LISNews: Librarian News

Libraries on Nova Scotia's South Shore are boycotting Random House, one of the world's largest book publishers, over what they call unfair e-book pricing.

The company began charging public libraries up to three times the retail price for downloadable books last month.

For example, the price for libraries for a copy of Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie spiked to $85 in late March from $30 in January, according to the South Shore Public Libraries website.

People can buy the same book for $20 to $25, through Random House, Google Books, Kindle or Amazon.

Troy Myers, CEO and chief librarian of South Shore Public Libraries, said the publishing powerhouse does not seem to be concerned about the loss of business so far, but he hopes the boycott will make a statement.

Full article

NYT article on kids and reading.

Excerpt: But is it better than a book? It may take a generation to ever know for sure, and even 10 or 20 years from now it will be debated as the effects of television or video games are still discussed today.

Julianna’s teacher, Kourtney Denning, sees e-books as essential. “Old books don’t really cut it anymore,” she said. “We have to transform our learning as we know it.”

Full article

Search-engine optimization reshaped the craft of a good headline. Will Amazon's book promotions have a similar effect on novels?

Full piece at The Atlantic

The Wall Street Journal (March 14, page D1) has an interesting article about what women read when there is no lurid cover on the book to embarrass them.

Electronic readers, and the reading privacy they provide, are fueling a boom in sales of sexy romance novels, or "romantica," as the genre is called in the book industry.
As with romance novels, romantica features an old-fashioned love story and pop-culture references like those found in "chick lit." Plus, there is sex—a lot of it. Yet unlike traditional erotica, romantica always includes what's known as "HEA"—"happily ever after."
Kindles, iPads and Nooks "are the ultimate brown paper wrapper," says Brenda Knight, associate publisher at Cleis Press, of Berkeley, Calif., a publisher of erotica since 1980.
Mainstream publishers are launching digital-only erotic labels to feed demand. At the end of the month, HarperCollins UK will launch Mischief Books, with the tag line "private pleasures with a hand-held device."

Read more about it at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450004577279622389208292.html?KEYWORDS=covers