The Last B. Dalton Closes, Philip K. Dick's Estate Sues Google, and More

by Staff
1.8.10

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:

Vodafone and digital book service provider GoSpoken.com launched a mobile book superstore (Booktrade).

Plastic Logic's Que proReader and Samsung's new line of e-readers debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The Guardian celebrates some of the great writers who died in the last decade.

After nearly forty-four years and a zenith of almost 800 stores, the last B. Dalton Bookseller will close its doors this month in Minnesota (Star Tribune).

Philip K. Dick's estate plans to sue Google over its decision to brand its new mobile phone the Nexus One (Telegraph).

Retail book sales dropped 3 percent in 2009, according to Nielsen Bookscan (Publishers Weekly). 

E-book distributor OverDrive announced that it has added 1,700 international booksellers, publishers, and libraries to its network (Strategyeye).

In contrast to yesterday's news that Barnes & Noble suffered a 5 percent drop in holiday sales, many indy bookstores in the U.S. and U.K. increased sales or held steady over the holidays. 

Metrophobia (otherwise known as the fear of poetry) may finally be on the wane, according to Huffington Post.