A daily roundup of book and publishing news from across the Web: Obama Discloses Book Advance; Is the iPad Driving E-Book Piracy?; Kindle Goes on a Hiring Spree; Hachette wins three U.K. Bookseller Industry Awards; 'Seabiscuit' Author Returns; Printed Guidebooks Still Sell; Yiddish Novelist's Archives May Open.
Barack Obama’s two books–Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope–made the president a rich man, and last year, he got $500,000 richer with an advance to shrink Dreams from My Father down for middle schoolers and young adult readers.
Is the iPad Driving E-Book Piracy, and Does It Matter?
E-book piracy is still a small problem. Right now it’s a very geeky pastime, which is reflected in the skew of titles (Getting Things Done, Freakonomics and The Tipping Point seem to be most popular). But where geeks go first, the general public will follow, says Wired.
With a Kindle Hiring Spree, Amazon Gears Up for Battle With Apple
Lab 126, the division of Amazon responsible for building the Kindle, has been on a hiring binge, with dozens of new job listings on its Web site. Some are positions for testing and readying new products. And this suggests that the company might be preparing a new device.
Hachette Wins Three at Nibbies
Hachette was the big winner at the inaugural Bookseller Industry Awards clinching three prizes, while Foyles was awarded chain bookseller of the year, The Bookseller reports.
‘Seabiscuit’ Author Has New Book
The NYT reveals that the second book by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand will be out in November. The book, Unbroken, is the story of Louis Zamperini, a WW2 bombardier who crashed into the Pacific, was marooned on a raft and survived for 47 days until he was captured by the Japanese and held as a prisoner of war for more than two years.
Printed Guidebooks Still Going Strong
The Seattle Times finds that even as more guidebook publishers, travel websites and others make travel information available online, publishers say they expect sales of guidebooks — the paper-and-ink kind — to remain strong.
In Yiddish Author’s Papers, Potential Gold
Now that the widow of Yiddish novelist and poet on the Holocaust Chaim Grade has died, the contents of the Grades’ book-cluttered second-floor apartment in the north Bronx may soon be opened to scholars and publishers, says the NYT.
