There are a number of announcements timed to coincide with this week’s Digital Book World conference. Among them: RethinkBooks, the start-up backed in part by John Ingram that we wrote about recently, has announced their first publishing partnership for their SocialBooks software. Zondervan will release their NIV Bible as a SocialBooks-enabled ebook for the iOS platform. Release The UK’s Faber and Faber has signed with RoyaltyShare to aggregate and manage their worldwide ebook revenue, for both their regular publishing program and the Faber Factory digital distribution service for independent publishers. In a similar but different vein Mediamorph–which works with clients […]
Archives for January 2011
DBW Kicks Off With Innovation Awards, 7x20x21
A packed crowd (helped, no doubt, by the drink-ticketed cocktails on tap for the first hour) turned out at the Sheraton Towers ballroom for Digital Book World’s opening ceremonies & reception. After brief remarks from F+W ceo David Nussbaum and a short speech from Harper Collins president of sales Josh Marwell on behalf of the Goddard Riverside Community Center, F+W president David Blansfield hosted DBW’s first ever Publishing Innovation Awards: Fiction: DRACULA: The Official Stoker Family Edition (PadWorx Digital Media) Non-Fiction: Logos Bible Software (Logos Bible Software, Inc.) Children’s: A Story Before Bed (Jackson Fish Market) Reference: Star Walk for […]
People, Etc.: Spence Leaves Quarto, and More
At Quarto in the UK, Piers Spence has stepped down from his role as director of co-edition publishing to run a farm in rural Devon where he plans to raise rare breed pigs and plant a vineyard. He will be replaced in February by David Breuer, chief executive of Royal Academy Enterprises, which operates the commercial activities of London’s Royal Academy of Arts, including its retail, book and magazine publishing operations. Spence will serve as a consultant to Quarto”for at least six months.” At HarperCollins’ Morrow-Avon division, Pamela Spengler-Jaffee has been promoted to senior director of publicity. She joined the […]
With Sale of Day by Day Kiosks to Calendar Club, Borders Raises Some Cash
It remains to be seen whether publishers will accept Borders’ proposed plans for renegotiating credit arrangements by the reported February 1 deadline, but the retailer will get at least some cash from the sale of its seasonal calendar kiosk service, Day By Day Calendars, to competitor Calendar Club LLC. The purchase, under negotiation for some time, closed last Wednesday and was announced to Borders staff on Friday by CEO Mike Edwards. In a telephone interview, Calendar Club CEO Marc Winkelman said the deal has been in the works since the fall, when Borders approached Calendar Club along with other prospective […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, January 24
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Stegner Fellow and recent contributor to The New Yorker, Jim Gavin’s […]
The 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists
The National Book Critics Circle Award nominees were announced Saturday night. Since their selections generally track our composite Best of the Best of the Year lists and the reviews we aggregate at PublishersMarketplace, the two biggest surprises were the inclusion of 101-year-old Hans Keilson’s very-lightly-reviewed German novel, and the omission of Rebecca Skloot’s widely-loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Going by our previously-published Best of…. lists, the winners will include Jonathan Franzen, Isabel Wilkerson, Patti Smith, Anne Carson and Elif Batuman. (Sarah Bakewell is the favorite in biography, though it’s hazier.) Additionally, Parul Sehgal is the recipient of the […]