Borders has come up with a modest answer to Barnes & Noble’s new PubIt and Amazon’s established DTP program, announcing “Borders – Get Published” in association with start-up BookBrewer.com. The emphasis of the service is turning blogs into salable ebooks quickly and easily, though they charge a set-up fee and take 25 percent of the proceeds. (In this respect the service looks similar to plethora of sites that let you turn RSS feeds into mobile phone apps.) But they say it works for regular manuscripts as well. BookBrewer’s site says that, if you use the service independently, they can put […]
Archives for October 2010
Bloomsbury Says Business Is “Resilient”; Book Sales Down 3 Percent at WH Smith
In a third-quarter trading statement, Bloomsbury says their “trading in the UK remains resilient.” They continue to expect the release of the new Harry Potter movie in November to boost book sales. The company writes: “Overall, business is performing well for the group. The outcome for the year is still dependent on the level of consumer and business to business demand between now and the end of the financial year. Major database projects are under consideration which forms part of new business in 2010.” Release Also in the UK, yesterday WH Smith reported preliminary results for the fiscal year. Same-store […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Timothy Bartlett will return to Basic Books (where he worked from 1998 to 2000) on November 8 as senior executive editor, overseeing their lists in politics, economics, and current affairs. He’s currently senior editor at Random House. NataÅ¡a LekiÄ has been promoted to managing editor at Atlas & Co. At Harper UK Children’s, Helen Mackenzie Smith has been hired as publishing director: picture books and color. She has worked for Random UK Children’s for over 14 years. Pulitzer-winning author Dr. Edward O. Wilson and “conservationist” (and actor) Harrison Ford are working with PEN to create the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for […]
Amazon Is “Required” to “Capitulate” to Agency In the UK, Too; Still Tries to Inspire Customer Revolt
Amazon is apparently not going to resort to buy-button-backlash over the agency model in the UK, but they do still believe it’s a good strategy to get their customers riled. They write in a site note: “It is indeed correct that this group of publishers will require Amazon and other UK booksellers to accept an agency model for e-books. We believe they will raise prices on e-books for consumers almost across the board. For a number of reasons, we think this is a damaging approach for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers alike.” They disingenuously tell their UK customers “most publishers […]
AAP eBook Sales Remain Strong
The AAP recorded reports of $39 million in ebook sales for August from the 12 publishers who provide data, another strong month, slightly below the $40.8 million from a month ago. (We’ve been warned by a participant that reporting methodology can vary and one should not get too attached to these numbers as reflecting a particular month’s activity; the cumulative numbers over a period of months are more accurate indicators.) The $263 million in ebook sales recorded for 2010 so far from that core group of reporting publishers comprises 8.3 percent of all net trade sales of $3.174 billion as […]
Legal Briefs: Steinbeck Descendants Lose Again, Willy the Wizard Persists, Amazon Presses for Buyer Privacy
John Steinbeck’s son and granddaughter has lost yet another legal attempt to gain control over the author’s literary estate from the estate of Steinbeck’s third wife Elaine. A Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling from last year granting summary judgment in favor of Elaine Steinbeck’s estate and the McIntosh & Otis literary agency in a suit that included claims she had breached her fiduciary duty to act in the interests of all beneficiaries.Law 360 In Federal Court in Seattle yesterday Amazon argued on First Amendment grounds to have the state of North Carolina relinquish their demand for customer […]