A new chapter for authors

Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 2:42 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

As I wrote in our debut post, this blog is about discovery. For a reader, that discovery might be a great book. For a publisher, it might be new audiences for previously obscure backlist titles. And for an author, it could be a new chapter in a budding career.

Susan Foote, a first-time author who joined the Google Book Search Partner Program last year, has an especially inspiring story to tell. In 1998, she set sail on a 41-foot sailing ketch to fulfill a lifelong dream: seeing the world by boat. The trip took her all the way from Lake Erie, Ohio to the shores of Opua, New Zealand. It also inspired her to write a book so she could share her experiences with people who dream of doing the same thing.

The book sold above expectations when it was first published in 2002. But three years later, after Foote decided to include it in Book Search, she had a wave of new orders, and started getting email from readers she wasn’t able to reach before. Says Foote in her Book Search success story:

I get letters from people telling me how happy they are to have found my book, and how it's made a big difference in their lives -- very often from older women. As I point out in my book, there are many books written by men who convinced their loves to go cruising, but few books written by the loves who did it. I'm happy to know that by writing about the second chapter in my life, I'm inspiring other women to start their own.

Very cool. If you’re an author or want to learn more about how the Partner Program works for authors, we invite you to visit our Author Resources page. Read the full post 0 comments

German publisher withdraws petition against Library Project

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 11:28 AM

Posted by Jen Grant, Product Marketing Manager, Google Book Search

We're delighted to report that WBG, a German publisher, today decided to drop its petition for preliminary injunction against the Google Books Library Project. WBG (whose legal action was supported by the German Publishers Association as an industry model) made the decision after being told by the Copyright Chamber of the Regional Court of Hamburg that its petition was unlikely to succeed.

It's our belief that the display of short snippets from in-copyright books does not infringe German copyright law. Today the Court indicated that it agreed, drawing a comparison with the snippets used in Google web search. And the Court also rejected the WBG's argument that the scanning of its books in the U.S. infringed German copyright law.

For more on the good news, check out this post on the main Google blog. And if you'd like to learn more about the copyright issues surrounding the Library Project, you can visit the Facts & Fiction and Legal Analysis pages on the Google Book Search News & Views site. Read the full post 0 comments

New resources for librarians and other info-mavens

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at 1:46 PM

Posted by Pam Saenger, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Library Outreach

Thousands of librarians will soon converge in New Orleans for the 2006 American Library Association Annual Conference. We'll be there (booth #2440), and we're excited to talk with librarians about how they're using tools like Google Earth, Google Scholar, Google News, and, of course, Google Book Search.

In anticipation of the conference, we've just put out our fourth newsletter for librarians. This one turns the spotlight on Book Search, with an article about the project's history, feedback from the library community and a piece discussing a surprisingly popular use of Book Search -- digging for clues about your family history.

We're also excited to announce the release of two new posters, one of which focuses on Book Search. All three posters we've created are available as free downloads from the Tools page of our Librarian Center. If you're interested in staying abreast of new features, teaching tools and other library-related information, make sure to sign up to receive future issues of the Google Librarian Newsletter. Read the full post 0 comments

Summer reading for kids

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 11:02 AM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

My favorite thing about kindergarten was the books. Unlike preschool -- where people read to you -- in kindergarten you got to pick out your own books and read them by yourself. That was big. And to encourage us to read, every once in a while my teacher handed out leaflets we could take home to convince Mom and Dad to buy us our own copies. "I'll take one Caps for Sale and one Goodnight Moon," I'd say to myself as I put neat little "1s" on the order form. Then, sure enough, a few weeks later these books would magically appear on my desk. I couldn't believe how lucky I was that they were mine to keep. And my parents were especially generous right before school let out for the summer, letting me order more books than usual so I'd have extras.

While some children might cringe at the thought of "summer reading" -- imagining long, boring books assigned over those precious three months off! -- it doesn't have to be a chore. Here we've gathered recommended reading lists from a variety of sources: parent groups, library groups, teacher associations, reading groups -- you name it. Take a look -- you could discover something even a reluctant reader would enjoy, or find new books that your little bookworm will eagerly gobble up. And while you may not have a leaflet handy, you can still buy these books or borrow them from your local library. Happy summer reading!

• Association for Library Service to Children


• Booklist


• Booktalks


• Fairfax County Public Library


• Fairfax County Public Schools


• Houston Area Independent Schools


• International Reading Association


• Los Angeles Public Library


• National Education Association


• National Public Radio


• Parents' Choice


• Vermont Education Association


• Young Adult Library Services Association

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No holds Bard

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at 1:43 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Excuse me while my head explodes, in the good way.

That's a quote from a blog called Such Shakespeare Stuff. The experience that provoked the explosion: discovering that Shakespeare's Sonnet #18 has been set to music...by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.

Four hundred years after his plays were first performed, Shakespeare continues to surprise people. But it took more than raw talent to make him one of the most quoted -- and performed -- writers in the history of the English language. The modern-day printing press brought his plays to people all around the world, unleashing countless performances and sparking astonishing creativity.

This summer we're working to make Shakespeare even more accessible with our website at www.google.com/shakespeare, where you can find and search through all of Shakespeare's plays, from familiar favorites like Hamlet to more obscure gems like Troilus and Cressida. The site launches in conjunction with our sponsorship of Shakespeare in the Park, New York's wonderful outdoor festival, which this summer will feature a production of Macbeth.

Check it out to look up famous quotes from Macbeth, discover why some people call Shakespeare the "Stephen King of his day" and find out what's rotten in the state of Denmark. (Hint: It's not your neighbor in Apt. 2B.) Browse through all the plays you know -- or follow your curiosity to discover new ones. And if the mood strikes you, feel free to create your own Shakespeare-inspired, mind-blowing work of art.

Update: Some print versions of Shakespeare's plays may not be in the public domain everywhere in the world. In cases where the copyright status is in question, we protect the publisher by showing the Snippet View. As always, we encourage you to let us know if you believe a publication should be in Full Book View, and we hope you bear with us as we confirm the status and, whenever appropriate, change the display. Read the full post 0 comments

Amy Sedaris, Sebastian Junger, Alice McDermott....

Monday, June 12, 2006 at 3:29 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Those are just a few of the fascinating people we had the privilege of meeting -- and filming -- at this year's BookExpo America (BEA). Our camera crew spent three days capturing everything from author readings, to people sampling cookies from our "Just a Taste" carts and riding in the Google Book Search Mobiles, to publishers talking about their experiences so far with Google Book Search. Here's a clip of Amy Sedaris reading a few words from her forthcoming book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, which she describes as an "entertaining book on entertaining."



If you've read the blog posts and press coverage from BEA but want to see and hear some of the action for yourself, check out the author readings and other videos here.

P.S.: We also have some photos from the expo floor, so if you were at BEA, you might also be here. Read the full post 0 comments

Happy birthday, Maurice Sendak

Friday, June 09, 2006 at 6:45 AM

Posted by Roland Lange, Strategic Partner Development Manager, Book Search

If I made a short list of the greatest children’s books, two of those titles would have to be Maurice Sendak’s marvelous Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen. These are classics from my own childhood that I now read to my children almost every night. Not long ago, one of my "dad friends," who (like me) has a young son, was sharing notes with me about what exactly Mr. Sendak was getting at with those Oliver Hardy bakers in In the Night Kitchen. Another guy came over to ask us the name of the book we were talking about. It turns out he was a dad-to-be: his wife was pregnant with their first child. He went out and bought the book the next day.

With this weekend bringing Mr. Sendak's 78th birthday, it's satisfying to know we're helping people discover his masterpieces even beyond the tried and true parent-to-parent word-of-mouth network. Both of these Sendak classics, along with a very cool book containing letters between Sendak and his editor, are discoverable in Google Book Search. Read the full post 0 comments