technology

Barnes & Noble announced a major expansion of its NOOK Video offerings; the Wall Street Journal reports Disney-owned Hyperion is selling off its backlist to focus on publishing titles that promote its ABC television properties; Zainab Bahrani details the struggle to save the National Library of Iraq from oblivion; and other news.

The founder of Barnes & Noble wants to purchase Barnes & Noble's retail stores and website; poet Wang Ping has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Macalester College; ten of the most divisive authors in recent memory; and other news.

A new Thomas Pynchon novel will be published this September; Nicholas Thompson reveals the magazine article origins of the Oscar-winning film Argo; nine free college-level writing and literature classes; and other news.

The Wall Street Journal shines a light on a company called ResultSource, which purchases vast amounts of an author's books to game the bestseller lists; Sarah Jaffe examines gender disparity in books and culture reporting; Seth Fried explains how to interpret your rejection letters; and other news.

The DOJ has approved the merger of Random House and Penguin; fourteen poets reveal their favorite love poems for Valentine’s Day; Library Lournal takes the pulse of today’s erotic fiction; and other news.

Macmillan settled with the Department of Justice over e-book pricing; Brain Pickings uncovers a touching letter from Charles Dickens to his son; a series of humorous vignettes by Virginia Woolf will be published for the first time; and other news.

Reagan Arthur has been named the next publisher of Little, Brown; David L. Ulin discusses the newly-published work of New Yorker legend Joseph Mitchell; novelist Alix Ohlin considers the intricate relationship between male writers and female readers; and other news.

GalleyCat lists a few ideas of how authors can make use of Twitter’s new Vine; Peter Osnos considers the fate of Barnes & Noble; Publishers Lunch has created a new edition of Buzz Books—a free e-book which features excerpts from upcoming releases; and other news.

GalleyCat casts a sober eye on economics for genre authors; gridiron poetics for Super Sunday; Ann Patchett explains that bookstores are not dead; and other news.

Poet Roya Hakakian details the personal importance of the work of Iranian poet Firoozeh Papan-Matin; Guy Kawasaki offers ten strategies for publishers to succeed in the future; a new App called Paragraph Shorts features both classic and new short fiction paired with independent music; and other news.