BMW Test-Drives Audio Books, As Harper Pilots a Free Book on the Web BMW has recruited four authors from Random House UK, including Karin Slaughter, James Flint and Simon Kernick, to write 45 minute audio books featuring their cars. The audio files are available for free from BMWAudioBooks.com, starting this week with Don Winslow’s The Beautiful Ride. Separately, Bruce Judson’s 2004 book GO IT ALONE! The Secret to Building a Successful Business of Your Own, can now be read in its entirety from his web site for free. Each page carries a vertical strip of text ads served by either […]
Archives for February 2006
Lunch for Friday, February 3
Amazon Media Tops $1 Billion for Quarter Amazon unleashed their quarterly blizzard of multiple ways of measuring earnings, as sales rose 17 percent to $2.98 billion for their fourth quarter. (Full-year sales hit $8.49 billion, up 23 percent.) Media sales — the category in which books are hidden — hit $1 billion in North America for the first time this quarter, reaching $3.046 billion for the year. International media sales aren’t far behind, registering $968 million for the quarter, and $2.885 billion for the year. Which means that Amazon’s $5.93 billion in media sales overall puts it significantly ahead of […]
Lunch for Thursday, February 2
Personnel News Longtime PGW executive Karen Cross, who most recently was evp of marketing there, is joining competitor Ingram Publisher Services, as vp of publisher relations. Remaining in the San Francisco area, Cross "will be responsible for the implementation of the next phase of the development" of Ingram’s distribution unit. Ingram senior vp Phil Ollila says in the announcement, "Eighteen publishers have joined us as distribution clients. We have found that in order to more effectively serve our current publishers and provide a platform for further growth, we needed to bring onboard an experienced distribution and marketing executive such as […]
Lunch for Wednesday, February 1
“During the process of writing the book, I embellished many details about my past experiences, and altered others in order to serve what I felt was the greater purpose of the book. I sincerely apologize to those readers who have been disappointed by my actions.… “ “As I wrote, I worked primarily from memory. I also used supporting documents, such as medical records, therapists’ notes, and personal journals, when I had them, and when they were relevant.… “ “I altered events and details all the way through the book. Some of those include my role in a train accident that […]