YA author Ned Vizzini dies aged 32
Ned Vizzini, the author of YA favorites It's Kind of a Funny Story and Be More Chill, died Thursday in New York City. According to the Los Angeles Times, Vizzini committed suicide. He was 32.
View ArticleIndependent bookstores report very good holiday season
Shelf Awareness reports that booksellers they talked to since the holidays all had good news about the holiday season. At worst, sales were even with last year, but most stores reported healthy...
View ArticleBrain function increases after reading a novel - and stays improved for at...
Research indicates that reading a gripping novel causes biological changes in the brain which last for days. 21 students took part in US study, all reading Pompeii, a 2003 thriller by Robert Harris....
View ArticleKate DiCamillo named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
Kate DiCamillo, the author of more than a dozen books including the Newbery Medal-winning The Tale of Despereaux, will be named the country's fourth national ambassador for young people's literature at...
View ArticleJane Howard, author of Cazalet Chronicle, dies aged 90
For much of a career spanning more than 60 years, the writer Elizabeth Jane Howard, who has died aged 90, suffered a certain condescension from literary editors as a writer of "women's novels". But it...
View ArticleKate Atkinson wins Costa Novel Award
Kate Atkinson, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Michael Symmons Roberts, Chris Riddell and Nathan Filer have won prizes at this year's Costa awards. Atkinson's Life After Life scooped the Costa Novel Award. The...
View ArticleJapan to impose taxes on foreign e-content sales by 2015
By 2015, Japan will start collecting taxes on online sales of electronic books, music and other download content and purchases from foreign companies and websites. At the moment, there is a tax on...
View ArticleFuture of Bookselling panel emphasizes the importance of community and making...
Shelf Awareness reports on the Future of Bookselling panel at this week's Digital Book World in New York City: Booksellers on the Future of Bookselling panel at Digital Book World Wednesday in New York...
View ArticleMore Americans reading e-books, but few of them giving up print
The proportion of Americans who read e-books is growing, but few have completely replaced print books for electronic versions. The percentage of adults who read an e-book in the past year has risen to...
View ArticleSurvey reveals that most writers earn less than $1000 a year
A survey reveals that 54% of traditionally-published authors and almost 80% of go-it-alone writers are making less than US$1,000 a year. More than 9,000 writers, from aspiring authors to seasoned pros,...
View ArticleQuercus Books up for sale
Last week Quercus (who publish the Stieg Larsson books in the UK and recently opened an office in the US) announced a large and unexpected end of year loss. This week it has announced that it is up for...
View ArticleABA president proclaims incredibly positive season for many independent...
In his opening address at the plenary breakfast on the first day of Winter Institute 9 in Seattle, Wash., American Booksellers Association president Steve Bercu proclaimed that after an "incredibly...
View ArticleKate DiCamillo wins Newberry for Flora and Ulysses; her second Newbery win.
The ALA presented their Youth Media Awards today. The Newbery medal went to Kate DiCamillo for Flora and Ulysses (a second Newbery win for DiCamillo who won in 2003 with The Tales of Despereaux). Brian...
View ArticleSurprise win at Costas - Nathan Filer's "Where The Moon Isn't" knocks out...
In an upset win over established veterans such as Kate Atkinson, Nathan Filer won the 2013 Costa Book Award for his debut novel, The Shock of the Fall. The book was published in the United States as...
View ArticleAmazon posts profit but lower than expected - shares drop 10%
Amazon's shares have fallen by 10% in after-hours trading after the online retailer failed to match analysts' profit expectations in the run up to Christmas. However, the online retailer still reported...
View ArticleLemony Snickett creates award for librarians who face adversity with...
Earlier this week, at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, the American Library Association Council approved the new Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity. The award will be...
View ArticleSony closes its ebookstore, all acounts to be transferred to Kobo #ebooks
Sony, one of the early players in the eBook business, has closed its eBook store The Reader Store. The company did not explain why it shut down, but despite being early to the scene, Sony has been...
View ArticleOpen Road Media to buy E-Reads, one of the oldest indie e-book publishers
In a deal that brings together one of the oldest independent e-book publishers with one of the largest, Open Road Integrated Media has signed an agreement to acquire E-Reads, the digital publisher...
View ArticleMaxine Kumin, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 88
Maxine Kumin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet whose spare, deceptively simple lines explored some of the most complex aspects of human existence birth and death, evanescence and renewal, and the events...
View ArticleCheap Words: Amazon is good for customers. But is it good for books?
The New Yorker has a fascinating article on the evolution of Amazon, including that before settling on the name of the world's largest river by volume, founder Jeff Bezos considered calling his...
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