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Amazon Attempts to Reinvent the Book (Newsweek)
This week Jeff Bezos is releasing the Amazon Kindle, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0. That's shorthand for a revolution (already in progress) that will change the way readers read, writers write, and publishers publish.

Part of Book on Oil Relied on Wikipedia (NYT)
The publisher John Wiley & Sons confirmed last week that its book Black Gold: The New Frontier in Oil for Investors by George Orwel had lifted almost word for word about five paragraphs from a Wikipedia article on the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.

Bar Sues Mag for Being Characterized as a 'Dive' (Philly Inky)
The operators of the Irish Pub & Inn in Atlantic City are suing Metrocorp, which publishes Philly Mag, over a blurb in last winter's edition of A.C. Now, a Metrocorp publication that contained reviews of about 80 bars, eateries, and clubs. The claim: The Irish Pub was harmed by A.C. Now's dubbing it a "dive bar."

Scientific American's New President Brings Media Savvy to Brand-expansion Effort (Crain's)
Stephen Yee, the new president of Scientific American, comes to his job highly recommended and well-qualified, but not in ways one might expect of an executive chosen to lead such a prestigious magazine. He has no background in science, unless you count the microscope he played with as a child and the fact that his father started his career as a chemist. Mr. Yee also has no experience with magazines. He most recently headed up global marketing for Reuters Media.

Thanksgiving for the Media Products of the Year (AdAge)
Simon Dumenco: In recognition of a certain upcoming holiday, I'm offering 100 percent sincere, snark-free thanks for some of my favorite media products of the year (so far). These include Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End, Showtime's Weeds, and Michael Beirut's Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design.

Publishers Seek to Mine Book Circles (NYT)
Increasingly, authors and publishers are tipping their hats to the power of eight or 10 or 12 women (and usually they are women) sitting around a dining room table, dissecting their particular book of the month, then spreading the word to their friends. Many recent books' successes have been credited to the early and continuing support of reading groups.

Digital Media Won't Be a Sideshow in the Future (LAT)
Estimates for how quickly the market will grow can vary greatly. Movie download revenue should rise to $1.8 billion by 2011, said Parks principal analyst Kurt Scherf. Streaming video that includes advertising is likely to be even bigger. "The real winners from the writers holding out are the people in five or seven years," said analyst Laura Martin of Soleil/Media Metrics.

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