This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Penguin Teen, publisher of If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson.
Amazon’s LOTR Series Reportedly Costs $500 Million
This, according to Reuters. The rights alone cost $250 million. A production and marketing costs estimate for Amazon’s two-season deal makes up the other $250 million. If they actually spend as much as predicted, The Lord of the Rings series will be the most expensive TV series ever made. Smaug would be jealous of that coin.
314 Items Stolen From Carnegie Library Rare Books Room
Detectives are on the case, and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America has alerted its members. Rare book dealer Michael Vinson valued the missing items at a total of $5 million, and called the theft an “immense cultural crime.” Vinson believes that the thief may have been one or more employees of the library. You can filter the full list of more than 300 stolen items here.
Booksellers Support University Press Under Threat of Defunding
In light of Governor Matt Blevin’s proposal to cut the University Press of Kentucky’s entire $672,000 allocation from the state budget, the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers issued a joint statement in support of the press. The $672k covers the salaries and benefits of almost half of UPK’s 16 employees, and the cut would force the closure of the press, which is actually a consortium of scholarly presses in the state.