Target

Target wants to help host your book club - online. As the retailer works to build a more competitive e-commerce experience, it's partnering with a startup e-book subscription service called Librify to give customers an online platform for buying, sharing, and discussing their favorite books.

After two decades operating one of the industry's most aggressive and successful anti-piracy programs, the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, announced today that it is significantly expanding its enforcement efforts.  SIIA will now target a broad range of intellectual property violations on behalf of both software and content publishers.

Recently my friend Mike Shatzkin asked me to participate in a panel on Amazon at Digital Book World. Mike asked all the panelists a question that I want to attempt to answer at greater length than I was able to at the conference. The question was in two parts:  first, how much more market share can Amazon amass before it slows down or is stopped? Second, who can put together a meaningful merchandising service that could take share from Amazon?

The future of book publishing is changing rapidly and now, more than ever, book publishers are asking, "What's next?" This question was top-of-mind in day two of the Digital Book World Conference and Expo. Yesterday's headline event, the CEO Roundtable, delved into this head on, discussing the future of the ebook. Book discovery is a huge part of that future, and the road forward, the panelists asserted, is not an easy one.

Diana Dawson has over the years bought her twin children digital cameras, e-book readers and media players as Christmas presents. This holiday season, she's covering those bases with one device: a tablet computer.

"They do it all," Dawson said outside an Apple Inc. store in Walnut Creek, California, after buying iPads for her now 27-year-old daughters.

Dawson’s purchasing underscores the changes roiling the consumer-electronics market. While the industry once benefited from year-end sales in categories from cameras to printers to desktop personal computers, this holiday period brings the clearest signs yet that

Look around. Games are everywhere. Start with that carton of orange juice in your fridge, which might advertise it's worth three points, redeemable for discounts and prizes. It's a game. What about frequent-flier miles, which are games that reward loyalty? Mega Millions, Powerball, Take Five and other state lotteries? Games. Nissan has an in-car gaming system that encourages drivers to compete for best efficiency levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). Talk about a mobile game. You could look at Twitter as a game, the pay off being more and more followers and greater numbers of retweets the more you use it.

As diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk and retailer Target become the latest companies to distance themselves from Paula Deen, her recipes are still number one y'all.

Fans have ensured the embattled chef's upcoming book, “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” is already a best seller.

The tome has reached the number one spot on Amazon's best sellers list and is currently second on Barnes & Noble's Top 100 list. Huge interest for a book that's not scheduled to be released until October 15.

NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the launch of NOOK Press, a new and innovative self-publishing platform offering authors a fast, easy and free way to write, edit, collaborate and publish the highest quality eBooks and directly distribute them to millions of avid readers. By removing the technology barrier from self-publishing and offering easy-to-use tools for writing, editing and publishing eBooks, NOOK Press makes it even easier for authors to focus on writing and reaching new readers. To get started today, visit www.nookpress.com.

Google is prepping a shopping service competitor to Amazon Prime, reported TechCrunch Tuesday. Named Google Shopping Express, the service will undercut Amazon in price to bring customers expedited delivery on orders for goods placed online from retailers...

Livrada, a company developing new types of e-book gift cards, has raised a seed round of funding. Combined with earlier support from friends and family, the company has now raised a total of $1 million.

The startup’s first products were gift cards for specific e-book titles sold in Target and other stores. So if you want to buy something for a bookworm friend who’s embraced e-reading, you can essentially give them a specific book, not just a generic gift card to Amazon or the iBookstore.