Penguin

Instead of licensing the digital rights to Penguin, Ian Fleming's literary estate is making the e-book editions available directly itself. Getting the most out of the Bond brand is the estate's rationale for keeping the e-books in-house.

Starbucks is launching a new digital network Wednesday that it says will give customers access to free e-books, movies and access to some paid news sites. The move is meant to attract customers and customer loyalty, and also to provide Starbucks with a new revenue stream.

Random House and top literary agent Andrew Wylie have settled their fight over his plans to publish e-books of older works from big name authors he represents. But while the battle is over, the settlement announcement raises more questions than it answers about the future of e-publishing.

Showbiz veteran Betty White has been cresting quite the popularity wave lately. After work on TV shows like The Golden Girls, Super Bowl ads and a guest-hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, she has landed a two-book deal with Penguin.

A microchip led police to a penguin that had been plucked by pranksters from her home at the Dublin Zoo. Zoo officials told the Associated Press that police tracked down Kelli the Humboldt penguin by the radio signal from a microchip implanted on the bird. She was found abandoned on a city...

Book publisher Penguin has many reasons to feel good right now: Its preliminary earnings report for 2010 is positive, and its book deals with Apple and others are working well. But Penguin still hasn't sorted out its issues with Amazon, and the online retail giant is making it pay.

Book publishers are keeping tabs on FarmVille, ChatRoulette, Facebook, and video-game companies, turning their sights onto the rapidly changing environment in digital distribution and social networking to keep their industry relevant -- and alive.