Amazon is entering another new market with Kindle Textbook Rental, making available textbooks to students at up to 80 percent off list prices for a usage period of between 30 and 360 days (paying only for the time needed, with the option to extend the rental period or buy the textbook outright.) “Tens of thousands” of textbooks from Wiley, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis are available through the program, whose announcement would seem to anticipate Amazon’s long-rumored tablet plans for the fall. Release Meanwhile, it seems as if Sony has some explaining to do in-house, as the company denied VP […]
Archives for July 2011
People
Julia Cheiffetz has been named editorial director of Amazon’s New York-based publishing imprint under Larry Kirshbaum. He writes: “Julia’s sharp editorial sensibility and devotion to her authors, combined with her passion for new technology, makes her the perfect choice. She offers a unique blend of an entrepreneurial mind-set built upon a strong belief in the bedrock values of traditional literary and commercial publishing.” Cheiffetz, who starts on August 1, was at Harper most recently (which she originally joined as part of the experimental imprint Harper Studio). Andrea Walker will join The Penguin Press as a senior editor on August 1. […]
Authors, Would-Be Authors, and Subjects: Fonda, Anthony and Milchan
Jane Fonda announced on her blog that QVC cancelled a planned introductory appearance for her new book PRIME TIME. “The network said they got a lot of calls yesterday criticizing me for my opposition to the Vietnam War and threatening to boycott the show if I was allowed to appear. I am, to say the least, deeply disappointed that QVC caved to this kind of insane pressure by some well funded and organized political extremist groups. And that they did it without talking to me first.” Fonda adds “this has gone on far too long, this spreading of lies about […]
Borders Auction Deadline Passes With No Additional Bids
The Sunday night deadline for bids in the auction for Borders passed with no offers besides the “stalking horse” liquidation bid, as the chain moved one step closer to going out of business entirely as a going concern. Jahm Najafi told Bloomberg News “we will not, reluctantly,” make a revised bid for the bookseller. The ever-upbeat Borders management continued to insist that interest persists, with ceo Mike Edwards indicating to the WSJ “that the retailer had received some inquiries over the weekend.” The paper added late Sunday that Books-a-Million was in discussions “on some kind of potential deal” though there […]
Energy Company Pulls “Friendly Fracosaurus” Coloring Book
Now for our “because it’s Friday” story…. Talisman Energy USA has removed from circulation and its web site a two-year-old coloring book for kids that was distributed in Pennsylvania where the company is drilling for natural gas. The project attracted attention after a story in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette last month. It was mocked recently by Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey in the Congressional Record and then by television host Stephen Colbert. Spokeswoman Natalie Cox says, “I can’t stress this enough: It’s just a coloring book…. It was something you gave away at a county fair.” Called Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure, the […]
Follett Said to be Looking for Buyer
DealReporter (which we are reminded is not always on the money with their speculative stories) says in a piece carried on FT.com that privately-held Follett “is in the midst of a sale process,” according to two bankers. Their sources say that Credit Suisse has been retained to advised the company, in which the Follett family still has “significant ownership,” and “the company plans to hold management presentations at the end of July with potential suitors.” (DR is a little confused about Follett’s business, thinking that they are a publisher.) Follett’s site says they have over $2.7 billion in sales annually, […]