Penguin Group has launched a mini-site called From the Publisher’s Office that presents promotional videos in four “series” (Tarcher Talks; Penguin Storytime; YA Central; and Project Paranormal); a selection of standing audio “programs”; and online browsing samples from selected books. Most of the content “is created, written, shot, edited and produced by more than 30 Penguin Group executives and department team members who are closest to the content.” Among them, CEO David Shanks composed and performs two songs for Penguin Storytime, where his wife Liz, a former librarian, is hosting and producing a read-aloud program. Shanks tells the AP, “I […]
Archives for June 2009
People and Announcements
Borders continues the tradition of bolstering their executive team with people from outside of publishing. They have hired Arthur Keeney as svp of marketing, starting at the end of June, reporting to Anne Kubek. He was general manager for eight years at Harold Friedman, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based grocery store chain, and previously worked with Borders ceo Ron Marshall at grocer Nash Finch. Among the areas he will oversee is Borders.com, where he will run a search “for a new leader at the vice president level.” Rich Fahle is moving from that role to the new position of vp creative, outreach […]
Bezos Commits to Losing Money On Kindle Editions On Multiple Devices
The NYT reports more remarks from Jeff Bezos at the Wired conference: “The device team has the job of making the most remarkable purpose-built reading device in the world. We are going to give the device team competition. We will make Kindle books, at the same $9.99 price points, available on the iPhone, and other mobile devices and other computing devices.” In other words, he both perpetuates the $9.99 is our top price fallacy, and commits the company to losing money on Kindle files even when it isn’t making money on the device sales. As for why they don’t sell […]
Salinger Defendants Claim "Commentary and Criticism"
Attorneys at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz filed papers on behalf of Fredrik Colting and his distributor asking the court to deny JD Salinger’s request for an injunction blocking publication of 60 YEARS LATER — Coming through the Rye. They claim the book is ” a complex and undeniably transformative exposition” about JD Salinger and “his best known creation Holden Caulfield” that is “protected parody, containing important commentary and criticism.” Now that he has a lawyer, Fredrik Colting has backtracked on how he positions the work, saying that “while my earlier book cover and some promotional material characterized 60 YEARS […]
Freese to Take Over At NBN; Tamblyn Leaves BookNet for Shortcovers
Rich Freese will take over from Jed Lyons as president of NBN as of July 6, working out of Oakland, CA. Lyons will “focus on the book publishing activities of NBN’s parent company, The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.” (The release says NBN had sales of $100 million, and R&L had sales of $60 million.) Most recently Freese had launched a new distribution enterprise for BookMasters, though he worked at NBN in the late 90s and through 2002. Lyons says in the announcement “Rich Freese is the most knowledgeable, thoughtful, and creative person I know in the book distribution business.” […]
Bloomsbury Calls Allegations "Unfounded, Unsubstantiated and Untrue"
Bloomsbury responds to the lawsuit filed by the estate of Adrian Jacobs saying that “JK Rowling had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read or heard of his book Willy the Wizard until this claim was first made in 2004…. Willy the Wizard is a very insubstantial booklet running to 36 pages which had very limited distribution. The central character of Willy the Wizard is not a young wizard and the book does not revolve around a wizard school.” When first asserted in 2004, “the claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was […]