While Barnes & Noble gets ready to put itself up for sale, there is speculation that Len Riggio, chairman of the board, wants to take the company private. But first he’ll have to contend with a possible proxy fight with the second leading shareholder, Ronald Burkle.

Although B&N offered a positive financial forecast in June at its investors conference, based on the introduction of its Nook digital reader and its move into digital publishing, Wall Street was less impressed. Shortly after, there was news that B&N would be put up for sale.

It will be interesting to see what develops… you can read more here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/business/13burkle.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/44152-after-court-rules-for-b-n-burkle-starts-proxy-fight.html

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Also in publishing this week:

* ‘The Worst Negative Book Review Clichés,’ http://bit.ly/aL5o2i.

* Three new e-book platforms are nearing their debut, http://bit.ly/abAcDy; Meanwhile, the e-reader market continues to shake out: Plastic Logic pulls the plug on Que, http://tinyurl.com/32o89cw.

* ‘The Top 10 Most Expensive Rare Books Sold On AbeBooks This Month,’ http://huff.to/a2D2KZ.

* ‘50 Famous Books That Were Posthumously Published,’ http://bit.ly/cIPGsR.

* Last words of 10 famous authors, http://tinyurl.com/23ljxev.

* ‘25 Pickup Lines to Use on New Bookworm Dating Site Alikewise,’ http://bit.ly/bgBtjx.

* ‘The Library of Bad Books’ – be sure to add your pick(s)! http://bit.ly/buOO7O.

* ‘Artist Builds Rooms Out of Books,’ http://bit.ly/bkx41Y.

* Shelf lives of bookstore cats, http://bit.ly/dzTTn0.

* Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you, http://bit.ly/db4XOx.

* ‘California Coffeehouses and Book Culture’ – e-readers not welcome, http://bit.ly/9sJYNV;  ‘Respectful squatting in the digital age,’ http://bit.ly/a8q6Ig.

* ‘Will Independent Bookstores Be the Last Ones Standing?’ http://bit.ly/9OUJwY.

* Banned Books Week is Sept. 25 – Oct. 2, 2010 – see how you can participate, http://bit.ly/13TwRM.

* ‘The Truly Best-Dressed Characters in Literature,’ http://bit.ly/cECeBT.

* ‘Jane Mount’s Ideal Bookshelf’ – custom art of your favorite book spines, http://bit.ly/9hA0UU.

* ‘Book, Movie, Love: Best Sellers and the Hollywood Bounce,’ http://bit.ly/b0lNMD.

* ‘The 20 Strangest Celebrity Dedications,’ http://bit.ly/d6qnzu.

* Kobo offers free use of its e-readers at 10 Fairmont hotels, http://bit.ly/9t5WXh.

* ‘Pete Hamill, Patriarch of Print, Goes Direct to Digital With Next Release,’ http://nyti.ms/akhOch.

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