News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
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“Please Look After This Bear. Thank You.” BookBench painted
by artist Michelle Heron. Situated on the Riverside trail.
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- Sir Terry Pratchett cancels appearance as Discworld con due to the progression of his Alzheimer’s disease. (Alison Flood, The Guardian)
- 300 Authors sign letter to Amazon over its tactics re Hachette titles, while on the other side of the aisle, some indie authors put forth petition in support of Amazon. (Publishers Weekly)
- Check out the book benches sighted around London. Narnia, Paddington, Peter Pan, Shakespeare, and more. (BuzzFeed)
- Kensington signs distribution agreement with Penguin Random House (GalleyCat)
- World Book Night suspending operations due to lack of funding (WBN’s Facebook page)
- Reading Rainbow raises $5+ million; Seth McFarlane kicks in another million. (GalleyCat)
- Libraries adopting pay-per-use for digital content. (Note that it’s the library that pays, not the patron.) The idea is that instead of purchasing only certain digital titles or packages of titles for patrons to borrow, libraries can offer much wider range of titles but set a budget limit over which they can’t go in a given term. (GalleyCat)
Worth Reading/Listening to:
- “The genesis of genius” looks at the miniature books created by Charlotte and Bramwell Bronte. (Kate Kondayen, Harvard Gazette)
- A mom interviews her daughter on being read to vs. reading independently (Fran and I. Wilde, The Washington Post)
For Writers & Bloggers:
- 60 Awesome Search Engines for Writers and researchers.
- An explanation of Amazon’s KDP Select, royalty rates, and international sales by GoodEReader’s Mercy Pilkington.
Literary Losses:
- Walter Dean Myers died Tuesday, 7/01/14, at the age of 86. Myers was the author of over 100 children’s and YA titles and an outspoken champion for literacy. Over the years, his books garnered a number of awards including several Newbery Honor awards, six Coretta Scott King Awards or Honors, the first-ever Printz award, and a number of other honors. (Obituaries: HarperCollins press release; Huffington Post; Los Angeles Times)
Book & Movie Announcements:
- Neil Gaiman’s American Gods will be adapted for TV by Starz and Fremantle Media. Gaiman will serve as one of the executive producers, along with producer Michael Green and screenwriter Bryan Fuller. (GalleyCat)
- “Berkley Testing Two Covers for Virgin“ (Publishers Weekly)
Free & Bargain books:
- SYNC Audiobooks
- Week of 7/03-7/09/14: Torn from Troy by Patrick Bowman (read by Gerard Doyle; Post Hypnotic Press) and Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (read by Jim Dale; Brilliance Audio)
- Week of 7/10-7/16/14: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (read by Channie Waits; Brilliance Audio) and While The World Watched by Carolyn Maull McKinstry with Denise George (read by Felicia Bullock; Oasis Audio)
Awesome lists:
- 10 Obnoxious Things People Say to Hard-Core Readers (BookRiot)
- 19 Dilemmas Every Book Lover Has Faced At Least Once (BuzzFeed) Pretty close, yeah.
Really cool:
- Out of Print has some cool T-shirts sporting SF covers. I want A Wrinkle in Time.
Just for fun:
- QUIZ: Which Classic Children’s Book Describes Your Life? (PlayBuzz) Apparently I am Pat the Bunny: “You are a sweet, kind-hearted person who loves interacting with the world. You are the rock of our friends and family. You’re young at heart, even though you may not look it!” (And here I was hoping I still looked it.)
Bookish Quotes:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Bea
Heh, I also have a black belt in extreme reading. 🙂 I want that Wrinkle in Time tee shirt and I love those benches.
I know about 6 or 7 people who have taken that children’s book test and they all came back as Pat the Bunny. Since they are all very different from each other, the quiz is flawed or rigged. But then, many of them are. 😀
Anna (herding cats-burning soup)
Oh I love that bench. How cute!
Katherine P
I got Everyone Poops as my book. Not sure what to think about that. Apparently I’m cynical and sarcastic. Not saying that’s not true but could I have another book? I love the black belt in reading! And the benches!!!! I want the Narnia one! How sad about Pratchett and Myers.