Time Inc.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is America's top businessman, at least according to Fortune's Magazine. Bezos beat out Apple's Tim Cook, Comcast's Brian Roberts and Steve Burke, eBay's John Donahoe and Larry Page it the magazine's annual Businessperson of the Year issue. He's a guy who took his love of books and turned it into an online empire, taking on the seemingly impervious retail book world. Now try to find a Barne's and Noble today.

Random House has acquired a book by Lena Dunham, the 26-year-old writer, actor and filmmaker, in one of the most heated auctions of the year.

The debut essay collection, “Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned,” was hotly pursued by publishers after Ms. Dunham, the writer and star of the HBO comedy “Girls,” circulated a 66-page proposal with color, illustrations and a humor that publishing executives predicted could produce another bestseller like Tina Fey’s blockbuster memoir, “Bossypants.”

I know many writers are hesitant to the idea of blogging. It feels like just another social media chore, but nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, blogging is probably the ONLY form of social media that 1) draws from a writer’s strengths and 2) doesn’t try to fundamentally change our personality.

Yes, as a social media Jedi, I will tell you that it’s a good idea to tweet and learn to use Facebook, but I’m also going to tell you something you already know.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., a record 280-plus top national and international authors and participants will join bibliophiles, booksellers and literary organizations on 14 stages at Borough Hall, Columbus Park, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights Public Library, Brooklyn Law School, the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church for the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival.

Around the time I started working in trade publishing, Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" was a huge bestseller, clocking sales at record rates. I was impressed, and still am, but my thinking on what these numbers meant was altered by the comment of a colleague: "Just because people are buying the book, doesn't mean they're reading it."

And, of course, it's true. Hawking's book was a trendy intellectual purchase. Drop a copy of this much-talked-about dense and brainy bestseller on your coffee table, and guests were sure to gain a favorable impression of your erudition. But speak knowledgably about black holes, quarks and antimatter? Mere ownership of the tome did not such conversations guarantee.

Recently I met with Paul Canetti of MAZ and wrote about our conversation. Here, with apologies, is a correction to the bio of Canetti provided regarding his work at Apple:

I'll admit that it still thrills me to walk past and gaze up, wide-eyed, at the Empire State Building. Nonetheless, no tourist am I (proven by the fact that three people so far have asked me for directions). I am here to do business.

We Book Business and Publishing Executive editors are a peripatetic lot. Earlier this week you heard from Jim Sturdivant reporting from New Bern, N.C. (Yes, he’s on vacation—what dedication!) Now I am in New York to meet with some of the speakers for our forthcoming Publishing Business Virtual Conference & Expo.

NEW YORK, NY – August 6, 2012 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced new NOOK Tablet customers will receive an instant free collection of exciting and beloved Disney eBooks as part of our NOOK Kids Summer Reading Program (www.nook.com/kids-summer-reading). This collection features a variety of NOOK Kids picture books along with interactive Read and Play™ and Read To Me™ titles featuring favorite Disney characters, perfect for families to read together. This limited time offer applies to new in-store purchases of both NOOK Tablet 16GB ($249) and NOOK Tablet 8GB ($199) at any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 stores nationwide.  This is the third collection of eBooks offered through the NOOK Kids Summer Reading Program, specially designed to keep children engaged in reading all summer long.

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 25, 2012 Hachette Book Group (HBG), a division of Hachette Livre, the world’s second largest book publisher, today announced the results of a validation audit confirming the company is accurately processing digital sales and providing correct reporting to its authors. The audit, which looked at sales from January 2012, validated Hachette’s systems and processes for managing digital sales received from dozens of eBook retailers and revealed that 100% of the sales have been processed and reported.

Springer, in collaboration with PCG (Publishers Communication Group) released a white paper, Scholarly eBooks: Understanding the Return on Investment for Libraries, today.  It is available for a free download from the Springer site.