Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Book News, In Brief

Print-on-demand publishing finally has competition for the title of 'Most Abused Online Service by Would-be Writers': Author Podcasts.


The Christian Science Monitor blends its two loves -- news reporting and hyperbolic prophecy -- proclaiming, "Mass Adoption of e-Books Is Coming." I guess this makes me a hell-bound heretic.


British bookstores have gotten their knickers in a bunch over charity shops selling used books. The bookstores claim it's killing their sales, but I've read seen Mansfield Park -- I know it's really about class.


The Guardian UK asks, Should authors censor their work at public readings? While the obvious answer is 'Duh, f**k no,' the real reason I'm linking to this article is its embarrassing back story: A bookstore in Framingham, MA recently asked author Jennifer Weiner to nix the naughty words when she visited their shop.


Taschen plans to release two versions of their exorbitantly priced Moonfire: The epic journey of Apollo 11 by Norman Mailer -- one for millionaires, and another for billionaires. Kimbooktu reports, "The cheap edition of this book will ‘only’ set you back 800 dollars. The real thing however, is a little bit more expensive." How expensive? "It will be thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars," Creed Poulson, the firm's public relations manager, told the Times. Personally, I plan to wait a few months. Who knows? It might turn up at my local charity shop.