Friday Bibliophile News

In case you're bored, here's some interesting tidbits I found to be interesting:

• It's not news to me but Seth Godin talks about the New York Best-Seller List (no, it's not really based on the best-selling books). I first got wind of this a few years ago while randomly channel surfing (back when I was still watching TV) and CNBC was interviewing this author and he cited that the New York Best-Seller List isn't really a best-seller list (he then recommends USA Today, which is what I use, but I honestly don't know how accurate it is).
• Self Publishing on the other hand talks about bookstore revenue from advertising books. Certainly book placement in a bookstore matters: you'll most likely see a book in front as opposed to whether the book is placed in the back. I've suspected that some bookstores might charge publishers (or publishers offer the bookstore to "pay" to be in front) but the actual numbers is beyond me.
• Technaeum has a video on Why Libraries Should Game. Too slow for my tastes but the idea is innovative, especially if you're stuck in the conservative librarian mindset. Still, I'm sure there will be proponents of keeping video games away from the library.
• The Vertical Weblog talks about the Japanese best-sellers. You know the Japanese are crazy, read up on what they're reading (and why we think they're crazy).