Archives for October 2006

French Publishers Join Suit The French Publishers’ Association has officially joined in La Martiniere Group’s lawsuit against Google over their Book Search service, filed last June. They have the same objections to the program as publishers and authors in other countries, but then there is this added twist: “One of the issues at stake is […]

Pearson Profits In a brief “trading update,” Pearson confirms that its fiscal third quarter has gone as projected, with sales rising and profits improving even more, driven by Pearson Education. As usual, Penguin earns itself praise for an “outstanding publishing performance” due to sales up 2 percent. Pearson King’s Favorite Readings Stephen King discusses how […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time […]

Personnel News and Appointments Diane Reverand is leaving St. Martin’s after four years there. Deputy managing director of Penguin UK Andrew Welham is leaving the company at Christmas, after “23 truly wonderful years.” At Da Capo, Kate Kazeniac has been promoted to associate director of publicity. Brand Republic reports that Harper has hired Agency.com to […]

Whiting Winners These ten writers have been recognized for “their extraordinary talent and promise” with $40,000 grants from the Whiting Foundation. Fiction writers Yiyun Li (A Thousand Years of Good Prayers) Charles D’Ambrosio (The Dead Fish Museum) Micheline Aharonian Marcom (The Daydreaming Boy) Nina Marie Martínez (¡Caramba! A Tale Told in Turns of the Card) […]

Amazon Makes Market Happy Total sales at Amazon for the third quarter rose 24 percent to $2.31 billion, as net income fell more than third to $19 million, “mainly due to technology and content investments… including seller platforms, web services and digital initiatives.” North American media sales (which include books) rose 15 percent to $785 […]