Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
The Justice Department filed a brief criticizing the Google Books Settlement, saying that the Web giant's plans to create a digitized library and bookstore would grant it a monopoly over millions of titles, the New York Times reported. The Telegraph explored the potential impact of Google's proposed project on publishers, authors, and Web users.
In another challenge to Amazon, Hachette Book Group, publisher of the wildly popular Twilight series, announced plans to join Macmillan in switching to an agency model for e-book pricing. (Business Week)
The U.K. Booksellers Assocation announced the startling news that, on average, almost two independent bookstores closed every week in the U.K. in 2009. (Bookseller)
On this side of the pond, a celebrated rare bookstore in New York City closed last week, the New York Daily News reported, while second-hand bookstores in Seattle are optimistic about maintaining their place in the community in the era of e-books. (Spectator)
In response to criticism from the Authors Guild, Macmillan announced plans to increase e-book royalty rates to 25 percent, though the Guild wants that number to keep rising.
Dates have been announced for the 2010 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, which will take place over four days in October in Newark, New Jersey.
The Los Angeles Times looks into the future of printed literary journals.
Apple's iPad is set to be released in the U.K. in late March. (Bookseller)
The New York Public Library is reducing hours in two-thirds of its branches because of budget cuts. (Library Journal)
