Got this email from David Cassel that I thought was worth reprinting:
Saturday is the last day of “Banned Books Week,” the annual celebration of the right to read which publicizes struggles against book censorship. The American Library Association released their new list of the most-frequently challenged books, including the young-adult novel “ttyl,” the first novel structured entirely as a series of text messages. But ironically, today 7 of the 10 most-frequently challenged books aren’t available on the Kindle anyways, simply because publishers and Amazon haven’t agreed on acceptable distribution terms.
The list includes The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye – none of which are currently available in Amazon’s Kindle store. But there’s at least two books on the list that are available only in Amazon’s Kindle store: Amazon is touting the special 50th Anniversary edition of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov as one of “many digital books exclusive to Kindle,” along with Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.
Hi Paul,
Due to a dispute with the original publishers of these works over ebook royalties, Lolita and Midnight’s Children were published digitally by The Wylie Agency, which represents authors and estates responsible for hundreds of literary masterpieces.
In this arrangement literary agent Andrew Wylie took on the additional role of publisher, distributing the ebooks exclusively through Amazon.
Since August 24, when the Wylie Agency and publishers came to terms on royalties, these titles have been available for sale through a number of ebooksellers, including Kobo.
Kobo’s proud to offer a wide selection of banned books, including Midnight’s Children and Lolita: http://bit.ly/d6Iq9E
Happy reading.
Nathan R. Maharaj
Manager, Merchandising
Kobo Inc.