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:
- News Corp, HarperCollins Complete Purchase of Harlequin. Harlequin will operate as a subsidiary of HC. I assume Harlequin’s various American and overseas imprints (MIRA, Luna, Mills & Boon) will continue to operate as part of Harlequin. (Publisher’s Weekly)
- Hachette sales up despite conflict with Amazon. The increase is due in part to the Hyperion titles Hachette acquired from Disney, and in part to strong sales on new releases by Galbraith/Rowling, Patterson, and other. (Publisher’s Weekly)
- Amazon lays out its position on ebook pricing. (Amazon)
- Hachette’s purchase of Perseus Group has been delayed. Hachette is buying Perseus Group’s assets; Ingram gets the distribution piece of the business. (Publisher’s Weekly)
- Apple has bought book-discovery/analytics startup BookLamp. (TechCrunch)
Worth Reading/Listening to:
- 8 Tips for Moving When You Have a Ton of Books (Kim Ukura, BookRiot)
- Are You a Book Hoarder? There’s a Word For That (Hector Tobar, Los Angeles Times)
- Can Harry Potter Teach Kids Empathy? (New York Magazine)
- Spotlight Falls on E-book Subscription Services (Rachel Deahl, Publishers Weekly)
- Middle Grade and YA: Where to Draw the Line? (Judith Rosen, Publishers Weekly)
For Writers & Bloggers:
- Literary Magazine McSweeney’s is running a short story contest for students. Undergraduate and graduate students can submit a 7,500-word story for a chance at $500 and publication in the Aug. 2015 edition. The catch? There’s a $55 entrance fee (but you get a year-long subscription.)
- A Cautionary Note for Pansters (CG Blake, Aerogramme Writers’ Studio blog)
Literary Losses:
Bel Kaufman, author of Up the Down Staircase, died July 25, 2014, at the age of 103. Her novel, which was made into a movie starring Sandy Dennis, was based on Kaufman’s own experiences as teacher in New York City. (Obituary: The New York Times)Book Announcements:
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| Michael Whale: cover art for The White Dragon |
- Warner Bros. has optioned the Dragonriders of Pern novels! Oh, please, please, please let them make a whole series of movies and let them not mess it up! (Deadline) (Also, my reaction)
- Warner Bros. has also bought the rights to Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch. (Huffington Post)
- Casting continues for NBC’s upcoming live broadcast of Peter Pan. Allison Williams (Girls) will step into Mary Martin’s shoes as Peter. Christopher Walken has been tapped to play Hook. (GalleyCat)
- Bloomsbury revealed its new Harry Potter covers with art by Jonny Duddle. Sorry, US fans — these are the UK version. (Scholastic is also reissuing the series in the US with its own set of new covers.) You can see the entire series full-size at GalleyCat.
Awesome lists:
- 21 Books That Changed Science Fiction and Fantasy Forever (i09) They’re missing a few obvious ones (what? No Frankenstein?) but these are, indeed, some of the most influential SFF books ever published.
- The 20 Most Beautiful Children’s Books of All Time (Flavorwire)
- Amazon’s 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, Children’s Book Edition (via GalleyCat)
Really cool:
The History of Typography, a short film by DesignMantic.
Just for fun:
- It was only a matter of time. Presenting Wholock: The Musical. Eleventh Doctor, meet Sherlock Holmes.
- And from The Onion, a Kindle that loudly announces your book’s title and author. (Satire, so don’t take it seriously!)
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
I’ve actually read a lot of these articles already. 😀 I see a few I missed such as the sci fi list and the list of children’s books. You always do such a good job of rounding up links.
Katherine P
I could of used the moving with books article a few years ago! I wonder what HarperCollins buying Harlequin will change? Especially since HarperCollins already has the Avon imprint. Love the new Harry Potter covers! They get the best covers in the UK!
Rita_h
I always enjoy reading your Book News post first thing on a Saturday morning with my coffee 🙂 Always something I am interested in… I loved the beautiful children’s book pictures feature and the quote of the week is right on target.
The moving with books–oh well– when we moved, I donated all but perhaps a tiny stack of books. I gave some to my church sale and the rest to Goodwill. I could never, ever throw out a book and I don’t have anyone in my extended family who reads my type of books (or has the time for it). I was a bit sad to do it, but hey, others will benefit from it and I am slowly working my way back to a small bookshelf of print books, just because! I read mostly on my kindle but I love to have print books in the home for those certain times, or to giveaway, or just admire!
Berls
As always you hunt down the best links Lark! I’m kinda torn on the Amazon/Hatchette thing. As an aspiring writer, I think it’s wrong for them to control book prices. As a reader who legally buys (or borrow from the library) all her books, I agree with them that $14 + dollars for an ebook is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve paid it for new releases, but I’ve been angry about it too. I mean, no matter how good a book is, that eBook didn’t cost you that much to produce so why?
Loved the 8 tips for moving with lots of books. My tip (as a ridiculously frequent mover) don’t unpack them until you KNOW you won’t be moving for a while. And make your brother and/or boyfriend carry all those boxes 😉
I’m not sure I like the new Harry Potter covers 🙁 Maybe I’m just attached to the old ones?
Those videos were great too 🙂 My stepson came in and watched the Dr. Who/Sherlock Holmes one. He says Dr. Who is way better LOL.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
A Dragonriders of Pern movie would be awesome if it’s well done.The list of influential scifi/fantasy books is interesting. I’ve read some of them and have meant to read others. I’m not sure I agree The Hunger Games should be there.
I sure wish the price would come down on e-books. I think $9.99 is too high–especially when the book has been out for several years. I only buy a handful of books at that price every year.