By Belinda Otas LONDON: The Southbank is one of Europe’s largest arts centers and is celebrated worldwide for the diversity of its artistic programs. Similarly, a wide diversity of races, ethnicities and nationalities gathered in late October to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wasafiri, the acclaimed London-based magazine of contemporary international writing. Wasafiri is a Kiswahili word and translates as …
Global Trade Talk: Global Reactions to the Revised Google Book Settlement Range from Praise to Resentment
By Siobhan O’Leary and Ed Nawotka The revised Google Settlement has sparked a number of reactions, but notably, the strongest have been from Europe. Publishers Weekly explains that the revisions limit the settlement “to books that were either registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or published in the U.K., Australia or Canada,” thus limiting the agreement to the “four countries which …
Could EC Digitzation Debate Pave the Way for a Competitor to Google?
By Liz Bury LONDON: Deep in the Bodleian Library, the scholarly heart of Oxford University, England, is a locked room emitting, I imagine, a low hum. This is Google’s digitization suite, the control center of its scanning operation at the library, into which no Bodleian staffer may enter. That, at least, is the story doing the rounds among British librarians, …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: Will the UK Get Cheap Ebooks?; Munro Nixes Giller Prize
By Edward Nawotka Sony’s general manager for content and services development, Richard Palk, said that the UK would likely have to follow suit with US pricing of ebooks as the devices become more widespread in the UK. The Bookseller reports that publishers and booksellers are divided on the issue, with publishers setting prices as the same as hardcovers and while …
Weekly Recap: UKs Myebook, Caribbean Fiction, Tokyo Book Fair
Earlier this week Publishing Perspectives offered you stories you’re not likely to read anywhere else. If you missed any of them, please click on any of the links below. And then, if you like what you read, please forward the link to a friend and encourage them to sign up for our daily newsletter. (Read the recap in Chinese and …
UK’s Myebook Attracts DJs, Gamers, South Americans
By Edward Nawotka CHESHIRE, UK: User generated e-book sites are extremely popular in Asia, where widespread access to cheap broadband connections as well as cutting edge telephone and computer hardware have made them the preferred self-publishing platform for writers. The rest of the world is now picking up on the trend, with new sites launching seemingly every week. Myebook.com is …
Bonus Material: Man United vs Barcelona
Tomorrow night’s UEFA Champion’s League final match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome is expected to draw a television audience in excess of 100 million viewers. After all, it pits two of the most storied franchises in European football against each other in what many consider to be the most elite tournament in the world. It’s destined to be …