Author Archives: Editor

Kindle Touch Now Available In Ireland Through Amazon

Amazon has expanded the territories it will ship its Kindle Touch product to including Ireland.

Irish shoppers can order the wi-fi version of the device through Amazon.com for $139.00 plus shipping charges bringing the cost to just under $200.

The 3G version of the Touch is still not available for Irish customers however nor is the tablet, the Kindle Fire.

 

Briefly Noted | Quercus looks to life after Larsson – FT.com

Lots to read in this article but two particlar notes:

1) Digital revenue now 11% or total revenue
2) ‘non-Larsson’ titles revenue rose 83%

In a sign diversification is working, Quercus on Monday reported that turnover from “non-Larsson” titles rose by 83 per cent year-on-year and now comprise an estimated 80 per cent of total revenues. Full results will not be released until later in the year.

Ebook sales rose from 3 per cent to 11 per cent of total revenues in 2011, and Quercus plans to further boost digital sales to more than one-third of total turnover within the next three years

via Quercus looks to life after Larsson – FT.com.

Briefly Noted | Hundreds of bookshops face closure – Telegraph

The BA has called for more free parking in town centres and a reduction in red tape to help struggling businesses.

It also argued that charity shops present “unfair competition” to bookshops due to the valuable tax breaks they get. There are more than 250 specialist charity bookshops in the UK, while a further 8,000 charity shops sell books as part of their ranges.

Tim Godfray, the BA’s chief executive, said that bookshops are facing “huge pressures from so many quarters”.

via Hundreds of bookshops face closure – Telegraph.

Briefly Noted | Barnes & Noble, Taking On Amazon in the Fight of Its Life – NYTimes.com

ON Homer Avenue in downtown Palo Alto is a tiny, two-story building that once housed the maker of Palo Alto Bread. It was here, in March 2009, that Barnes & Noble brought a few new hires to create the Nook. Outsiders weren’t quite sure what the company was up to. The landlord figured that Mr. Lynch wanted to open a store.

What began as an almost quixotic effort to catch up with the Amazon Kindle has now grown into a 300-person operation in the heart of Silicon Valley. Mr. Lynch has hired engineers, software developers and designers, who are today spread among five low-slung buildings.

via Barnes & Noble, Taking On Amazon in the Fight of Its Life – NYTimes.com.

Briefly Noted | The Irish middle class Mum who became an Escort – Books, Entertainment – Independent.ie

Written under the pseudonym Scarlett O’Kelly, the author gives an eye-opening picture of what she experienced when she resorted to prostitution to maintain her comfortable home and family lifestyle in the face of the financial collapse.

It is significant that a serious publisher like Penguin Ireland is bringing out the book, which is titled Between The Sheets. “This is a detailed account of a real person’s life,” says Penguin Ireland’s managing director, Michael McLoughlin. “We have checked this woman’s story thoroughly and we are satisfied that it’s genuine. What her book reveals is going to shock a lot of people, but it’s important that we all understand the impact the recession is having on our society at all levels.”

via The Irish middle class Mum who became an Escort – Books, Entertainment – Independent.ie.

Briefly Noted | B&N ‘developing partnership’ with Waterstones over Nook | The Bookseller

US retailer Barnes & Noble is “developing a partnership with Waterstones to add the Nook to its locations this year”, according to reports on news site Bloomberg Businessweek which quotes an unnamed source “familiar with the situation”.

via B&N ‘developing partnership’ with Waterstones over Nook | The Bookseller.

Briefly Noted | Trollope is star guest of Gleeson – Books, Entertainment – Independent.ie

The wonderful English novelist Joanna Trollope is the first guest author in the DLR Library Voices series which starts next month. Trollope is the author of 16 highly acclaimed best-selling novels, the latest of which, The Soldiers Wife, deals with the difficulties facing a military wife awaiting her husbands return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

via Trollope is star guest of Gleeson – Books, Entertainment – Independent.ie.

Ennis Book Festival Launches 2012 Programme

The 2012 Ennis Book Club Festival will kick off with a discussion about the future of reading in the digital age. Running from 2nd-4th March this is the sixth year of the festival.

High profile authors attending this year include: Sheila O”Flanagan, Lynne Reid Banks, Patrick Gale, Kevin Barry and Christine Dwyer Hickey, Maureen Gaffney, Joseph Woods and Fergus Finlay.

‘This is our 6th Book Club Festival which is organised in association with Ennis Town Council and Clare Co Library,’ said Festival Chairperson Ciana Campbell. ‘What started from small beginnings has grown steadily into a nationally recognised event attracting book club members and readers from all over the country.’

Briefly Noted | Tweet Treats Goes Gourmand

Regular visitors to writing.ie may remember an interview Barbara Scully did with writer Jane Travers last year on the publication of her quirky book, Tweet Treats. You can read the article, Tweet Treats is a Treat For All  here.

We were delighted to hear that this fabulous book was nominated for a Food Writing Award recently and so asked its author Jane Travers to fill us in and tell us all about it.

via Tweet Treats Goes Gourmand.

NBC News enters sizzling e-book publishing world – Political Bookworm – The Washington Post

Interesting news this:

NBC News has now entered the scramble, becoming the latest entrant in the e-publishing universe. The news organization is launching NBC Publishing, which will focus on turning out enhanced e-books using NBC’s current video and archival footage.

“We have over one million hours of archival video content going back to the ’20s and a really low cost structure to edit it and put it together,” Michael Fabiano, general manager of NBC Publishing, told Digital Book World.

via NBC News enters sizzling e-book publishing world – Political Bookworm – The Washington Post.