Between the Covers

Miami proposes to close 13 libraries

Yes, I have my occasional wars with the library system (Broward County in my case - and no, I still don't understand why I have to update my phone number IN PERSON and not online; it's 2011, for crying out loud). But I sympathize with Miami-Dade library users now, even though many go to use the free Internet services and not to check out books.

Check out this story from The Miami Herald's Matt Haggman and Martha Brannigan:

"Seeking to close a $400 million budget gap, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s budget proposal, which includes a laundry list of cuts, features one particularly tough measure: shuttering 13 libraries across Greater Miami.

A decade ago, the county launched a library expansion plan that resulted in the opening of 18 branches. Now many of those would be closed. The reductions would save about $18 million, while eliminating 191 jobs in an overall plan that eliminates 1,292 positions countywide."

Click here to read the whole story.

 

Why book stores love George R.R. Martin's new book

And here you thought brick and mortar stores were done.

Not quite yet. Apparently George R.R. Martin has done them a big favor by releasing his fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, this week.

Julie Bosman of the New York Times reports that independent booksellers report that Dragons has quickly become the bestseller of the summer.

Bosman writes: "It also temporarily upended the conventional wisdom in the book business that devoted readers of genre fiction — whether romance, sci-fi or fantasy — have begun to prefer reading in e-book format over print. According to first-day sales collected by Random House, more than 170,000 print copies and 110,000 e-book copies sold on Tuesday, the largest opening for a Random House book in 2011."

Interest in the series has been bolstered by the HBO series Game of Thrones, which is based on Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Click here to read the whole story.

 

Get ready for the 2012 Key West Literary Seminar

It’s never too early — and in fact will soon be too late — to sign up for the next Key West Literary Seminar, which is celebrating its 30-year anniversary in Jan. 5-8 2012.

This year’s theme? "Another World: The Literature of the Future," and the seminar has the big literary names to prove they’re serious: Jennifer Egan (at right, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad); Douglas Coupland; William Gibson, Margaret Atwood, China Mieville, Joyce Carol Oates, astrophysicist Janna Levin, James Gleick; Gary Shytengart; Jonathan Lethem, Michael Cunningham; George Saunders; Colson Whitehead; James Tate; Charles Yu; Dexter Palmer; Rivka Galchen; and Valerie Martin.

There will also be writing workshops led by Atwood; Martin; Mary Morris; Lee Smith; Robert Stone; Paulette Bates Alden; Billy Collins; and Dana Weir.

To register, click here.

 

 

What "Pottermore" means for the industry

By now you know the score on J.K. Rowling's new website Pottermore: It's the place to find additional stories and information about your favorite boy wizard, as well as the only place to get unavailable versions of ebooks of the Potter stories. The website opens in October, but you can leave your email address and you'll be notified when registration has begun.

Good marketing on the part of Rowling? Definitely. Anything Potter-related grabs attention.

 But Publisher's Weekly is more interested in the website's affect on the industry. "Many people who work in publishing think that as interesting as Pottermore is, the endeavor says less about the future of book publishing than about the singular status of a very wealthy author who has the inclination and means to build her own brand," writes Rachel Deahl.

Click here to read more.

 

Illinois woman joins battle for class-action lawsuit against "Three Cups of Tea" author

Former schoolteacher Deborah Netter of Lake County, Illinois, has joined efforts to get a class-action lawsuit off the ground against the now-controversial Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson, the Associated Press reports.

Netter filed a federal lawsuit this month in Illinois claiming Mortenson (at right), his co-author and his publisher violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

Netter isn't the first to push for the lawsuit: Two Montana lawmakers have filed a similar claim there saying they were duped into buying Mortenson's best-selling book and donating to his charity based on lies they thought were true.

The lawsuits are seeking class-action status so they can be joined by the millions of people who bought Mortenson's books, heard his speeches or donated to his charity.

Self-published author sells 1 million ebooks on Kindle

He has hit a milestone however you slice it: John Locke, author of Saving Rachel, Vegas Moon and Wish List, is the first self-published author to sell a million ebooks on Kindle, according to Amazon.

He's in some pretty heady company. Other members of the Kindle 1 Million Club? Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins and Michael Connelly.

In a press release about his success, Locke said: “Kindle Direct Publishing has provided an opportunity for independent authors to compete on a level playing field with the giants of the book selling industry. Not only did KDP give me a chance, they helped at every turn. Quite simply, KDP is the greatest friend an author can have.” 

 

Kindle self-publishing smacked by spam

I suppose it was only a matter of time before this got on readers' nerves: Spam is hindering Amazon's foray into self-publishing.

A Reuters story posted on Yahoo! reports that "Thousands of digital books, called ebooks, are being published through Amazon's self-publishing system each month. Many are not written in the traditional sense. Instead, they are built using something known as Private Label Rights, or PLR content, which is information that can be bought very cheaply online then reformatted into a digital book.

These ebooks are listed for sale - often at 99 cents - alongside more traditional books on Amazon's website, forcing readers to plow through many more titles to find what they want."

Click here to read the whole story.

 

Samuel L. Jackson audio of "Go the Bleep to Sleep" blows up

Oh, we love our cursing! A free version of the Samuel L. Jackson-narrated Go the Bleep to Sleep has been downloaded 160,000 times since it became available two days ago on audible.com.

That's not a Harry Potter style record - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was downloaded more than 200,000 times in its first 48 hours, says the Associated Press - but it's pretty respectable. And if you disagree, take it up with Jules over there on the right.

Meanwhile, the hardcover version of the book by Adam Mansbach is No. 1 on Amazon. 

What the heck is Pottermore.com?

We know what it's not - a new Harry Potter book (or so a spokesperson from J.K. Rowling's camp says). So then, what is Pottermore.com, the new website set up by Rowling and Co.?

Rowling gave out coordinates out on 10 Harry Potter fansites, leading eager Potterphiles on a romp to find the name of the new website.  Right now Pottermore.com consists of a placeholder page and a "coming soon" promise of...what?

Spokesperson Rebecca Salt told the Associated Press that no new Potter book was involved and that the website is "not directly related" to the final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, which opens July 15.

Samuel L. Jackson reads "Go the Bleep to Sleep"

 

Some things were meant to be.

Samuel L. Jackson, who drops the F bomb like no other, reads the audiobook of the hit book Go the Bleep to Sleep by (extremely tired) dad Adam Mansbach. The audiobook went on sale Tuesday.

The book has touched a nerve with parents weary of battling determined toddlers at bedtime.