Following attention for pre-publication excerpts from Steven Rattner’s OVERHAUL, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is moving up publication to September 20 from the original release date of October 14. Harper One has released Deepak Chopra’s new book MUHAMMAD: A Story of the Last Prophet as en ebook in advance of the print edition, and is “working to accelerate the on-sale date for the physical book.” They say it’s the first time the company has released an ebook in advance of a physical book.
Archives for September 2010
People, Etc.
St. Martin’s has announced a new short-story writing contest, to be judged by Jeffrey Archer. The winner will be offered a publishing contract, with the story of 5,000 words or less issued as an ebook.Jeffrey Archer Presents Candlewick Press is partnering on a TOON Books imprint in October. They will takeover TOON’s eleven-title backlist and aim to publish four to five new books a year starting next spring. TOON was launched in 2008 TOON Books by New Yorker art editor and RAW publisher Françoise Mouly. Flat World Knowledge his hired David Littlehale for the new position of vp of institutional […]
Tablet Mania and More eNews
Packing in as much as we can: 1. Kobo released a new desktop computer app, which they point out works with other company’s EPUB devices including nook and Sony Reader, letting readers buy from Kobo and read on other machines.Release 2. Kno has raised another $46 million in financing, and says their giant, dual-screen color tablet will ship “later this year” and start student beta testing shortly. It ratifies them as the leading player for the moment in bringing tablets to the college market.Release 3. Engadget got early photos and marketing materials for HP‘s bizarre new tablet + printer combo, […]
Sales and Profits Rise at Wiley, Though “Consumer” Books Are Weak
Wiley announced first quarter sales of $408 million, up 5 percent, including “strong growth” in the professional/trade and higher ed divisions, as operating income rose 13 percent to $63 million. Professional/trade sales of $100 million were up 11 percent overall (and 10 percent in the US), with contribution to profit of $22 million, due to “top line growth, product mix, and higher-margin eBook sales, partially offset by increased employment costs.” As a category, however, “consumer” books were the weakest part of the portfolio, falling 7 percent. Wiley says trade/professional ebooks doubled in the quarter to “nearly $4 million.” They now […]
Posner and Simon & Schuster Sued for Infringement, As Publisher Faces Odd Campaign Finance Allegations As Well
In March Gerald Posner admitted his fall 2009 book MIAMI BABYLON included some passages from Frank Owen’s CLUBLAND. At the time, Posner blamed faulty research methodology, and said “if you use something from another book, a statement from another book, it needs to be in quotations, or if you take something and put it in your own syntax and grammar, you still need to cite it.” He promised to review his book further and revise the material. (This came a month after Posner resigned from the Daily Beast after it was found that he copied material from Miami Herald articles […]
People
Senior director of publicity at William Morrow Dee Dee De Bartlo is leaving after 12 years at HarperCollins to join February Partners, co-founded by her former HarperCollins colleague Gretchen Crary. She says in the announcement, “we really feel the future of the industry is dismantling the silos that exist between publicity and marketing in the big publishing houses and coming up with solutions that maximize a book’s exposure.” Additionally, Kimberly Cowser has joined February Partners as online marketing manager. At Harper UK, Jenny Heller has been promoted to publishing director for general nonfiction at Collins, and Lizzy Gray has been […]