Hello my name is Chip. I am an account representative for Better World
Books. I moved to Alpharetta, GA to begin my journey with Better
World Books. Yesterday, I went to a coffee shop for two reasons:
1) They had free wi-fi
2) I wanted to make some new friends.
My plan went sour when I was informed by the coffee house wi-fi server
that I was not allowed to go to my intended website. Apparently, the
company is against online dating. I like online dating.
Online dating saves money. (That is if you use a free dating site)
I am a bit of a value fan. Some people say I am cheap but I
am not cheap. I am efficient. I’m not going to say what coffee shop I
was in but I’ll give you a hint. It is everywhere.
Plan A to meet people didn’t work.
As a 24 year old who has never been out of the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana (aside from Chicago, Illinois and Niles, Michigan, lame I know), I was pretty excited to hear that I had won the extra ticket to the Washington, DC Green Festival. I was pretty nervous, having never been on a plane or so far from home, so my anxiety was running a bit high. I spent literally 2 weeks packing for a 4 day trip… very OCD. Then the day to leave finally arrived.
All the way to the airport I was about to pass out from nerves. But as soon as I got on the plane (which was very tiny) I felt a little bit better. Then it started to move. Read more…
In honor of the upcoming movie release of the (awesome) graphic novel: Watchmen, our poll today is, can the movie ever stand up to the comic?
Some quotes from a story about Watchmen writer Alan Moore to help you think about it: “Moore said he has never watched any of the film adaptations of his comics creations (which have included “V for Vendetta,” “From Hell,” “Constantine” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen“) and that he believes “Watchmen” is “inherently unfilmable.” He also rues the effect of Hollywood’s siren call on the contemporary comics scene.
“There are three or four companies now that exist for the sole purpose of creating not comics, but storyboards for films. It may be true that the only reason the comic book industry now exists is for this purpose, to create characters for movies, board games and other types of merchandise. Comics are just a sort of pumpkin patch growing franchises that might be profitable for the ailing movie industry.”
Granted, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” was a positively awful film, but V for Vendetta was pretty sweet, and I have a soft spot for the original Spiderman as well. So, can it work?
Someone e-mails customer service. It’s an ARC book, featuring a Picasso lithograph. The email is forwarded to me, as I respond to ARC emails. Because I’m nosy, I look up the person making the enquiry. He is an art dealer in Beverly Hills. This is a very expensive book. That means a phone call.
I’m an infant in the rare book world, still happily grabbing at my toes and making delighted gurgly sounds when I find something cool. When I call the dealer about the book, I expect to learn more about the book than I will be able to tell him. I answered his questions; he suffered through my painful French as I read through the publishing information. I sent him a photograph. He bought the book. He also took the time to teach me why this book was important, what to look for in this kind of art book, and what resources would be helpful for the future.
So. . .
Being an infant, I’m insatiably curious. Read more…
The long awaited settlement for the Author’s Guild, AAP and Google is official. Under the settlement, “Google will have the right to make browsable copies of the books it has scanned through its Library Project as well as books scanned in through its regular Book Search program.”
As part of the $125 million settlement, Google will pay $45 million to settle the class action lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild. Authors whose books have already been scanned will receive at least $60 per work. Another $34.5 million will go toward the creation of a Book Rights Registry that will be responsible for building a database of rightsholders information and for disbursing all money generated through the use of books in Google Products and Services. (The remaining $45.5 million will go to legal and attorney fees). Under the deal, Google will receive 37% of revenue and rightsholders 63%. Publishers and authors will have 120 days to opt out of the settlement once the agreement receives approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, something that is expected to take several months.
“The City Council of New York officially declares the week of November 17, 2008 ‘National Book Awards Week in the City of New York’”
If you happen to be in the city that never sleeps this week, you can catch some incredible events, including a dinner with the various winners from the National Book Foundation (the rest of us can see updates as they happen at the website linked above). The crown jewel of prizes, the National Book Award, will be announced on Wednesday, and tomorrow there is a (sold out, sorry) reading by the finalists. They are as follows:
With the tense financial atmosphere, the insanity of the political season and the general stress of the upcoming holiday season, we figured what better time to talk about the Top Ten Comedy books. These books have serious laugh out loud value, sure to turn people’s heads as you cackle on your commute or at the coffee shop.
10. I Am America (And So Can You) (Stephen Colbert)
9. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Tom Stoppard) [dark but brilliant]
Check out our first ever print ad in GOOD Magazine on newsstands now. GOOD is a really well done bimonthly magazine about what is right in the world. What is really cool about GOOD? 100% of your subscription fees go to non-profit organizations like our friends at Room to Read or Dave Eggers’ 826.
Also in the issue is a new feature called GOOD Business. The GOOD Business section was done in partnership with B-Corporation. (Of which Better World Books is a founding B-Corp). The most interesting article for me was “What Nau?” about what went wrong with the clothing start-up Nau. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“Nau had gambled naively without a backup plan. But the company had come close to turning a corner. The clothes, the webfronts, the giving program, the bylaws—they all worked. The fundraising and the timing hadn’t. The irony, of course, is that a company so committed to sustainability was ultimately unsustainable. But not because of its principles. Rather, the mundane problems that plague most startups—lack of money and poor execution—had undermined Nau. Still, the brand had an impact in its short life span, accelerating the greening of the apparel industry and creating a new genre of outdoor clothing.”
Hello and welcome to the Better World Books Blog. Here you'll find author interviews, book reviews and general ramblings from employees of the "Online bookstore with a soul." But we didn't make this blog as a soapbox... talk back!
