publishing news stories on Newser

Is This the Most Depressing Book Deal Ever?

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:10:05 CDT

Today, in the annals of careers you really should have chosen instead of the one you're doing right now: diet-book writer. Grand Central Publishing has announced that it has won the rights to Venice A. Fulton's Six Weeks to OMG . Fulton will apparently get "seven figures" for the deal (in...

Amazon Now Moves to Slash E-Book Prices

Rob Quinn — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:32:56 CDT

Just after the Department of Justice launched its antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers , Amazon announced plans to slash e-book prices. But while the move is expected to cut the prices of major titles from $14.99 to $9.99 or less, analysts believe the benefit to consumers...

PayPal Tells Publishers to Pull 'Obscene' E-Books

Rob Quinn — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:41:00 CST

PayPal is overstepping the bounds of its role as a payment processor by trying to ban e-books it deems obscene, publishers and free speech groups complain. At least three online publishers and booksellers received emails warning them that their accounts will be "limited" unless they pull titles "containing themes of...

Barney Rosset, Censorship-Fighting Publisher, Dies

Kevin Spak — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:34:34 CST

Barney Rosset, founder of the envelope-pushing, censorship-defying Grove Press, died at age 89 on Tuesday after a double-heart-valve replacement, the New York Times reports. The irascible Rosset once described his press as "a breach in the dam of American Puritanism," and it lived up to that name, publishing works like...

JK Rowling Lands Deal for New Adult Book

Kevin Spak — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:34:28 CST

JK Rowling is back, but if you're hoping for more adventures starring a certain boy wizard—or anything along the lines of those books—you're out of luck. Little, Brown and Company announced today that it had acquired the rights to publish a new book by Rowling, but this one...

Amazon Yanks 5K E-Books in Contract Dispute

Rob Quinn — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:30:54 CST

Amazon is playing hardball with a book distributor that refused to give it a bigger share of the pie. The company's Kindle store yanked some 5,000 e-books after Independent Publishers Group, which represents hundreds of independent publishers, refused the online giant's demands. "They decided they didn't like the terms...

iBooks Author 'Mind-Bogglingly Greedy, Evil'

Mark Russell — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:09:28 CST

Thinking of using Apple's handy new iBooks Author program to publish your brilliant opus? You might want to think again: Apple's incredibly restrictive iBookstore licensing agreement gives the computer giant a 30% cut of anything you make, even outside of the store. Further, the format isn't compatible with the industry...

Final Hitchens Book to Hit Shelves Next Year

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:26:05 CST

For fans of Christopher Hitchens , one final book. A memoir entitled Mortality will be released in early 2012; it's based on a series of articles the journalist wrote for Vanity Fair describing his battle with esophageal cancer, reports the Guardian . A spokesman noted that the book had been in the...

E-Books Now Pricier Than Real Books

Kevin Spak — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:57:40 CST

If you're hoping Santa drops a Kindle or Nook under your tree, be forewarned: e-book bestsellers don't cost $9.99 anymore. These days, electronic tomes can cost as much or more than their print counterparts, the Wall Street Journal reports, thanks to a move from the six top publishers to...