Leading authors call for government probe of Amazon's 'damaging' power

Malcolm Gladwell and Ursula Le Guin lead call to US justice department to investigate its ‘monopoly as a seller of books’Authors including Malcolm Gladwell, Ursula Le Guin, Michael Chabon and Ann Patchett are putting their names to a letter attacking Amazon’s “abuse of its dominance in the world of books” and calling on the US justice department to investigate the retailer’s “power over the book market”.The letter, which is due to be submitted to the department later this month, is the latest initiative from the group of powerful authors calling themselves Authors United, which was set up in the wake of the dispute over terms between the internet shopping site and Hachette last year. Douglas Preston, who founded the group, said that signatories were “pouring in” for the letter this week, with “many hundreds” putting their name to the letter, including Sara Paretsky, Francis Fukuyama, Elizabeth George, Michael Lewis, Richard North Patterson, Luc Sante, Stuart Woods and Daniel Handler. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #latest initiative #authors united #douglas preston #michael lewis #daniel handler

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Leading authors call for government probe of Amazon's 'damaging' power'


Choc Lit deal for self-published author

Choc Lit has bought world rights in self-published author Kirsty Ferry’s adult fantasy The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #self-published author #choc lit


Rules that carriers must retain data called incompatible with EU law

The European Union’s top legal advisor ruled on Thursday that laws requiring communications providers to retain all data, even to combat crime, are incompatible with fundamental rights. Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalón of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a published opinion that... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #european union #high court #irish authorities


HarperCollins' Murray on 'frenemy' Amazon

HarperCollins Worldwide c.e.o. Brian Murray has described Amazon as a "frenemy", and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins worldwide #brian murray


SIBA Rolls Out Author Inspired Wrapping Paper

SIBA rolls out wrapping paper featuring over 150 author signatures collected during the SIBA 2013 trade show in New Orleans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Stop spying on us! Authors' upset

It is the stuff of books and now it has become very real, with Australian authors Anna Funder, Frank Moorhouse and David Malouf joining the fight to demand an end to mass surveillance.     Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Amazon's new imprint StoryFront will publish short stories

The new imprint of the online bookseller has already released works by authors including William Lashner and Rebecca Adams Wright. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online bookseller


Annuals sales reveal brand power

The top three bestselling annuals in 2013 are growing year on year both in terms of value and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Manil Suri Wins the One Book Prize Most Authors Don’t Want

The Literary Review has awarded its 21st annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award to Manil Suri for a scene in The City of Devi featuring a, err, stellar climax. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book prize #authors don #literary review #fiction award


Amazon reveals quarter of Kindle ebook sales in US were for indie publishers

Figures from world's biggest bookseller trumpeted as sign of how self-publishing and smaller labels are changing the industryAs many as a quarter of the top 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com are from indie publishers, according to data revealed at a trade presentation by the retailer.A chart... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leading position


Newsweek to print weekly edition again one year after calling it quits

Editor in chief Jim Impoco announced the magazine will begin producing a weekly 'premium' print edition as early as JanuaryAmanda Holpuch Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Amazon launches short story imprint

Amazon Publishing has launched a new digital short story imprint in the US called StoryFront.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon publishing


Indies First: Authors share their experiences working as booksellers

The Indies First movement garnered more than 1,000 authors working at bookstores across the US and in Canada for Small Business Saturday, including James Patterson and Garth Stein. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #garth stein


Amazon’s Australian Kindle store: an unhappy ending for the book industry?

Amazon has been prising open the wallets of Australian consumers for years – but what will its local push on Kindle mean for readers, writers and publishers?Ben Eltham Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book industry


Amazon plans drone delivery

Amazon is testing drones called "Octocopters" which could potentially deliver customers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Supreme Court Won't Hear Amazon Appeal in NYS Tax Case

New York State’s collection of online sales tax has withstood a legal challenge by Amazon and Overstock, as the U.S. Supreme Court decided this morning not to hear an appeal of a March ruling by New York’s top court that found that the state could impose the tax. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #york state #legal challenge


Biteback author bids to overturn Ward conviction

The author of Stephen Ward Was Innocent, OK (Biteback Publishing), has revealed his book has been... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen ward #biteback publishing


'Burial Rites' author Hannah Kent finds mystery in Iceland

Chronicling the Chill of 1820s Iceland in 'Burial Rites,' Australian author Hannah Kent finds deep humanity, for better and worse, in a faraway isle. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #burial rites


Forbes calls Larry Ellison book one of 2013’s best

The book about Lanai majority owner and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison’s pursuit of the America’s Cup yachting championship has received rave reviews from Forbes magazine’s editors and writers as one of the “most entertaining and illuminating nonfiction books of the year.” Author Julian... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2013-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oracle corp #forbes magazine #larry ellison


'Bookstar' talent show for authors

Agents Madeleine Milburn and David Headley [pictured] will help judge an "X Factor"... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #talent show


For Indies First day, authors get behind independent bookstores

Thanks to Sherman Alexie's forgetfulness, writers across the U.S. will volunteer at their local bookstore Saturday for the inaugural Indies First day.Not long ago the writer Sherman Alexie missed one of his readings, standing up fans at the Queen Anne Book Company, a store in Seattle. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookstores #sherman alexie #long ago