MediaNet, a digital music distribution player, has launched an on-the-fly ebookstore service that may be of appeal to independent booksellers and others looking to enter ebook retailing. The company says that their open API makes it possible to have an ebookstore “installed and ready to go within 48 hours.” They are working with EPUB files (and pdf’s) and claim a catalog of over 200,000 titles. The press release and online documentation do not provide any details about terms, or how they are dealing with a hybrid world of agency and wholesale selling models, divided tax responsibilities, etc.
Archives for April 2010
LBF Offers Discounts to Returning Exhibitors
The London Book Fair has contacted exhibitors and rights center table-holders with a “thank you”/”loyalty” package in consideration of the “unprecedented circumstances brought about by the volcanic ash in Iceland.” Customers from the 2010 show are being offered a 30 percent discount on the published 2011 prices for exhibition space and rights center tables, “in recognition of the disruption to the show, and to our 40th birthday in 2011.” Additionally, any pre-registered international visitor in 2010 who was unable to attend and did not transfer their ticket to someone else can attend for free next year.
Random House Discloses Sale of Japanese and Korean Units
Random House revealed quietly in an internal personnel announcement that over the past 10 months the company has retrenched from two pieces of the Peter Olson expansionist years. In September, they discontinued their Japanese joint venture, Random House Kodansha, which began in 2003, and in February they divested their Random House Korea, which they had started as a joint venture with JoongAng and bought full control of four years ago. In both cases, the units were sold to the CEOs and executives who run the companies. Random House Kodansha ceo Yuji Takeda led the buyout of what is now called […]
People and Awards
Sarah Knight will join the Simon & Schuster adult trade imprint on May 24 as a senior editor, acquiring both fiction and nonfiction. She was most recently an editor at Shaye Areheart Books, will begin her new position on May 24th. At Tor and Forge, Justin Golenbock was promoted from Publicist to Senior Publicist. Goldberg McDuffie Communications announced the promotions of Grace McQuade to managing director; Angela Baggetta Hayes to director of GMC Digital; Megan Underwood Beatie to deputy director of GMC Digital; Kathleen Carter to publicity manager; and Liza Lucas to Senior Publicist. Dennis Hayes joined National Book Network […]
Education Gains Slightly at McGraw-Hill; United Media Licensing Sold
Reporting results for their fiscal first quarter, McGraw-Hill’s education division rose 1.5 percent to $317 million, with a reduced operating loss of $61.8 million. Higher ed, professional and international sales rose over 8 percent to $206 million due to “surging sales of digital products,” but school education sales fell 9 percent to $112 million. Those digital gains included “double-digit revenue increases” from “e-books, online courses and online homework management assessment products for students.”Release Brand management group Iconix has bought United Media Licensings from the E.W. Scripps Company for $175 million. As part of the deal, Iconiz has created a partnership […]
eNews: Bookmasters Launches Conversion and Distribution; Goldberg McDuffie Starts Digitally-Focused Consulting Group
The BookMasters Group is starting CONVERSO, designed “to make the digital production and distribution process simple and more accessible for small and mid-sized publishers.” They say they will provide digital distribution to “more than 40 digital outlets” and promise “a better deal on revenue-sharing and conversion than competing offerings.”ReleaseList of distribution partners Goldberg McDuffie Communications is launching a new division, GMC Consulting, designed to “help authors, agents and publishers develop creative strategies to meet the challenges of the digital era.” Led by the agency principals Camille McDuffie and Lynn Goldberg, they aim to “help build platforms for authors, developing marketing […]