TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon Highlights: Kindle in Stock; Does Collect Tax
by Jim Milliot
Sales in Amazon’s North America media group, which includes book sales, rose 21.7% to $1.20 billion. Total company sales increased 37.1%, to $4.13 billion and net income increased from $111 million to $143 million. The e-tailer had little to say about the sales performance of books, though it noting that the number of e-book titles compatible with the Kindle is now at 115,000 compared to 90,000 at its November launch. Chairman Jeff Bezos said after working hard to increase manufacturing capacity the Kindle is now in stock. The company has had a difficult time keeping up with demand since the e-reader was introduced. Read on »

Square One Signs Movie Deal with Ang Lee
by Jim Milliot
The first memoir published by the largely nonfiction house Square One Publishers has turned into the company’s first film deal. Yesterday, Square One signed with Focus Features and award-winning director Ang Lee for the two to produce and release a feature film based on Taking Woodstock, by Elliot Tiber with Tom Monte. “I always thought the narrative in this book would make for a good movie,” said Square One publisher Rudy Shur, “but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be directed by Ang Lee.” Lee’s credits include Brokeback Mountain and last year’s Lust, Caution.The screenplay will be written by Focus CEO James Schamus. Read on »

Spitzer Book Making the Rounds
by Matthew Thornton
Liz Darhansoff at Darhansoff, Verrill & Feldman is out with a proposal for a book on the rise and fall of disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer; the author is Peter Elkind, Fortune writer and coauthor of a book about the Enron debacle, The Smartest Guys in the Room. According to several industry sources, Darhansoff already has a floor in place said to be around $350,000, although it's not confirmed whether the floor-holder is Portfolio, option-holder and publisher of the Enron book.

Sentinel Acquires Huckabee Book
By Rachel Deahl
Sentinel has signed another political heavy. After acquiring Donald Rumsfeld's memoir earlier this month, the Penguin imprint has gotten its hands on a forthcoming title from former Republican presidential hopeful (and Arkansas Governor) Mike Huckabee.

The deal, for world rights with audio, for the currently untitled work was brokered by Frank Breeden of Premiere Authors Literary Agency. Sentinel senior editor Tim Sullivan will edit; the book is slated for a November 18 publication. Read on »

NetGalley Signs St. Martin's, Hachette; Will Officially Launch at BEA
By Lynn Andriani
Rosetta Solutions formally announced its new product and service, NetGalley, today. The online initiative will launch at BEA, with the mission of connecting publishers and “professional readers,” and streamlining the galley distribution process. NetGalley will enable book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers, educators and others to access and share content and information about new titles. Publishers that have already signed on to a pilot program include St. Martin’s, Hachette Book Group, Bloomsbury USA and Sourcebooks. Those houses will submit their advance fall titles to PW through NetGalley. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

Books Fall at Meredith
Meredith’s book group continues to struggle. In brief remarks about the group in its third quarter conference call, executives said its book operation has been “impacted by weak sales and higher than anticipated returns due primarily to inventory reduction activities at key retailers. We are focusing on content, distribution, and cost control initiatives to improve the financial performance of our retail operation.” After briefly trying to expand the scope of the publishing program, the book group has gone through two rounds of downsizing in an effort to return its focus to its core areas of cooking, food and gardening. The most recent cuts came at the beginning of the year.

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Little Family, Big Values; The Most Decadent Diet Ever!; Please Don't Remain Calm
Today, Oprah hosts the Roloff family, stars of TLC's popular reality TV show Little People, Big World and authors of Little Family, Big Values: Lessons in Love, Respect, and Understanding for Families of Any Size (Fireside, $12.95), recently out in paperback. Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Getting Goosebumps
On Tuesday R.L. Stine stopped by the Today Show to promote his new Goosebumps HorrorLand series (Scholastic). First Lady Laura Bush, who co-hosted the third hour of the show, interviewed Stine on camera. Pictured here, with various Goosebumps fans, are (l. to r.): Ann Curry; Laura Bush; Al Roker; Jenna Bush; and Stine. Submit your pictures here »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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