Dorchester Publishing has switched to subsistence mode, though they have tried to sprinkle some digital fairy dust over the move. The mass market publisher has struggled for some time, now. At the beginning of the year they sold both frontlist and backlist titles from many of their top authors to Avon–an imprint of their distributor, HarperCollins. Earlier this summer, the Romance Writers of America reportedly cancelled Dorchester’s participation in their annual conference because the company was “past due in fulfilling contractual obligations to some of their authors.” And company president John Prebich confirmed to the media last Friday that their […]
Archives for August 2010
Indiana Publisher Investigated for Not Printing Customers’ Books
The Indiana Attorney General’s office is investigating multiple complaints from authors who worked with New Century Publishing and say they paid for books that they never received. So for negotiations with owner David William Caswell have “failed to lead to restitution to the authors.” The AG’s office has successfully sued Caswell twice in the past, though the Indianapolis Star says he has paid almost none of the money owed under two court-approved settlements.Indy Star
Google’s Rough Count of the World’s Books–and Quirky Metadata
The Google Books blog has an interesting post on their current rough count of, using a definition of “book” that is “very close to what ISBNs are supposed to represent” if only all books had ISBNs and all non-books didn’t. So they do “count” different versions of the same work: lots of different editions of Hamlet, with different forewords, commentaries, and translated into different languages, as well as hardcovers and paperbacks of the same editions. On that basis, the current tabulation is 129,864,880 books. That number is likely to decline, however, as their algorithms get better at detecting libraries’ bound […]
People
Diane Salvatore, who left the magazine world briefly to serve as publisher of Broadway Books, is becoming editor-in-chief of Rodale’s Prevention magazine. Richard Price will write a new series of detective thrillers that Holt will publish starting in fall 2011 under the pen name Jay Morris.
“Room” Tops September 2010 Indie Next List
Room: A Novel by Emma DonghueThe Gendarme: A Novel by Mark T. MustianApe House: A Novel by Sara GruenThe Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John VaillantThe Good Daughters: A Novel by Joyce MaynardThe Lady Matador’s Hotel: A Novel by Cristina GarciaRussian Winter: A Novel by Daphne KalotayJuliet: A Novel by Anne FortierI’d Know You Anywhere: A Novel by Laura LippmanAn Impartial Witness: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles ToddA Secret Kept by Tatiana de RosnayVermilion Drift: A Novel by William Kent KruegerFreedom: A Novel by Jonathan FranzenHow to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A […]
Today’s Barnes News: Riggio’s eVision, Burkle’s Friends, Cramer, and Private Equity
After finishing the day up almost 20 percent on volume of close to 6 million shares, Barnes & Noble stock slid slightly in early trading this morning while markets consider the board’s news (and as the overall market itself declined). For some people, when James Cramer advises Mad Money viewers to sell Barnes & Noble stock (“let’s take some profits in that one”–? what profits?), that’s a buy sign. The WSJ offers a closer look at chairman Len Riggio’s electronic ambitions and the extent to which he has re-engaged in the business overall this year. “By putting together an investment […]