The PW Morning Report, Dec. 17, 2007

By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 12/17/2007 5:14:00 AM

Monday, December 17, 2007

A daily round-up of the latest publishing news: S&S U.K.: "Best Year Ever"; Google Challenges Wikipedia; Columbia Joins Google; Book Baron Closes in Anaheim; Obits: Diane Wood Middlebrook, Allan Bérubé, Mrs. Aldous Huxley; Young Mandela; Arthur C. Clarke Is 90; Kite Runner Movie Controversy; and Madelyn Alt Gets Contract Extension

"Best Year Ever" For S&S U.K., reports The Bookseller
Jack Romanos: "This time we will not simply surpass our prior year performance, but we are on track to shatter by a wide margin our previous record for both sales and profits"

It’s Google Vs. Wikipedia, says Timesonline.com
New Google service—"knol," short for knowledge—set to challenge Wikipedia

Columbia University Joins Google, reports The Bookseller
Will become the latest publisher to use Google Book Search Library Project and will have its public domain titles digitized and available for full-text searching online

Another Old Time Indy Bookstore Bites the Dust, reports the Los Angeles Times
Book Baron of Anaheim calls it quits after 27 years

Obituaries: Diane Wood Middlebrook, Allan Bérubé, Mrs. Aldous Huxley
Middlebrook, biographer of poet Anne Sexton, dead at 68; Bérubé, 61, historian of gays in military; Mrs. Huxley dies at 96

Young Mandela
Six-figures paid for biography of the young South African revolutionary by investigative journalist David James Smith

Kite Runner Director Surprised by Controversy, reports the Hollywood Reporter
Marc Forster caught off-guard by the controversy surrounding the movie of the bestseller by Khaled Hosseini

Arthur C. Clarke Celebrates 90th Birthday, says Agence France Presse
Famed sci-fi author wishes peace for his adopted country, Sri Lanka

Madelyn Alt Gets Two Book Contract Extension, reports The New York Observer
Paranormal mystery novelist will do two more books for Penguin imprint Berkley Prime Crime in the Bewitching Mystery series