Barnes & Noble Unveils New Tablet
Barnes & Noble premiered its new seven-inch Nook Tablet November 17. Will this be a new rival to the iPad and the Kindle Fire? Although the same size as the Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet costs slightly more, but has more memory space and is still much cheaper than the iPad. To go along with this new device, Barnes & Noble also released an updated Nook Color with a reduced price to match that of the Kindle Fire. Read more

A Charitable Horror Novelist
Stephen King is working to raise over $100,000 to help families heat their homes this winter, especially in the state of Maine. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has cut heat funding for low-income homes in Maine by nearly 60 percent. King said that he will match the amount raised up to $70,000 and is concerned for the working-class town of Bangor. Read more

Private Company Acquires Parent Company of Small Journals
RLJ Equity Partners, a private equity company, recently acquired Media Source, Inc. The acquired company is the parent company to School Library Journal, Library Journal, Junior Library Guild, and The Horn Book. With small companies and publications like these, Media Source is connected to 100,000 libraries and librarians in the U.S. Read more

Book Printing Gets Greener
The percentage of paper that is recycled has increased of the past few years and, either consequently or coincidentally, so has the percentage of paper mills that use recovered fiber in their products. According to the EPA, one-third of what paper is made of is recycled paper, while another third is wood chips and sawmill scraps. Eighty percent of U.S. paper mills use recovered fiber.

Harper Collins Acquires Thomas Nelson
HarperCollins Publishers announced the acquisition of Thomas Nelson Inc., a company that publishes religious and inspirational books. Thomas Nelson was founded in Scotland in 1798 and is now based in Nashville. The particulars of the deal are expected to be finalized by the end of 2011. Based on Thomas Nelson's net worth, it is rumored that HarperCollins will be buying the company for $200 million. Read more