ANCIENT PERSIAN FIND OF THE WEEK:
Burnt City
Subject: Archaeological Digs
Ancient Temple in the region of Sistan, Iran. One of the most ancient
sites in Iran is The Burnt City, located in the Eastern part of the
country, South of Zabol in the region of Sistan. The unexpected appearance
& the quick disappearance of the city baffled experts for years.
Note: 5200 year old bowl contains animated "cartoon" of leaping goat.
See comment (with link to animation!)
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15862
COOL STATS OF THE WEEK:
Publishers:
6 large publishers (in New York) (Four are foreign owned)
300-400 medium-sized publishers
86,000 small publishers
The six U.S. conglomerate publishers are
-Random House, Inc.
-Penguin Putnam Inc.
-HarperCollins
-Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings
-Time Warner
-Simon & Schuster, Inc.
8,000-11,000 new publishing companies are established each year.
California is home to 16,787 publishers, far more than any other state and
more than double the 7,371 located in New York State.
Books in Print:
U.S. title output in 2006 was 291,920 new titles and editions. A new book
was published every two seconds.
2.5+ million titles are in print (currently available in the U.S.)
Print-on-Demand:
Some 30% of the 291,920 new titles printed in 2006 were printed in
quantities of less than 100 units. That's 87,576 titles.
2003: Ingram's Lightning Source digitally prints (POD) 70,000 individual
books/week.
Their delivery channels cover more than 90% of the bookstores in the US.
They have more than 2,000 vendor/publishers as clients.
Book Sales in the U.S.:
A successful fiction book sells 5,000 copies.
A successful nonfiction book sells 7,500 copies.
eBooks:
eBook sales increased 1,442% in January 2003 over January 2002.
Lightning Source fulfills nearly 1 million eBooks/day (this was prior to
Amazon going to its in-house MobiPocket only).
2004, first quarter. 421,955 eBooks were sold in the first quarter, up 46%
over the same period the previous year. Revenue was $32.2 million, up 28%.
Press Printing:
Most initial print runs are 5,000 copies.
The first print run for a mid-list book by a larger publisher is 10-15,000
books.
A larger publisher must sell 10,000 books to break even.
Larger publishers have shifted their philosophy from a humongous first print
run to a market reality run.
Writers:
81% of the population feels they have a book inside them.
27% would write fiction.
28% would write on personal development
27% would write history, biography, etc.
20% would do a picture book, cookbook, etc.
6 million have written a manuscript.
6 million manuscripts are making the rounds.
Out of every 10,000 children's books, 3 get published.
STONE AGE ARTICLE OF THE WEEK:
It is our greatest monument, on a par with the pyramids. But soon it
will be plagued by Tesco juggernauts. Why don't we care about Stonehenge?
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413417
TARA NEWS OF THE WEEK:
A 'beautiful' Bronze Age axe and a number of ancient burial grounds
have been unearthed near Roscrea during the construction of the new
Dublin-Limerick motorway in the area.
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413427
PICTISH STONES OF THE WEEK:
Museum in Angus. A fascinating and very important collection of over 30
Pictish carved stones housed in a cottage in the charming village of
St Vigeans. Note: St Vigeans Pictish stones conserved with laser scanning, see latest comment
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7152
ANCIENT DRUID DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK:
“A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near
Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the
burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a
report published in British Archaeology.”
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/11/druid-grave.html
MEGALITHIC TOMBS OF THE WEEK:
Archaeological work is to be carried out on Herm in the Channel Islands (Great Britain). Professor Chris Scarre, who has already undertaken work on Jethou, plans to examine the megalithic tombs on the larger island. The professor is a specialist on the prehistory of western Europe and has a particular interest in the archaeology of the Channel Islands. He has been given a £135,000 grant to explore the buried prehistoric land surface of Herm. The Arts and Humanities Research Council grant will fund the two-year project, beginning this summer. Mr Scarre is a Professor of Archaeology at Durham University.
BRONZE AGE ROCK CARVING OF THE WEEK:
A rock carving dating back to the Bronze Age has been uncovered by Scottish forestry workers clearing trees which fell during the recent storms. The mysterious rock art had been hidden by a huge tree in Forestry Commission Scotland's Achnabreac Forest, in West Argyll, until it was blown down around three weeks ago. The carving - believed to be around 5000 years old - is of a dice-like pattern.
Source: Journal Live (14 February 2008) http://tinyurl. com/ys6f8y
MARK ON YOUR 2008 CALENDER:
The Top 10 Most Important Dates In
The Welsh Calendar
In brick and motor stores:
Houston TX - Borders Bookstore at Westhimer & Gessner as well as
Borders at Westhimer & Kirby
Conroe, Galveston, Kerrville, Victoria, Round Rock, and Lake Jackson, Seguin, New Braunfels, and Nacogdoches TX - Hastings Entertainment bookstores
