Just when it seemed like the dog days of summer had descended on the publishing world, The Wylie Agency fired the shot that echoed throughout the industry – a shot that will have far-reaching consequences. The agency launched a digital publishing business, called Odyssey Editions, to sell e-book editions of classic titles that are available exclusively on Amazon.com by such Wylie clients as Philip Roth, Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and John Updike.

Already, Random House has stepped forward to say that because they have the print rights to those authors’ works, they have the digital rights, too. Meanwhile, many in publishing have weighed in, with the sentiment across the board highly critical of Wylie’s decision.

It will be interesting to see how this develops, for more, check out:

Wylie, Random House Dispute Heats Up –

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/43937-wylie-random-house-dispute-heats-up.html

Random House Prepared to Challenge Wylie Agency’s New Publishing Biz  –

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/43925-random-house-prepared-to-challenge-wylie-agency-s-new-publishing-biz.html

Digital Shockwave: How Millions of Dollars and the Survival of the Publishing Industry are at Stake –

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-pinter/andrew-wylie-sets-off-dig_b_655653.html

Konrath on Wylie –

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/07/konrath-on-wylie.html

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In other publishing news:

* ‘The Secret’ author Rhonda Byrne’s follow-up, ‘The Power,’ is out next month (will it set sales records like the first book?), http://bit.ly/cLMqzi.

* Is the true saviour of publishing Starbucks? An interesting piece, http://bit.ly/bWkv33.

* B&N, Blackboard to offer NookStudy, e-textbooks, http://bit.ly/cJVr5F.

* The Celebrity Book Frenzy – it doesn’t always lead to bestsellers, http://bit.ly/9MrOVh.

* Amazon says its e-book sales outpace hardcover sales, http://bit.ly/dr7q8n.

* Choose your ruined future with the Literary Dystopia Quiz, based on one of the hottest genres in publishing right now, http://bit.ly/bkWYkT.

* Celebrate! 11 literary holidays that every book lover should know, http://bit.ly/cjUMUb.

* A review of Borders’ Kobo e-reader, http://bit.ly/9XGFlu.

* B&N files an application for a new e-reader, http://bit.ly/du42w8.

* Karl Rove, former advisor to President Bush, now has a summer book club (he used to have reading contests with President Bush), http://bit.ly/d1n5gA.

* Penguin creates an ‘amplified’ Ken Follett e-book, just in time for the launch of the TV miniseries, http://bit.ly/brumYy.

* The bookcase you’ll want to live in, http://bit.ly/aFkGw2.

* How Google plans to crush the e-book market, http://bit.ly/9zhepJ.

* Can fart jokes get boys reading? http://huff.to/dtZNST.

* A $20 e-reader will eventually hit the market, http://bit.ly/aJ4s8v.

* ‘Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries,’ http://n.pr/9wWtfG.

* Woody Allen records his first audiobook, http://tinyurl.com/2e36u6l.

* Hate Hemingway and other classics? Check out actual one-star Amazon reviews of books from Time’s 100 best novels from 1923 – present http://bit.ly/nvhoD.

* Eat, Pray, Cancellation – no book for Elizabeth Gilbert’s ex-husband (who was going to write a memoir to give his side of the story), http://bit.ly/cBu2cy.

* Apple iPad owners outnumber Amazon Kindle’s, says analyst, http://bit.ly/ar9cin.

* Sharp plans to launch an e-book reader this year, http://bit.ly/aKUQFC.

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