America’s favorite librarian to launch a line of her most beloved,
out-of-print books with Amazon Publishing
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 2012--
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust
Rediscoveries series, a line of Pearl’s favorite, presently out-of-print
books to share with readers hungry for her expert recommendations. Book
Lust Rediscoveries will publish approximately six books a year and will
be made available for sale in print editions via Amazon.com and as
audiobooks via Amazon.com and Audible.com, at bookstores, wholesalers
and libraries nationwide and as eBooks in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore).
Pearl’s literary agent, Victoria Sanders of Victoria Sanders &
Associates LLC, represented her in this deal. To learn more about Book
Lust Rediscoveries, visit www.amazon.com/BookLustRediscoveries.
Nancy Pearl has been recommending books to readers for decades, and her
best-selling book “Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment
and Reason,” contains approximately 1800 book recommendations. A large
portion of these books were either out-of-print or permanently out of
stock. Pearl received numerous letters from readers who were eager to
read these books, but were having great difficulty finding copies. This
dilemma inspired Pearl’s idea to republish a series of her recommended
books, complete with an introduction written by Pearl, a list of
discussion questions for book groups and suggestions for other titles
that may also appeal to the reader.
Called “the talk of librarian circles” by the New York Times and perhaps
the only librarian to be immortalized as an action figure, Nancy Pearl
has become a rock star among readers and the tastemaker people turn to
when deciding what to read next. Having worked as a librarian and
bookseller in Detroit, Tulsa and Seattle, Pearl’s knowledge of and love
for books is unmatched. In 1998, she developed the program “If All of
Seattle Read the Same Book,” which spread across the country. The former
Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book, Pearl
celebrates the written word by speaking at bookstores and libraries
across the country and on her monthly television program Book Lust with
Nancy Pearl on the Seattle Channel. She is also a regular commentator
about books on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and NPR
affiliate stations KUOW in Seattle, WPR in Wisconsin and KWGS in Tulsa.
In 2004, Pearl became the 50th winner of the Women’s National
Book Associates Award for her extraordinary contribution to the world of
books. In 2011, Pearl received both the Library Journal’s Librarian of
the Year award, and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I’m thrilled that Book Lust Rediscoveries makes it possible to
republish many of my all-time favorite novels, all of which have long
been out of print,” said Nancy Pearl. “Helping these wonderful books
find new readers is, for me, a joy and a delight. I was blown away by
Amazon Publishing’s enthusiasm for the project and the extent to which
they really understood what I wanted to do.”
“Any book lover would jump at the chance to work with Nancy Pearl, but
this project is especially close to our hearts since it’s about
rediscovering and republishing great books, which was the tenet of our
first imprint, AmazonEncore,” said Victoria Griffith, Publisher, Amazon
Publishing, Seattle. “We look forward to working with Nancy to share
these wonderful, worthy books with a broader audience.”
The first two books to be published in the Book Lust Rediscoveries
series, with descriptions from Nancy Pearl, are:
-
“A Gay and Melancholy Sound” by Merle Miller: Summing up this
book is difficult – it’s almost 600 pages, for one thing, so there’s a
lot going on. Basically, Joshua Bland tells the story of his life
growing up in small-town Iowa as a child prodigy to his career as a
theater producer and his most recent divorce: a life marked by a
failure to love and be loved. The writing is spectacular but not
showy; the narrator’s emotional pain is palpable; and it’s the sort of
novel that readers of literary fiction will enjoy.
-
“After Life” by Rhian Ellis: From its terrific opening line,
“First, I had to get his body into the boat,” readers will be drawn
into the life of Naomi Ash, and her mother, a psychic. After fleeing
their home in New Orleans after a séance has gone badly awry, mother
and daughter resettle in a community in upstate New York that’s filled
with traffickers in the supernatural. Enter grad student and love
interest Peter Morton, mix the plot lines adroitly, and you end up
with a charming novel that’s part psychological thriller, partly a
story of mothers and daughters, and partly something entirely original.
Nancy Pearl has committed to donate a portion of the proceeds from the
sales of books in the Book Lust Rediscoveries to the Nancy Pearl
Endowment for Public Librarianship at the University of Washington’s
Information School. “A Gay and Melancholy Sound” is scheduled to publish
on April 3, 2012, and “After Life” is scheduled for June 5, 2012, both
by AmazonEncore. Amazon Publishing is the publishing arm of Amazon, and
is made up of six imprints: AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, The Domino
Project, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer and 47North, as well as the
New York-based division. For more information about imprints of Amazon
Publishing, visit www.amazon.com/amazonpublishing.
Amazon Publishing is a brand used by Amazon Content Services LLC.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web
Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most
compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced
electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright
sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an
easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages,
search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most
advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line
e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch,
with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the
Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and
web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud,
Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated
web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core
processor.
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www.amazon.fr,
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and www.amazon.es.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include
Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
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technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
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information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's
financial results is included in Amazon.com's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
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