Nancy Pearl is perhaps the only celebrity librarian that we know of, regularly appearing on National Public Radio and immortalized with her very own action figure. Now, the Seattle librarian and author of the best-seller “Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason” is looking to bring some of her favorite out-of-print book titles to life.
Pearl has partnered with Amazon.com to create Book Lust Rediscoveries, a new effort that will publish about six out-of-print or out-of-stock books per year. The titles will be sold as print editions and audiobooks on Amazon.com, and distributed to bookstores, wholesalers and libraries.
“I’m thrilled that Book Lust Rediscoveries makes it possible to republish many of my all-time favorite novels, all of which have long been out of print,” said Pearl in a statement. “Helping these wonderful books find new readers is, for me, a joy and a delight. I was blown away by Amazon Publishing’s enthusiasm for the project and the extent to which they really understood what I wanted to do.”
The first two books to be published through the new partnership will be “A Gay and Melancholy Sound” by Merie Miller — set to appear April 3rd — and “After Life” by Rhian Ellis — set for publication June 5th.
As part of the new publishing effort, Pearl said that she plans to donate a portion of the book sales to Nancy Pearl Endowment for Public Librarianship at the University of Washington’s Information School.
As we’ve noted in the past, Amazon.com has been making a huge push into book publishing in recent months. It is now made up of six imprints: AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, The Domino Project, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer and 47North.
Pearl — who created the program “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” — has worked as a librarian and bookseller in Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle. In 2011, Pearl received both the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year award and the Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
Previously on GeekWire: Amazon.com buys rights to 450 children’s books
