Books in the news!

There was an interesting article in The Guardian, discussing whether e-books are failing to take off because there isn’t enough piracy. I’m not convinced, I think it is probably due to the fact that reading books is much more pleasurable, and the e-book readers are so expensive.

The Telegraph tells the story of an author that flies 600 miles to deliver a book on Christmas Day – well that’s one way to gain publicity!

Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to a mad new law that that been brought into operation in America. The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act It is supposed to protect children from being poisoned by lead in toys and games, but I don’t think anyone has thought it through properly. It is being retrospectively applied to everything that has ever been produced for children, leading to large numbers of toys, games and books being destroyed.

It is also a minefield for people like me who sell books to America. What am I supposed to do if someone in America orders a children’s book from me? Do I have to have it tested for lead? Should I refuse the order? Or do I risk a fine, or other penalty for importing dangerous children’s books into the US. If anyone has any children’s books that need destroying, then I’d like to offer to rescue them for you -just let me know, and I’ll give them a good home!

This story is also discussed on Semicolon’s blog here.