solid quarter #net loss


The World’s Most Expensive Superman Comic Just Sold for $3.2 Million on eBay

Continuing the trend of iconic comic books selling for house-in-the-Hamptons levels of cash, a nearly perfect copy of Action Comics No. 1 (aka the first appearance of Superman) sold for a record-breaking $3.2 million last night on eBay. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2014-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #action comics


40 Years After Resignation, a Wave of Nixon Books

With the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon's resignation approaching, five books on Nixon are coming to market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard nixon #40th anniversary


Native-Ad Metrics Startup Simple Reach Raises $9 Million

SimpleReach, a company that provides publishers like The New York Times and Forbes with measurement and distribution tools for their native ad programs, has raised $9 million in its first big round of financing, the company said Tuesday. With the new series A funds, SimpleReach plans to invest... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big round #foundational player #kirk wolfe #general partner #mk capital #atlas ventures #village ventures #native advertising #tactic embraced


Native-Ad Metrics Startup SimpleReach Raises $9 Million

SimpleReach, a company that provides publishers like The New York Times and Forbes with measurement and distribution tools for their native ad programs, has raised $9 million in its first big round of financing, the company said Tuesday. With the new series A funds, SimpleReach plans to invest... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big round #foundational player #kirk wolfe #general partner #mk capital #atlas ventures #village ventures #native advertising #tactic embraced


Apple agrees to a $400-million settlement over ebook price fixing

Apple Inc. has agreed to pay $400 million to settle allegations that the company conspired with publishers to raise ebook prices. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple agrees #company conspired


Apple agrees to pay up to $400 million in ebooks price-fixing case

Apple has reached a settlement in a long-standing case that accused the company of fixing the price on ebooks, with the company paying up to $400 million, depending on the outcome of its appeal in the case, a law firm has announced. Apple would pay the $400 million in the class-action lawsuit if... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$400 million #law firm #class-action lawsuit


Comics, Graphic Novels Market Hit $870 Million in 2013

Led by book format comics with $415 million in sales, the North American comics and graphic novel marketplace generated $870 million in sales in 2013, according to a new estimate by ICV2 and Comichron. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple agrees to $450 million dollar settlement in ebook antitrust case

Apple has resisted settling with the government over charges that it conspired with publishers to fix ebook prices. While its alleged co-conspirators have already opted to pay up and move on, Cupertino has been steadfast in maintaining its... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple agrees #alleged co-conspirators


Apple Could Pay Consumers $400 Million—or Nothing

Under a proposed agreement to settle damages in its ebook price-fixing case, Apple would pay consumers $400 million if Judge Denise Cote's 2013 decision is affirmed on appeal. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #proposed agreement #settle damages


Minecraft helps to build sales of kids' non-fiction in Q1

This year is set to be a strong one for children’s non-fiction, with retailers reporting... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flat Quarter for Books-A-Million

Revenue at Books-A-Million inched up 0.2% in the first quarter ended May 3, 2014, to $103.8 million, compared to the year earlier period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #flat quarter #quarter ended


BEA 2014: Passionate After 40 Years

You couldn’t find a more optimistic person than David Caron, owner and co-publisher of ECW Press, when it comes to the future of the publishing industry, and he is very proud of the company he’s been with for 10 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry


Charges Led to $3.4 Million Loss at Courier

Three one-time expenses contributed to a loss of $3.4 million at Courier Corp. in the second quarter ended March 29, 2014 compared to last year’s second period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookBub Raises $3.8 Million

BookBub, a daily deal site for ebooks, announced it has raised $3.8 million in Series A funding, the first external capital secured by the company. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NEA Awards $1.4 Million in Lit Grants

The National Endowment for the Arts plans to award $1.42 million to 56 U.S. literature nonprofits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Multi-million-pound digital learning launch for Blackwell's

Blackwell’s unveiled a new “multi-million-pound” digital learning service for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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