BAM Launches E-bookstore
Books-A-Million has quietly launched an e-bookstore and digital audio site at booksamillion
.com. According to BAM, the e-bookstore has "hundreds of thousands of downloadable titles" that "are compatible with a wide variety of reading platforms including PCs, Macs, and various e-readers." The site includes an e-book bestsellers list and a wide variety of prices.
Apple Opens Canadian iBookstore
Apple opened an iBookstore in Canada last week with titles from both Canadian and U.S. publishers.
DC Comics Closes Zuda.com
DC Comics is shutting down Zuda.com, a Web site originally started to solicit and launch original Web comics, some of which were turned into print editions. Ron Perazza, DC's v-p of creative services, said Zuda's comics series will continue to be available through the new DC Comics app as well as Comixology's general comics storefront app and through the Sony PSP network. The Zuda site was launched in 2007 to spotlight original Web comics through competition. Members of the Zuda.com online community voted on the comics they liked best and those were given extended runs on the Zuda site. Although it did generate some print books, it also encountered problems, and DC suspended new submissions in April.
More Amazon Kindle Initiatives
Continuing to update its Kindle e-reading device, Amazon unveiled an updated model of its large-format Kindle DX reader with sharper image quality and a graphite covering for $379, a much lower price than the previous version of the Kindle DX. Amazon is also releasing a set of Kindle widgets, a new embeddable Web application for previewing Kindle titles in a Web browser.
‘Mockingjay' Run Upped
Scholastic has increased the first printing of Mockingjay, the third and final book in Suzanne Collins's dystopian Hunger Games trilogy, to 1.2 million copies. Mockingjay will be released August 24, and Collins will begin a 12-city tour on that date. Additionally, the trade paperback edition of The Hunger Games went on sale in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, with a 500,000-copy first printing.
The Griffins Hit the Grove
On June 30, Kathy Griffin and her mom, Maggie, did a joint book signing at Barnes & Noble's L.A. location in the Grove at Farmers Market. Some 200 people showed up, and the younger Griffin dressed in a muumuu as a cheeky homage to her 90-year-old mother. Kathy was signing copies of her memoir, Official Book Club Selection (Ballantine), while Maggie Griffin signed her new book, Tip It!: The World According to Maggie (Hyperion).
