Books digest

LOCAL

Poetry reading set

YOUNGSTOWN — Pig Iron Literary and Art Works’ Second Tuesday Open Poetry Reading will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County-East Branch, 430 Early Road.

Job-search expert contributes to book

WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. — Based on her reputation as a r sum writing expert and credentialed job-search coach, Jane Roqueplot, owner of JaneCo’s Sensible Solutions, has been asked to contribute her expertise for using Twitter to find a job and to help advance one’s career in a new book for JIST publishing to be released early next year.

Valley authors will sign books in Cortland

Don A. DeWitt of Cortland, author of “Traditional Shotokan Karate-Do: Brief History, Katas and Masters in Shotokan’s Development,” announces the Dec. 8 release of his book.

DeWitt and Kreig W. Vens, author of his third novel, “Tears of Blood,” will be signing books from 1-3 p.m. Jan. 16 at Cortland Cards, Candles and Collectibles, 421 S. High St., Cortland.

Prerelease orders for “Traditional Shotokan” are available from the publisher or visit www.publishAmerica.com.

DeWitt is a second-degree Black Belt in traditional Shotokan Karate-Do. His book describes Shotokan Karate, the meaning and origin of the Shotokan Tiger symbol, what a Kata is and the origin of the phrase Shotokan Karate-Do.

BOOK TOURS

Sarah Palin to begin book tour Nov. 18

NEW YORK — Sarah Palin’s book tour is a gift for her base. No stops are planned in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other major cities and book-buying communities that are standard for authors on the road, but where the voters tend to be Democrats.

Beyond a Nov. 16 television interview with Oprah Winfrey, nothing is scheduled for Chicago. New York will feature media appearances only. Instead, the itinerary for Palin, whose “Going Rogue” comes out Nov. 17, includes Noblesville, Ind.; Washington, Pa.; and Rochester, N.Y.

The tour starts Nov. 18 at a Barnes & Noble in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, and running mate Sen. John McCain made a campaign appearance last fall.

The full schedule has not been completed, but confirmed locations include Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Roanoke, Va.; the Army post in Fort Bragg, N.C.; Orlando, Fla.; and Albuquerque, N.M.

E-Matters

Price moves up and down for new Grisham book

NEW YORK — It was a weird day in the book price wars. The cost of John Grisham’s “Ford County,” officially released Tuesday, moved up and down like stock market shares as rivals Amazon.com and Walmart.com extended, then rescinded, their high discounts for top-selling pre-orders.

Early in the day, Amazon was selling Grisham’s book of short stories for $9, the same price it had offered for “Ford County” before publication and a sign that Amazon was ready to continue the cost competition beyond the release date. Walmart.com was selling “Ford County” for $12 early Tuesday, then cut the price to the pre-order discount of $8.98. By the afternoon, the cost was back up to $11.99 for both online sellers.

Authors, publishers and rival booksellers worry that cutting the price so low will harm competition and force down the cost of books overall, leading to a reduction in author advances. The price of e-books, which Amazon.com and others often sell for under $10, was a concern for Grisham. Although the author says he owns a Kindle and believes digital reading devices will keep getting “better and cooler and smarter,” he believes that best-selling releases cost so little that hardcover sales might suffer.

Combined dispatches