The PW Morning Report, March 19, 2009

By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 3/19/2009 5:32:00 AM

Thursday, March 19, 2009

A daily round-up of the latest publishing news: Dubya to Pen Memoir; Sony and Google in E-Book Library Deal; First Color E-Book Reader; Heaney Wins David Cohen Prize for Literature; Man Booker International Prize Finalists; and LA’s Cook’s Library Bookstore to Close

George W. Bush to Write Memoir, reports AP
The former president—the self-proclaimed "Decider"—will pen a book about "decisions," for Crown. Decision Points is scheduled for a 2010 release. The deal was brokered by Washington attorney Robert Barnett and financial details were not disclosed

Sony and Google in E-Book Library Deal, reports New York Times
In the constant battle to outflank Amazon, Sony and Google have entered into a deal to make a half million copyright-free books available for its Reader device, a rival to Amazon’s Kindle. And Sara Nelson in the Los Angeles Times takes an in-depth look at the corporate battle between Amazon and Sony

Fujitsu Set to Unveil First Color E-Book Reader, reports The Bookseller
The device, which displays up to 260,000 colors, goes on sale in Japan on April 20, priced at £730

Seamus Heaney Wins David Cohen Prize for Literature, reports Reuters
The Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet is rewarded for "the self-renewing force of his writing." Previous winners of the $56,000 award include fellow Nobel laureates V.S. Naipaul, Harold Pinter and Doris Lessing as well as Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge

Man Booker International Prize Finalists Announced, reports AP
The list of 14 finalists includes E.L. Doctorow, V.S. Naipaul, Peter Carey, Mario Vargas Llosa and Evan S. Connell

Cook’s Library Bookstore to Close in April, reports Los Angeles Times
Owner Ellen Rose told "Jacket Copy" that Amazon was to blame for the demise of her Los Angeles bookstore: "Bookstores are suffering," she said. "It’s pretty discouraging"