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Fans of reading and a certain galaxy far, far away have reason to rejoice: Star Wars Reads Day, a day-long celebration of literacy and Jedi, Sith, Wookiees, and all things Star Wars, is returning. The second annual Star Wars Reads Day is to be held this October 5, 2013. Last year, 30 authors and 1,500 costumed volunteers participated in over 1,200 Star Wars Reads Day events across North America. On October 5 of this year, Star Wars fans, authors, and artists will again come together in this multi-publisher initiative …

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Avalon Books today announced that Amazon Publishing has acquired the publication rights from Avalon Books to over 3,000 backlist titles predominantly in the Romance, Mystery and Western categories. Established in 1950 by Thomas Bouregy, Avalon Books has long been a home to writers specializing in wholesome entertainment across popular genres, such as Holly Jacobs, Carolyn Hughey and Carolyn Brown, whose book "The Ladies' Room" is nominated for a 2012 RITA by the Romance Writers of America.

Owning a Kindle just got a whole lot better for magic-loving Muggles.  Starting June 19, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is adding all seven Harry Potter books (in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL).  Harry Potter is the all-time best-selling book series in history, and Amazon has purchased an exclusive license from J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore to make the addition of these titles possible.

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a new Spanish-language eBook store within the Amazon.com Kindle Store, “eBooks Kindle en Español” (www.amazon.com/tiendakindle ), along with additional features specially implemented for U.S. Spanish-speaking customers like extensive help pages, and phone and email customer support in Spanish.

U.S. customers can now shop for Spanish-language books in the new store on Amazon.com, or set any Kindle device to access a customized shopping experience designed for books in Spanish. eBooks Kindle en Español offers customers the most Spanish-language bestsellers, as measured by Nielsen, including “El Alquimista” by Paulo Coelho, “Cien años de soledad” by Gabriel García Márquez and “Juegos del Hambre” by Suzanne Collins.

by Tatyana Sinioukov What is truly negotiable in terms of print contracts? Almost anything, according to Barbara Hagen, senior product specialist, C.J. Krehbiel, Cincinnati, OH, who spoke on the subject at the BookTech West session titled "The Clever Negotiator: Everyone Wins" session. Book publishers, she continued, just have to know how to better negotiate with vendors about a job. Hagen gave her audience a few pointers on perfecting their bargaining skills * Pick the right vendor for the right project. Make sure your vendors can provide all necessary services in house, Hagen suggested. If your cover is four-color, or, say, requires lamination, the vendor should be able