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.

Depressing new research by Forrester indicates that book publishers are becoming increasingly disheartened about the state of the industry: Only 28 percent of publishing executives think their company will be better off because of the transition to digital, down from 51 percent a year ago.

via Study: Book Publishers’ ‘Optimism Waning’ As Digital Transition Continues | paidContent.

Apples iBookstore wields enough power to change how electronic books are sold and priced, according to plaintiffs in class-action suits against the Cupertino, Calif., company and several traditional publishers. The complaint alleges that Apple violated antitrust laws by colluding with publishers to keep e-book prices high.

Hagens Berman, a consumer rights class-action law firm, filed the original complaint in U.S. District Court in California in August alleging that Apple, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and MacMillan teamed up to force Amazon to raise its $9.99 e-book pricing to a new, and often more expensive, “agency model” where publishers set the price. The complaint also alleges that “Apple had strong incentives” to help the publishers because the Kindle is “a competitive threat to Apples business model,” according to court filings.

via MediaShift . Did Apple Collude with Publishers to Fix Prices on E-Books? | PBS.

The  Irish Writers’ Centre has launched a Novel Fair for first-time novelists.

The event will take place on 10 March 2012. with the aim of introducing up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

A judging panel of experienced industry professionals will be asked to select a shortlist of successful entries, presented to them anonymously. There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

Publishers and agents will be invited to come along on the day to the Irish Writers’ Centre and meet these writers in person. Each writer in attendance will have a stand at the Fair with copies of the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material.

Representatives from Penguin Ireland, Transworld, O’ Brien Press, Lilliput Press, Hachette Books, Liberties Press, Little Island, Arlen House and New Island will be present on the day. Literary agents such as Marianne Gunn O’ Connor, Yvonne Kinsella, Emma Walsh, Ger Nichol, Paul Feldstein and Jonathan Williams will also be present.

Class-action law firm Hagens Bermans seeking more plaintiffs for its lawsuit against Apple and five publishers over illegal ebook price-fixing.

The publishers include HarperCollins, Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster—five of of the top names in the book publishing world.

via Lawsuit Filed Against Apple and Book Publishers Over Illegal Ebook Price Fixing.

It’s only natural for those locked out to despise the gatekeepers, but what about those of us in the reading public? Shouldn’t we be grateful that it’s someone else’s job to weed out the inane, the insipid, the incompetent? Not that they always do such a great job of it, given some of the books that do get published by actual publishers. But at least they provide some buffer between us and the many aspiring authors who are like the wannabe pop stars in the opening weeks of each “American Idol” season: How many instant novelists are as deluded as the singers who make with the strangled-cat noises believing they have Arethaen pipes?

via Cherish the Book Publishers—You’ll Miss Them When They’re Gone | Postmodern Times by Eric Felten – WSJ.com.

Google Inc. GOOG was sued for 9.8 million euros $14 million by three French publishers who said the search-engine company scanned books without permission.

Editions Albin Michel SA, Editions Gallimard SA and Flammarion claimed Google has scanned 9,797 copyright-protected works for its digital library. The publishers are seeking compensation of 10,000 euros per book, Google said today.

via Google Sued by French Publishers for $14 Million Over Books – Bloomberg.

A disappointing top ten this week, though Ghost Light is doing fairly well, no doubt boosted by the ongoing One City One Book campaign. Mary McEvoy’s memoir, dealing with her battle with depression, is the sole non-fiction title in the top ten this week though Philomena Lynott’s book on her son was pushed just outside to number 11.

1: Ghost Light, Joseph O’Connor, 1,644
2: Love and Marriage, Patricia Scanlan, 1,149
3: Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly, 812
4: How the Light Gets in:My Journey with Depression, Mary McEvoy, 756
5: Sing You Home, Jodi Picoult, 734
6: Homecoming, Cathy Kelly, 720
7: Room, Emma Donoghue, 709
8: The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas, 699
9: Stand by Me, Sheila O’Flanagan, 690
10: The Brightest Star in the Sky, Marian Keyes, 637

Top Ten Dynamics
IPN is running a top ten dynamics section looking at the top ten with some data drawn out. Nothing too dramatic, but useful nonetheless.

Volume: 8,850 Units
Decrease since last week: -1,181 units
% decrease since last week: -12.14%

~~
Fiction: 9 titles, 7794 units or 91.16%, RRP £9.77
Non-Fiction: 1 titles, 756 units or 8.84%, RRP £13.99

~~
Authors: 10 (one book is co-authored)
Irish Authors: 8, 80%
Irish Published Books: 0, 0%

~~
Average RRP: £10.19
Increase in RRP since last week: -£1.20
% Increase in RRP since last week: -10.54%*
*It is important to note that RRP does not reflect actually selling price.

Data Supplied by Nielsen BookScan taken from the Irish Consumer Market week ending 16th April 2011

The proposed Google Book Settlement has been rejected by Judge Chin in the United States District Court in the Southern District Of New York.

Having waited many months for a decision from the Judge, he did not leave the reader too long in doubt about his ruling saying in the second and third sentences of his judgement, ‘The question presented is whether the ASA is fair, adequate, and reasonable. I conclude that it is not.’

The ruling throws into doubt the future of the settlement though Judge Chin also pointed to a possible solution to the ruling saying, ‘As the United States and other objectors have noted, many of the concerns raised in the objections would be ameliorated if the ASA were converted from an ‘opt-out’ settlement to an ‘opt-in’ settlement. (See, e.q., DOJ SO1 23, ECF No. 922; Internet Archive Mem. 10, ECF No. 811). I urge the parties to consider revising the ASA accordingly.’

The settlement was negotiated following a decision by authors and publishers to sue Google for its decision to scan books without permission. It has seen a number of changes since it was originally proposed and has generated significant discussion and disagreement since it was first proposed.

The full ruling can be found here.

Publisher’s Weekly is reporting preliminary estimates from the Association of American Publishers that e-book sales from 16 reporting companies jumped 115.8% this January, totaling $69.9 million in the U.S.

And it’s bad news for paperback book publishers. Paperbacks were down 30.9% from the reporting companies, falling to $39.0 million, $30 million below the sales of e-books. Hardcover sales fell 11.3% in January.

e-book sales exploded by 116% this January, totaling $69.9 million in the U.S..