WOMEN OF COLOR AND MAJOR PUBLISHING HOUSE DEALS – So Bitch Media’s Evette Dionne published an interview with Jasmine Guillory on her upcoming debut, The Wedding Date, a Romance published by Berkley. Unfortunately, in their enthusiastic promotion of Guillory and her book, a lot of incorrect assertions about the status of ... more >
Rakuten Kobo Acquires Shelfie Technology – Kobo continues to plug on, with a decent amount of side-loading from other sources. This time it’s Shelfie, the app that allowed readers get digital copies of their own print books, which shut down in January. Shelfie will ultimately be integrated into the Kobo app, where ... more >
Sainsbury’s exits digital entertainment, hands over e-book business to Kobo – It’s amazing how many customers Kobo has inherited from other companies. This time Sainsbury’s is shutting down their digital operations, Sainsbury’s On Demand, which includes movies, television, magazines, music, and digital books. The company calls it a “strategic decision,” aka the ... more >
Sorry about the news yesterday, folks. I finished a two-year long work project (not exaggerating) on Friday and pretty much collapsed after that. Roberta Gellis dies – Thank you to the DA reader who sent me a link to this obituary, because although I had heard of Gellis’s death, her obit ... more >
Book publishing is a resilient business: Kobo CEO – An interview with Kobo’s CEO Michael Tambyln, who argues that “every year [the publishing industry] finds a new driver for growth,” and this year it is the dynamic between print and digital books. Despite the digital slowdown, Tambyln notes the continuing growth ... more >
Library Groups Join Effort for ‘Balanced’ Copyright – Re:Create is a new coalition that includes organizations such as the American Library Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The group wants “clear, simple and transparent” copyright laws that promote “innovation, creativity, education and economic growth.” There don’t appear to be any ... more >