With the three-year dismantling of Bertelsmann’s once globe-spanning Direct Group essentially complete, capped by the sale last month of the French-language clubs to Najafi Companies, the unit will no longer stand as its own business division as of the end of June. Bertelsmann announced Wednesday that the remaining Direct Group businesses in German-speaking countries and Eastern Europe and their 50 percent interest in Spain’s Circulo de Lectores will be folded into Berteslmann Corporate Investments (which also includes BMG and digital media and Asian investment funds), reporting to Thomas Rabe. In addition, Bertelsmann is still exploring a possible sale and other […]
Archives for June 2011
People, Etc.
At Other Press, Megan Feulner has been promoted to publicist, and Sophia Sherry has been promoted to publicity and marketing coordinator. Tisse Takagi has joined Basic Books as associate editor. Previously she was at Oxford University Press. Justina Batchelor has joined Touchstone as a publicist. She was at Crown. Jessica Shoffel joined Penguin Children’s as a publicist. She was previous in the publicity department at Random House Children’s Books. Larissa Edwards, currently associate publisher at Random House Australia, will join Simon and Schuster Australia this July in a newly created role as head of publishing, reporting to managing director Lou […]
Bookselling: Australian Minister Thinks Online Sales Will Eliminate Most Bookstores In 5 Years, and More
Australia’s Minister for Small Business Nick Sherry said in a speech in Canberra today that he believes it is “inevitable” that online shopping would wipe out general bookstores within five years, leaving only specialist shops in capital cities. Sherry’s comments, which took place at a private sector initiative designed to encourage small business owners to boost their online presence, come in the midst of REDGroup Retail’s ongoing bankruptcy and the selloff or shutdown of various Borders and Angus & Robertson stores in the country. Steve Belton, manager of the Paperchain Bookstore at Manuka, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was […]
eNews: OverDrive Windows Phone App; Booksurfers for Kindle
Today’s eNews is decidedly app-centric, for devices bearing no relation whatsoever to Apple. Overdrive announced its Windows Phone app, enabling readers at the more than 15,000 services that use Overdrive to download EPUB ebooks and audiobooks. Overdrive Windows Phone app page Children’s author David Gatward’s new series Booksurfers, which mixes well-known stories with new adventures in an interactive manner, will be available exclusively at Amazon on various Kindle platforms starting today. Starting with the first two titles, TREASURE ISLAND and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, the series features four children who are “forced to jump ‘into’ classic adventure stories to […]
People, Etc.: Columbia Acquires Wallflower Press, and More
Columbia University Press has acquired UK publisher of peer-reviewed books in film studies Wallflower Press Books. The unit had been a distribution client of Columbia’s in the North and South America. CUP president Jim Jordan says in the announcement, “When Wallflower Press found itself unable to sustain business on their own after some financial setbacks, we decided to explore an alternative to losing a client that had served us well for ten years. Acquiring the publishing rights to their list and creating the imprint is the best way to keep Wallflower Press’s outstanding list around for years to come.” Columbia […]
eNews: Amazon Cuts Ties to AR, CT Over Sales Tax; Kobo eBook Lending; and More
Add Arkansas and Connecticut to the list of states Amazon is cutting ties with over new sales tax laws. In Arkansas, where the law enables the state to charge sales tax on companies who exceed $10,000 in annual sales, Amazon notified associates by email that it would terminate their contracts on July 24. And in Connecticut, affiliates will be cut off “effective immediately,” per a separate Amazon email. AP UPI Kobo is said to be preparing its own ebook lending and self-publishing services to launch before the end of the year. GoodeReader Waterstone’s sale to Alexander Mamut will not affect […]