“Stop Hitting Yourself!”

After months of wielding the stick, Amazon is trying the carrot—or at least pretending to—in its feud with Hachette over ebook pricing. Early this week, it sent a letter to “a few authors and agents” with a sugarcoated proposal to “take authors out of the middle” of the dispute. So long as negotiations continued, why not have both Amazon and Hachette forgo their revenue and profit from ebook sales, and give 100 percent of the proceeds to the authors until an agreement is reached? Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #ebook pricing #ebook sales

Other Publishing stories related to: '“Stop Hitting Yourself!”'


Amazon Has a Responsibility to Stop Anti-Trans Misinformation

I’ll be the first to acknowledge Amazon and I make rather strange bedfellows. Raised on local libraries and used bookstores, I’ve long been a loyal customer to many of the indie bookshops cornered by the world’s largest online retailer, prizing them as community centers and places to find a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-08 09:49:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #strange bedfellows #local libraries #community centers #libraries


For 20 million felons, the punishment never stops

Reuben Jonathan Miller describes the dehumanizing web of restrictions they face outside prison. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-05 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Dr. Seuss Enterprises will stop publishing these 6 books due to racist imagery

‘Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families.’ Six Dr. Seuss books are being pulled from publication, the organization who manages the late author’s legacy accounted... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2021-03-02 08:06:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #seuss books #seuss enterprises #stop publishing #racist imagery #late author #dr. seuss


I stopped reading because I couldn't see myself in books. So I wrote one instead | Gary Lonesborough

As a queer Indigenous kid, Gary Lonesborough was alienated by the books he read. He hopes his new YA book gives a child like him the acceptance he never hadI’ve had a long relationship with telling stories. It hasn’t always been good.Mum and Dad were storytellers. They would tell stories to me... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-02-28 21:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #telling stories #stopped reading #long relationship #ya book


S&S global sales hit 'record year' in 2020 at $901m

Sales at Simon & Schuster came in at an all time high in 2020 at $901m, ViacomCBS has reported. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-26 10:10:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #record year #simon schuster #time high


Coronet hits the high notes with Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s debut

Coronet will publish Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s debut Spinning Plates, offering “part memoir, part musings” and “how to navigate life in the face of failure and imperfection”.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-22 06:15:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #high notes


A new Amor Towles novel is hitting shelves this October.

Literary pivot alert! Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly announced we’re getting a new novel from A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility author Amor Towles, out from Penguin Random House on October 5. Towles told EW that he “likes to mix it up,” and he has; while his previous novels centered... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-18 17:03:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amor towles #hitting shelves #penguin random house


Europa gets Midas touch for Perrin's Italian lockdown hit

Europa Editions UK is working with Midas for the first time to launch the paperback of Italian lockdown sensation Fresh Water for Flowers by French writer Valérie Perrin in June. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-17 01:07:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #midas touch


Export delays and cost hikes continue to hit trade with Europe

The trade is continuing to face lengthy delays exporting books to Europe following the end of the post-Brexit transition period, with Amazon understood to have made changes to its purchasing to mitigate the issue. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-14 23:27:28 UTC ]
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Danny Trejo’s memoir is hitting shelves (extremely hard) this summer.

Beloved Mexican-American actor and restauranteur Danny Trejo’s first memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood—which details Trejo’s path from drug addiction and incarceration in some of America’s most notorious prisons (including San Quentin, Folsom, and Soledad), to unexpected... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-09 21:03:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #drug addiction #atria books #memoir


‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is a bestseller, but its author, Walter Tevis, was hardly a one-hit wonder

Tevis wrote science fiction greats like “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and the overlooked “Mockingbird.” Also, “The Hustler.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-03 17:15:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #walter tevis #science fiction


Authors Guild urges DOJ to stop Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House merger

Several organizations sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Friday urging it to stop Penguin Random House from purchasing Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-01-29 22:12:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin random house


White Rabbit hits the right note with two from Dylan Jones

White Rabbit publisher Lee Brackstone has acquired world rights to two new books by Dylan Jones, through Jonny Geller at the Curtis Brown Group.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-25 10:46:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #world rights


'There’s no other law like this in Australia': Facebook hits out at digital media code

The head of Facebook in Australia has urged the government to make changes to laws designed to force digital platforms to pay media companies for content. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2021-01-20 18:52:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital media


Bookstat chart: Quinn's Bridgerton hits multiply

The “Bridgerton” boom in the Bookstat chart has continued, with the second title in Julia Quinn’s Regency-set romance series, The Viscount Who Loved Me (Avon), leapfrogging its predecessor to claim the number one for the week ending 16th January. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-20 16:52:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #julia quinn #bookstat chart


Debut fiction did well in pandemic-hit 2020

Debut novelists performed solidly last year, despite widespread fears that they would lose out to more established authors due to 2020's pandemic-hit publishing schedules.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-14 13:16:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut fiction #novelists


Amazon Hit with E-book Price Fixing Suit

The law firm that successfully sued Apple and five major publishers for colluding to fix e-book prices in 2011 has filed a class action against Amazon, accusing the company of colluding with the Big Five publishers to eliminate price competition from the e-book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #major publishers #law firm #class action #e-book market #e-book #e-book price


December lockdown hits Germany's annual sales

The German book market ended 2020 down by 2.3% across all channels in value and 5.3% in volume. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-10 21:35:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #annual sales #german book


France's bookshops report 3.3% sales dip in Covid-hit 2020

France's bricks-and-mortar booksellers have reported a year-on-year fall in sales of only 3.3% in 2020, despite a total of three months closure across two lockdowns, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 14:21:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #covid-19 pandemic


Blackwell's drops click and collect in almost all stores as lockdown hits

Blackwell's is the latest bookseller to announce it has closed its stores during the new lockdown and will not be offering click and collect, with the exception of its Oxford branch. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 09:24:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookseller