News and Notes: 12/01/2012

December 1, 2012 Lark_Bookwyrm Uncategorized 0

News and Notes will be replacing the “Recent Articles” feature. I’d like to expand beyond linking to interesting articles; News and Notes will still include links to interesting articles and blog posts, but now I’ll have more freedom to add other stuff: book giveaways on other blogs, bargains or freebies of books I’ve recommended or want to read, interesting graphics or photos, and whatever else I think is cool.

GIVEAWAY: The Friday Society ARC. The Midnight Garden blog is giving away an ARC of The Friday Society, a YA steampunk novel by Adrienne Kress featuring not one but three strong female leads. I’ve already put this on my TBR list (and entered the giveaway); it sounds like a lot of fun! The Book Smugglers gave it a good review. The Friday Society will hit bookstores on Dec. 6; the giveaway is open for several weeks.

ARTICLES & POSTS:

“Will the Supreme Court Kill Used Bookstores?” Christopher Balogh explores and explains the case of Wiley v. Kirtsaeng, currently before the Supreme Court. (reason.com) If you haven’t been following it, this is a case involving a young man who bought US textbooks in his home country, where they were cheaper, and resold them in the US on eBay to finance his education here. Rich Adin of An American Editor also weighs in with his post, “Why is the book market different from the art market?” The issues in this case are complex and the ramifications of the decision will be significant for one side or the other. At stake are questions of copyright, ownership, the first sale doctrine and the owner’s right of resale. Both posts are worth reading.

“The Bookstore Strikes Back” In an article for The Atlantic, author Ann Patchett writes about her experience as co-founder and -owner of a new independent bookstore in Nashville. Patchett believes the independent bookstore is making a comeback, and Parnassus Books seems to be proving the point.

Ella Delany ponders some of the potential fallout of the Penguin/Random House merger over on The Daily Beast.

Gizmag’s 2012 eReader Comparison Guide looks at the top 6 e-readers on the market (in their opinion): the Kindle Paperwhite, simple Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Nook Simple Touch with and without Glowlight, and Kobo Glo. (Note that Sony’s line — now down to a single reader — did not make the cut; Sony appears headed for the margins of the e-reader and e-book market.)

On The Digital Reader blog, Mark Coker of Smashwords looks at Amazon’s KDP Select program and whether it helps or hurts independent authors in the long run. It’s an interesting post and worth reading, particularly if you’re an author. However, I was disturbed that Coker’s affiliation with Smashwords wasn’t disclosed up front. (It becomes evident about half-way through the article, and there’s a notice at the bottom that the post was reposted from the Smashwords blog, but it should have been disclosed at the top.)

Venture Beat reports that “Penguin [is] rolling out [a] new ebook library lending program.” It’s not as good as it sounds; the initial roll-out is only for libraries in Los Angeles and Cleveland, and won’t include new releases until they’ve been commercially available for 6 months. But I suppose it’s better than nothing; Penguin pulled out of Overdrive a year or two ago, and Penguin ebooks have been unavailable to libraries since then.

A post on LibraryPoint, the Central Rappahanock Regional Library’s website, considers “Rip-offs and Tributes: A Look at Derivative Works” not just in the book field, but in music, games, and movies. It will make you think.

Finally, TeachingDegree.org has a great infographic on ebooks vs. print books (reposted with permission):