This is the headline from the company's press release:Barnes & Noble Donates Books, Toys And Games Valued At $3.4 Million, To Military CharitiesBookstore Joins America Supports You Team at Andrews AFB Joint Service Open HouseY3K Grafix and Penske Logistics Truck Goods Across the Country.and from CEO Marie Toulantis:“On behalf of all the booksellers at Barnes & Noble, we thank America Supports You for this opportunity to express our support to our fellow Americans,”It sounds like as grand a patriotic gesture as one could hope for from a corporation.But could it be so noble?This is the how we got there:Barnes &...
What’s Your Candidate Reading?
In a recent post I mentioned that I thought it would be a good idea for the Presidential candidates to create a page on one of the book focused social network sites like Shelfari or Librarything.Having a look at what books are in their library would definitely help me decide who to vote for.Well we are getting closer. The AP just asked all the candidates this question:What is the last work of fiction you've read?Here is what they said. Expectedly, "several named nonfiction books instead...And a few couldn't resist taking political shots with the question."DEMOCRATSDelaware Sen. Joe Biden: "Runaway Jury"...
Simon & Schuster on a Slippery Slope with New Long Tail Approach
In a move that will surely rattle the already shaky publishing world Simon & Schuster has added a bit of text to their standard author contract that will "allow Simon & Schuster to consider a book in print, and under its exclusive control, so long as it's available in any form, including through its own in-house database -- even if no copies are available to be ordered by traditional bookstores."A much longer author noose is the last thing the industry needs.With the advent and broader acceptance of print on demand technology S&S would like to retain their authors rights forever....
Book Prayer
Worshipers at Jimbocho, Tokyo's book district, home to over 100 bookshops.Image 1 courtesy perkeImage 2 courtesy aptronym
Shelfitis: A Strain of Bibliomania
David McKie's piece in the Guardian today "My obsession with spines" deals with a strain of bibliomania that affects many of us book types. The need to know what is on the shelf behind that person in the picture. He talks about recent images in the Guardian and his desire to identify all the titles lurking on the shelves in the background.He calls it a "form of voyeurism, a lust to discover guilty secrets."Like McKie whenever I visit someone's home it is the books on the shelf that grab my attention not the furniture, not the kitchen appliances but the...