TODAY'S NEWS

Sony Intros Upgraded Reader
by Jim Milliot
At a New York press conference Thursday evening, Sony introduced a new version of its e-book reader. The Sony Reader PRS 700 will begin shipping in November and will be priced at $399. Among the most significant upgrades is a new touch screen that allows readers to select their reading choice by touching an icon on the screen and also lets readers turn pages by swiping their fingers across the screen. The 700 also has an advanced search function and new note-taking capabilities, and a reading light has been added. With additional storage capacity, the 700 can accommodate up to 350 e-books and will also play DRM-free music and spokenword audio. Read on »

Waterfront to Merge with Revolution Health Network
Waterfront Media is merging with the Revolution Health Network to form a new company that will include the online health sites from both companies. With the merger, the Everyday Health Network, operated by Waterfront, will include RevolutionHealth.com and all other online properties associated with RHN. The company will operate under the Waterfront name and Benjamin Wolin, a cofounder of Waterfront, will remain CEO. The New York Times reported that Waterfront, which partners with publishers and authors to created online portals for books, had sales of $50 million last year.

Thriller Novelist Lets Readers Virtually Visit Book Locales
By Lynn Andriani
By now it’s almost de rigueur for books—especially thrillers and suspense novels—to have their own book trailers. But novelist Clyde Ford has gone beyond the formula, creating a 20-minute film about his novel Precious Cargo narrated by actors including Morgan Freeman, and developing a new software system that allows readers to virtually visit locales in the book using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth.

Precious Cargo, which went on sale Sept. 9, is Ford’s fifth novel, and his first with Vanguard (he’d previously been published by Midnight Ink, an imprint of Llewellyn Publications; and the now-defunct MV Books). It features a character from Ford’s earlier books, a PI whose friends discover the body of an unidentified young woman impaled on the flukes of their boat anchor on Puget Sound, in Washington State. Ford said he was drawn to Vanguard because its “innovative collaborative relationship with [its] authors let me have a place at the table for important decisions about the production and promotion and marketing of the book.” Read on »

Monday's Reviews Today: Cyber Suspense & A Case for Evolution
In Daniel Suarez's "riveting" debut novel, Daemon, a brilliant, and recently deceased, head of a gaming company launches a devastating Internet war from beyond the grave that manipulates the world's computer systems to fulfill his diabolical bidding. Full of "thrills, chills and cybersuspense" this originally self-published novel "will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel." In Jerry A. Coyne's Why Evolution Is True the evolutionary geneticist "presents an overwhelming case for evolution" in a "wonderfully accessible style." Read on »

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AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Movies, Movies, Movies! Judy Blume; Blair Underwood
There's three movies opening today with book tie-ins: How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, by Toby Jones (Da Capo Press, $14.95; Brilliance Audio abridged CD, $26.95); Blindness, by José Saramago (Harvest Books, $15; BBC Audiobooks America unabridged CD, $29.95); and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Disney Press, $4.99). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Coben's Aussie Connection
On Tuesday the Australian singer Missy Higgins posed for a photo with Harlan Coben at the Borders on Park Avenue. Coben was in town promoting his novel, Hold Tight (Dutton), and the two did a joint performance at the bookstore. (Coben is a fan of Higgins and some of her songs are mentioned in his novel.) Submit your pictures here »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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