Today’s links of interest:
- Will the closing of the libraries spur a … Bookstore boom?
An unusual look at the impact of an Oregon county’s library closure. - Bookshop blight
Though primarily about the travails of used bookstores, the point about rent and costs is relevant across the industry. - Preview: London Book Fair, Southbank Centre/Earls Court, London
Now with more interesting stuff for the general public (what, it’s hard to say, but we believe everything we read in press releases). - Borders investors reject debt deal
Will every brilliant plan to save the universe comes an unforeseen catch. - Open Letters Monthly – New Issue
Hot off the HTML press. Per their modest analysis, "his month we have, among other things, John
Cotter’s searching review of William T. Vollmann’s "Poor People"; Steve
Donoghue brilliant torching of Douglas Hofstadter’s "I am a Strange Loop"; and
another edition of our feature "Peer Review" by myself, this time looking at
the reviews of Paul Auster’s "Travels in the Scriptorium."" - Sampling, if Not Digesting, the Digital Library
In which one man packages public domain e-texts into CD sets. - Oh, Bother: Pooh Royalty Dispute Continues
In which the never-ending Winnie the Pooh lawsuit continues. - Bertelsmann buys rest of Bookspan from Time Inc
Apparently book clubs remain big business. - Asda challenged by publishers on "supplier" costs
Apparent retroactive payments to allow publishers to achieve "preferred" status (ie, better placement in stores). Asda counters that they’re "tough negotiators". Sounds like they’re also seeing an industry over a barrel, but what do we know? - China slams US piracy complaint
Uh yeah. - Curl-up factor could spell change in reading habits
As e-ink technology improves, we move closer to "The Diamond Age" ideal of flexible digital reading material.