The government of Ireland has hatched a plan that will pay authors a royalty for their books that are checked out at the local library.Here is how it works:"authors will be conferred with an exclusive right to allow the lending of their works in public libraries...in return the authors would receive a royalty payment for the lending of their work."The program will be publicly funded and will not cost the library user anything.I have often thought that this arrangement should also apply in the used book market.There is no reason an author shouldn't be compensated for a sale of a...
A Plagiarist Goes Off the Deep End. Again
News began circulating last week that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was eliminating the position of book editor and quite possibly its entire book review section. Coming close on the heels of the recent revamping of the LA Times book section is especially troubling. That's 2 of our country's top newspapers, which serve 2 of our most literate cities, reducing (or potentially eliminating) their book coverage significantly. Not a good sign.To combat this trend The National Book Critics Circle began circulating a petition to "Help Protect Atlanta's Book Review."In a show of solidarity Scott McLemee over at the blog Quick Study published...
The Reader/Collector Syndrome
This week the auction of the library of Frank Streeter at Christie's reeled in over $16 million.This weekend there are three different book fairs for non-new books taking place in New York including the New York Antiquarian Book Fair were you will find many of the best collectible books available for sale in the world.This is strong evidence of the staying power of the book and a confirmation of its value to our culture or should I say a segment of our culture.Sam Jordison's piece for the Gaurdian "What are first editions worth? There's is plenty of money to be...
Signs of Hope For the Book and the Trade
Word comes via Scott Brown at Fine Books blog that the hole left in the antiquarian book world by the announced closure of Heritage Book Shop will be partially filled by "LA businessman, philanthropist, and bibliophile" Michael Sharpe. The new venture Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books will employ former Heritage staffers (the story was leaked to Brown by one of the former Heritage employees who will be involved in this new entity) and carry a $10 million inventory. The shop will be open to the public and will reside in an historic Craftsman home.The inventory will be consist largely...
Bookstore Robbery Tomorrow at 9
Luckily this takes place across the street from Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers at the Central Saloon where a new band from Seattle called Bookstore Robbery will play. We will have extra security on hand.Self-described as a "shotgun marriage of power pop and alt-country for the twilight era." To hear some of their songs and watch a video visit their myspace page.Where did they get the name from?The Wes Anderson film "Bottle Rocket". The film's tagline: "They're not really criminals, but everybody's got to have a dream."The following dialog comes from the bookstore robbery scene:Digan: A bigger bag you idiot!Bookstore manager:...