Literacy/Reading

SIBA video highlights print books and indies; California tax on out-of-state retailers brings in $260M; Chandler Arnold appointed COO of First Book; Ingram Publisher Services welcomes seven new clients

With Wednesday night’s announcement of the titles for the April 23, 2014, celebration of World Book Night in the U.S., the application process has opened for those who would like to be part of the event’s army of 25,000 volunteer book givers.

2013 Nobel Prize in Literature goes to Alice Munro; NBA finalists to be announced October 16 on Morning Joe; E-reader and tablet use increases among adults; Self-publishing continues to grow; WNBA’s 2013 writing contest open; Ingram to distribute to Russia

More than 250,000 people are expected to flock to this November’s Miami Book Fair International, which was first held 30 years ago, when “Miami was a fairly bleak place,” said event co-founder Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books.

Bill to limit Amazon’s advantage moves forward in France; Reading Group Choices’ 2014 guide out now; National survey details reading habits; NRF predicts modest growth during holidays; Consumers use smartphones, tablets to shop; California Bookstore Day website live; NCAC in New York Times Sunday Dialogue; Thurber Prize goes to Dan Zevin; Penguin Random House merges audio; HarperCollins joins Scribd’s e-book subscription service; Chronicle Books goes green; BISG announces new mission statement, industry award winners, F+W Media partnership

World Book Night U.S. is partnering with Shindig to announce the titles for next year’s celebration via video chat on October 23, 2013, as well as to conduct a month-long WBN countdown in March/April 2014.

More than 100 independent bookstores are receiving funds from author James Patterson’s College Book Bucks program, which awards college-bound high school seniors with gift certificates ranging from $250 to $1,000 to be spent at an IndieBound-affiliated bookstore of their choice. 

Booksellers interested in becoming 2014 World Book Night host stores can sign up now via an online form, which also spells out the five obligations of a host store.

A new addition to the array of resources available to stores celebrating Banned Books Week (September 22 - 28) is a banned books list compiled by ABFFE that highlights a greater number of recent titles in addition to classics.

Maine and Missouri enact affiliate nexus laws; SIBA launches read-aloud program Parapalooza; Man Booker Prize longlist revealed; Romance Writers of America announces RITA, Golden Heart winners; Student spending on textbooks increases; ABFFE asks for transparency from Congress; Amazon loses battle to acquire .amazon Internet suffix

On Tuesday, July 16, World Book Night U.S. opened the book nomination process and announced key dates in the run up to the third annual giveaway of thousands of special edition books on April 23, 2014.

Utah celebrates Independents Week in a big way; Buthod named SIBA One Book at a Time organizer; Amazon’s tax affairs in U.K. deterring shoppers; LibraryReads launches this fall; Senators express concerns over Patriot Act surveillance programs; Authors lose class certification in lawsuit against Google; Hachette acquires Hyperion adult imprint; Ingram integrates Hachette Livre titles

Bedtime Math provides free party kit for National Pajama Party Week; IngramSpark to offer publish on demand platform; World Book Night adds university partners; Penguin Group rolls out book truck and pushcart; Ingram partners with Courier Corporation

The results of a World Book Night survey are in, and 98 percent of this year’s book givers reported being very satisfied with their experience. 

World Book Night titles sales jump; Goodreads alternative Riffle now open to public; American Express study looks at small business owners’ purchasing; O’Reilly cancels Tools of Change conference; Memorial service planned for Bryan Pearce of University Bookstore