Microsoft Pulls Plug on Live Search Books

In an early morning post, Microsoft announced that it is ending Live Search Books and Live Search Academic projects and taking down both sites. Through the programs, Microsoft has digitized 750,000 books and indexed 80 million journal articles. Those results will now be integrated into general search results. Effective immediately, Microsoft has stopped digitizing new materials in both its library scanning and in-copyright book programs.

According to Microsoft, “based on our experience, we foresee that the best way for a search engine to make book content available will be by crawling content repositories created by book publishers and libraries.”

Microsoft will be providing publishers with digital copies of their scanned books, and is working with Ingram Digital, which was doing much of the scanning, to provide publishers with sales and marketing opportunities for titles already in Live Search Books.

by Jim Milliott for Publisher's Weekly

5/24/08 10:08

Lifetime Television Adapts Patricia Cornwell's Novels for TV

In a ground-breaking agreement, Lifetime Television will become the first network ever to adapt acclaimed international author Patricia Cornwell's novels for television. Her #1 New York Times bestseller, At Risk, and its sequel, The Front, to be published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in May, have been optioned by the Network.

Stanley M. Brooks and Jim Head of Once Upon a Time Films (LMN's "The Capture of the Green River Killer" -- Lifetime Movie Network's highest-rated movie in its 10-year history; Emmy(R) Award-winning "Broken Trail"), Russell Werdin and Lane Bishop of Twinstar Entertainment and Patricia Cornwell will serve as executive producers.

Other bestsellers that have been adapted to Lifetime Original Movies include Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys," Sue Monk Kidd's "The Mermaid Chair," and a quartet of Nora Roberts' novels. Recent movies include Kim Edwards' "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," starring Dermot Mulroney, Emily Watson and Gretchen Mol and Jodi Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" starring Kelly Preston and Ron Eldard, premiering Saturday, June 28 (9PM ET/PT) on Lifetime.

ICM negotiated the deal on behalf of Cornwell.

From Bookcatcher.blogspot.com

5/24/08 9:58am

50 Cent Book Signing In NYC

Here's an old pic of 50 Cent signing his book. It looks like he's signing From Pieces To Weight and not 50X50. I almost got 50X50, but never did. oh well. 05/23/08 12:25pm

50 Cent was at the Barnes & Noble earlier today, near Astor Place signing copies of his new book '50 x 50: 50 Cent In His Own Words'. The illustrated autobiography outlines Curtis' climb from Southside Jamaica, Queens to his Connecticut Mansion.

I'm here!

Good Afternoon! I am off today!

Sorry for the gap, like Bob Williamson, I have a lot going at one time – A LOT! Stuff I choose not to mention, not even the progress. People only know a few things I do. You would be surprised at what all I have so if you stick around long enuff you will know. So if you don't see a posting for awhile, you know, Cattt is knee deep in something. Plus a water pipe busted at my house. Hooray for me! I have water damage galore! It’s all in how you deal with it. If I stay mad, nothing changes, I still have water damage. See?

When I read Bob’s story I thought about how a person can just do one thing? I just couldn’t afford to do that especially if you know you have talent and if you don’t know you better figure out what kind of talent God has given you. We all have one, but we just don’t take the time out to figure out what it is. Even with all his problems he was able to work thru them and continue onward. A lot of times I deal with people who tend to wallow in their plight and remain angry at the situation even for days, months, and years and we don’t want to be like these people. I suggest you avoid them entirely if you can. Life is what you make it, so decide the life you want to live and CREATE it. --- Cattt 5/22/08 3:00pm

Blogger is acting crazy that's why I'm dating my posties! Bob Williamson's story is on Mogul Mama. Just click on My Profile, scroll down, and you should find the link.

Tommy Lee Jones taking on Ernest Hemingway project

This sounds like such a great movie. Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman are such fantastic actors that I hope they can pull off Hemingway's novel! There are many times when great works of writing just needs to be read and not made into a movie or television show.

By Steven ZeitchikThu May 15, 2:59 AM ET

Tommy Lee Jones is taking on the work of Ernest Hemingway, signing on to adapt, direct, produce and star in the writer's posthumously published novel "Islands in the Stream."
Morgan Freeman and John Goodman also are in discussions to board the film, which follows a 1977 version starring George C. Scott.

"Islands" centers on the various life stages of a reclusive male painter named Thomas Hudson before, during and after World War II, after he moves to the Bahamas. Like many Hemingway characters, Hudson, who in the tale has a stint working for the U.S. Navy and also endures a series of family tragedies, leads a complicated emotional life that he hides behind a stony exterior.

The book was published in 1970, nine years after Hemingway killed himself. He actually broke off a piece of the novel and turned it into a novella that became 1952's "The Old Man and the Sea." Jones co-wrote the script with Bill Witliff ("The Perfect Storm"). The project will be presented to buyers at Cannes on Sunday. "The Old Man and the Sea" won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

The Hemingway adaptation marks Jones' sophomore directorial effort, after the Mexican mystery "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada."

"Islands," which is set for an estimated $30 million budget, will shoot in Puerto Rico, with production not scheduled to start until March.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

5/22/08 3:34pm

Songwriter's

Here's something that you might be interested in. I got it from Writer's Market Newsletter:

The 2009 edition of Songwriter's Market is accepting pitch submissions for articles geared toward the music industry. Articles will help aspiring songwriters achieve their goals of getting their songs heard by artists, agents and publishers in the music field. Especially wanted are 'Insider Information' articles that take the reader into the process of submitting demos to music companies, with comments from decision-makers. Articles should be 1,500-2,500 words. Pays on acceptance. Pitches only to Greg Hatfield, editor, at greg.hatfield@fwpubs.com.

Good Luck! -- Cattt 5/22/08 3:14

Scribner Signs Tila Tequila

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 5/12/2008

Rapper/singer/model/blogger/actress/MySpace celebrity/MTV sensation Tila Tequila has signed a book deal with Scribner. The house has acquired world rights to publish Tequila’s (real name: Tila Nguyen) first book, Hooking Up with Tila Tequila and plans a December 2008 release. “The world cannot get enough of Tila Tequila,” said Susan Moldow, Scribner executive v-p and president.

A release from Scribner says “Hooking Up with Tila Tequila is the book her fans have been waiting for” and that the tome will offer “Tila’s no-holds-barred thoughts on love, fame, happiness, and success and the remarkable story of how the child of Vietnamese immigrants singlehandedly harnessed the web to become the 21st century’s hottest sex symbol.” Unsurprisingly, the book will include color photographs.

Although Time crowned Tequila—who boasts 3.1 million MySpace friends—“the Madonna of MySpace” in 2006, it’s anyone’s guess if she’ll still be popular in seven months, when her book pubs. Still, unlike many bloggers who’ve also snagged book deals, Tequila has already parlayed her celebrity into other mediums, with an MTV reality series, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, which debuted in October 2007.

Senior editor Brant Rumble negotiated the agreement with David Vigliano and Michael Harriot of Vigliano Associates.

Visit Tila's Myspace -- > http://www.myspace.com/tilatequila

5/22/08 3:08pm