Barnes & Noble has canceled a 10,000 copy order to punish a publisher for giving Amazon.com a short exclusive window on a soon-to-be-published book about Barack Obama.

According to Associated Press’s Hillel Italie, Chelsea Green, a small Vermont publisher, gave Amazon and its wholly owned on-demand print division BookSurge, an exclusive window to distribute Robert Kuttner’s “Obama’s Challenge” at the Democratic Convention next week in Denver. Chelsea Green’s action put B&N’s nose so far out of joint that it canceled a very big order. Smaller bookstores were reported to be equally ticked off, but none has the clout to hurt a small press the way B&N does, and B&N wielded its battle ax with a will.

This is just the latest skirmish in the escalating warfare between bookstores – in particular the behemoth B&N chain – and Amazon, and this time the publisher couldn’t – or wouldn’t – get out of the line of fire.

Chelsea Green President Margo Baldwin was defiant about Barnes & Noble’s action: “They are not going to bully us and the book will be a huge success in spite of their boycott.”

Read the whole story.

– Richard Curtis

In Part 1 of this two-part article, we introduced a term commonly heard in discussions of book deals: “escalator.” Escalators are additional advance payments made by publishers to authors if and when certain contingencies occur. What are those contingencies? How much are they worth? And what, if anything, is their real value? We homed in on bestseller bonuses. In Part 2 we focus on award, book club, movie and other types of escalators.

Best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman has recorded special introductions for each of seven classic novels in the audio edition of Fritz Leiber’s classic Lankhmar fantasy series. Listen to Gaiman describe the importance of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories and how they influenced him as a young writer.

The e-book edition of the series is published by E-Reads, the print edition by Dark Horse.

RC

In Lens of the World, the first novel of an action-packed and liltingly written trilogy, award-winning fantasist R. A. MacAvoy’s dwarfish hero Nazuret embarks on an adventure that will take him through a lifetime of challenges. His story is filled with surprising rewards and amazing adventures. By the hands of Powl, mentor, madman, and lens grinder, he is put to extreme mental and physical test and is blessed with knowledge. He embarks upon a journey to his destiny through war, darkness, and death. He is determined to emerge beyond the tiny status he was given at birth.

Here’s what Library Journal said about it:

In this, the first volume of a fantasy series, MacAvoy does not merely set the stage, hint at a plot to be unveiled later, or tease readers with suggested themes. Instead, she presents a fully developed novel that preserves interesting territory to be explored in the future. The plot crosses the classic quest fantasy with the bildungsroman, and the novel is composed in the epistolary style. Nazhuret, a child seemingly without family, is the ward of a military school for the sons of nobility. As an adolescent, he finds himself propelled into a weird relationship with the mysterious Powl. Their meeting is a memorable set-piece worthy of Poe. Nazhuret’s re-education under Powl involves trials to make the most hardworking student shudder. At the end of it, Powl sends Nazhuret into the world, a kind of beggar/philosopher, a lens-grinder on tour. It is here that MacAvoy’s intent becomes clear, because Nazhuret is indeed, for readers, the lens of the world, the optic through which they see the mysterious, shifting ambiguities that create a reality. This is a plot and a theme and a character so rich that revelations would be unforgivable. Add to these one of the most surprising supporting characters and plots in years and a fantasy setting that is always intriguing but never intrusive and you have a book that readers won’t want to end. –Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It will be hard for you to set the trilogy aside after the first book, so let me summarize the sequels.

King of the Dead follows the story of dwarf-like Nazhuret, a modest and fastidious lens grinder. Although he could have chosen an exalted and wealthy life as a noble member of the court, he wishes to live in humble and undisturbed poverty with his lady Arlin. But the ordinary life that Nazhuret wants is abruptly shattered when a vicious attack by paid assassins forces him to run. With possible enemies on all sides, the only place to go is the neighboring kingdom of Rezhmia, where Nazhuret has an ancient blood-tie. However, he finds that Rezhmia is no safe haven, for dark clouds are gathering there, intent on destruction of the homeland of Nazhuret’s heart. Evil tidings, treacherous family members and powerful sorcery threaten to overtake him, but Nazhuret must survive for the sake of those he loves.

In the climactic Belly of the Wolf, Nazhuret embarks on his final adventure. He must unwillingly end a long period of exile and once again take up the sword in defense of freedom. His old friend the King is suddenly and unexpectedly assassinated, leaving the kingdom in chaos. Nazhuret interrupts the peace of his old age to endure the horrors of war and the supernatural realm of the dead. Before his journey comes to an end, he must test his wisdom to its limit in the face of danger and treachery. He is accompanied by his beloved daughter Nahvah and, as Nazhuret’s final debt of honor is paid, he faces the darker side of human nature with both of their lives at stake.

R.A. MacAvoy is a highly acclaimed author of imaginative and original science fiction and fantasy novels. Her debut novel, TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON, won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She has also written the DAMIANO trilogy, the chronicles of a wizard’s young son, set during the Italian Renaissance; THE BOOK OF KELLS, and TWISTING THE ROPE, the highly acclaimed sequel to TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON. Some of these books are available as E-Reads reprints and we hope to have all of them available within the year.

– Richard Curtis

You can enjoy sex through midlife and well into your golden years. It’s all in Sensual Rejuvenation: Maintaining Sexual Vigor Through Midlife and Beyond by Judith Sachs. This unique guide provides important information on age-related changes in sexual function and offers a wide range of medical, holistic, and psychological tips and techniques that can relight your fire. Don’t miss… testosterone cream that restores a woman’s libido; zinc, the most important mineral for male potency, and all the must-have nutrients; the best herbal alternatives to Viagra; ways to fulfill sexual needs if there is illness or disability; stimulating exercises to make sex feel great.

Download Sensual Rejuvenation as an e-book, and watch amazon.com for the print edition.

In New York City, an average of eleven fires are reported every hour of the day and night, 365 days a year. Now, Peter Micheels brings you the stories behind the news reports as America’s courageous firefighters tell their stories in their own words. Micheels is a staff psychologist at Bellevue Hospital. He is also an honorary Fire Marshall and an honorary Deputy Chief in the Fire Department of New York.

Braving the Flames is the real story of the men and women whose lives are dedicated to answering the calls for help. Intense and terrifying, Micheels’ book chronicles the experiences of those who give their blood and sweat to save lives, sometimes at the cost of their own. Some of those interviewed by Micheels for this book paid the ultimate price on September 11, 2001.

– Richard Curtis

A term commonly heard in discussions of book deals is “escalator.” For instance, “Her book was bought for an advance that, with escalators, could exceed $1 million.” Escalators are additional advance payments made by publishers to authors if and when certain contingencies occur. What are those contingencies? How much are they worth? And what, if anything, is their real value? Click here to find out.

Charlie Sorrel reviews, in Wired’s Gadget Lab, the Stanza, a free version of the Mac ebook reading software, and gives it high marks. Read “how to turn your iPhone into a mini-Kindle.”

“I really like this application,” writes Sorrel. “It means you can quite literally carry a small library in your pocket. The one problem is that, unlike the Kindle, you can’t buy new titles direct from the iPhone. Stanza supports most e-book formats, so if you buy a .mobi book, for example, you’ll be able to read it. But imagine if you could browse Amazon and buy things directly. It might kill the Kindle, but Amazon would sell a lot of e-books.”

When asked in January 2008 why he hadn’t built e-reads software into v. 1 of the iPhone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs sneered, “People Don’t Read Anymore.” Anybody think he’ll sing a different tune now?

RC

Amazon has filed a motion to have the antitrust lawsuit filed last May by BookLocker thrown out. Publisher BookLocker launched the suit when Amazon started leaning on print on demand publishers to use its subsidiary BookSurge to print their titles or risk having deactivated the Buy buttons for the books they sell on Amazon.com. For a fuller description, click on this article by Jim Milliott in PublishersWeekly.com. And for a blow by blow click here and read details of the opponents’ filings.

For background on the issue, you can read Richard Curtis’s blog The Nine Gazillion Pound Gorilla Bears its Fangs.

After traveling the country and listening to women’s most common health problems, Dr. Marianne Legato, one of the nation’s leading advocates for women’s health, answers these common questions and more in What Women Need to Know. This revolutionary book teaches women how to ask their doctors the right questions and leave the office satisfied. Dr. Legato is also the author of The Female Heart, a book that dispels myths that heart disease is only a male problem. Her co-author on both books is Carol Colman, one of the country’s leading medical writers.

“[A] well-organized book that is authoritative without being authoritarian. Many women will especially welcome finding straightforward answers to questions they feel would seem too silly or too embarrassing to ask in person.”
-—Publishers Weekly