TODAY'S NEWS

Trident's Gottlieb Charges European Publishers with Collusion
By Rachel Deahl
Are foreign publishers colluding to keep advances down? At least one American agent thinks so. Amid the regular appointments and deal-making in the rights centre at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one thing that has ignited chatter is an e-mail message that Trident chairman Robert Gottlieb sent to a number of foreign clients just before the Fair. The mass e-mail, which PW obtained and which was sent to editors in countries including Germany, Italy and Holland, claims there has been “an increased level” of collusion among foreign publishers.

“Trident Media Group feels the proper authorities in the EU Government need to be alerted to the fact that European Publishers are in fact market fixing in their respective countries,” the e-mail stated, “and restraining trade by colluding to prevent authors/agents from operating in a free and unencumbered publishing market.” While some foreign editors said they largely dismissed the e-mail, since they were not involved in collusion, one publisher characterized Gottlieb as “having gone mad." Others said that advances were dropping for various reasons, chief among them the global slump in the economy. Read on »

Culture Shock: Europeans Play the Moral Rights Card Against Google Settlement
By Andrew Albanese
There’s been a simmering anti-Google sentiment at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, no doubt connected to European objections to the Google Book Search Settlement. And today, that simmer reached a boil, as the deal faced harsh—at times, puzzling—criticism at a registration-required panel on “European and American Positions Towards the Google Settlement.”

The panel included Santiago De La Mora, Google director of book partnerships in Europe, and Christian Sprang of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. But the main event was between an outspoken European critic of the deal, German academic Roland Reuss, author of the Heidelberg appeal, and Bertelsmann Inc.'s Richard Sarnoff, one of the chief architects of the Google settlement. Read on »

Ray Kurzweil Teams with Baker & Taylor on New eReader Software
By Calvin Reid
Baker & Taylor announced a partnership with acclaimed scientist, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, CEO of Kurzweil Technologies, to supply digital content for K-NFB Reading Technology, a newly developed e-book reading software created by Kurzweil in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind. The software will be offered to consumers for free. B&T unveiled the software at the Frankfurt Book Fair with plans to launch the new reader in the U.S. at the end of November. Read on »

Amazon Responds to Wal-Mart Price War with New Delivery Options
By Lynn Andriani
Amazon has fired the most recent shot in the pricing war with Wal-Mart that broke out Thursday, by introducing same-day delivery in seven major cities and expanding its Saturday delivery options. After Walmart.com cut the price of its top 10 pre-ordered titles to $10 (which includes free shipping) on Thursday, Amazon followed suit, and yesterday, both retailers dropped pricing on those 10 titles down to $9. Now, Amazon has announced it will begin offering same-day delivery in Baltimore, Boston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C. (it already offers the service in New York). Read on »

As a Barnes & Noble Reader Nears, Retailer Closing Dalton
By Calvin Reid
Although Barnes & Noble, which has scheduled a press conference for next Tuesday, is not commenting, photos of what is rumored to be a B&N-sponsored digital reading device are showing up around the Internet at the Wall Street Journal.com, Wired.com, Gizmodo, the Huffington Post and elsewhere.

The device displayed seems much like the Kindle and the Sony Reader, except that it is said to offer both a black & white e-ink screen along with a small color LCD touchscreen just below. The device is said to have a 6” screen and run on Google’s Android operating system. No speculation on pricing as yet. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

A Closer Look at Disney Digital Books
Late last month, Disney Publishing Worldwide unveiled the launch of Disney Digital Books, and further details were announced during Disney’s presentation to the media on October 8. An online library of more than 500 classic and contemporary titles, Disney Digital Books was designed around three key components: an Interactive Reader, Look and Listen, and a Story Builder, which lets kids create their own books. Because Disney owns its own content, it has access to 25 franchises and plans to add 20 new titles each month to its subscription-based service. A monthly fee of $8.95 ($79.95 annual) gives access to the online library for one parent and three children. Read on »

Monday's Reviews Today: Tash Aw and Peter Hessler
In this week’s preview of Monday’s reviews, there’s an “exquisite and haunting” second novel from Tash Aw, Map of the Invisible World. The book follows a vibrant cast searching for a sense of home during the political upheaval of 1960s Indonesia; our starred review calls it an “epic story of loss and identity.” In nonfiction, there’s a starred review of Peter Hessler’s latest, Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory, which investigates China’s lurch into modernity. From the review: “a fascinating portrait of a society tearing off into the future with only the sketchiest of maps.” Read on »

The PW Morning Report: Friday, October 16, 2009
All the book and publishing news that’s fit to aggregate: Wal-Mart’s $10 Books; Google Editions; Jobs!; B&N’s Investor Conference; Reviewers Reviewed; Friedman’s Open Road; HuffPo on Frankfurt. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Where the Wild Things Are; Robert Lacey; The RZA
Today’s the opening of the movie Where the Wild Things Are, based on the Maurice Sendak classic, directed by Spike Jonze and starring Catherine Keener, Benicio Del Toro, Forrest Whitaker and Lauren Ambrose. Tie-ins include Where the Wild Things Are: The Movie Storybook by Barb Bersche and Michelle Quint (HarperFestival, 978-0061656866, $12.99). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Lust for Life
Author and photographer Robert Matheu and legendary rock star Iggy Pop discussed and signed copies of Matheu’s new book, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story (Abrams) at the Barnes & Noble in Tribeca, New York City, on October 13. Submit your pictures here »