Firebrand Technologies is launching an affiliated company, Firebrand Associates, a management consulting organization, and has made a number of executive promotions. The new unit will focus on operational issues related to publishing’s transition from print-centric to content-centric, and is led by Don Linn, former book group publisher at The Taunton Press, and former owner and ceo of Consortium. Firebrand ceo Fran Toolan says in the announcement, “As publishers struggle with managing both their existing print publishing programs and their growing digital publishing programs, there are urgent needs to reorganize processes throughout the organization.” Former Harcourt svp and already a consultant […]
Archives for September 2011
Chin Approves Schedule for Discovery and Motions Moving to Google Books Trial
At today’s court hearing to update Judge Denny Chin, the parties to the Google Books case brought no dramatic reports of progress on a settlement (as widely expected), despite the judge’s warning the last time around to work out a deal or prepare to litigate. So Judge Chin followed through on his promise and scheduled a pathway to trial, albeit a slow one. Attorney Michael Boni, speaking for the Authors Guild only this time, said the authors organization remains in “active discussions” with Google about a settlement as part of a “parallel track” of preparing for litigation. Representatives of the […]
eNews: Amazon Spain, Local Kindle Ads, Estimates of 5.4 Million eReaders in Q2, and More
As expected, Amazon.es launched yesterday with a press conference in Madrid featuring vp for Europe Greg Greely (in English). Greely announced the company offers 2.5 million print books in Spanish and 80,000 in Catalan, which because of the fixed price laws they can sell at a maximum discount of 5 percent. Orders from Spain will be served from a warehouse in a secret location outside Spain–just as Amazon.es’s 100 employees (many of whom joined Amazon as part of the BuyVIP acquisition last year) are not in Spain either, working out of the company’s European headquarters in Luxembourg. Regarding the reported […]
Madoff Book Acknowledged, Palin Publicity Continues
Little, Brown’s poorly-veiled Madoff book, sold to the trade in July as Untitled by Anonymous, has had its pub date moved up two weeks, to October 31. The publisher now acknowledges what was reported in July–the book, TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES: Life Inside the Madoff Family, is by Laurie Sandell, and promises “extensive, exclusive interviews” with Andrew Madoff, his fiancee Catherine Hooper, Ruth Madoff and others. A 60 Minutes segment will air October 30. In other forthcoming books, the NYT follows short, lurid leaks from Joe McGinniss’s THE ROGUE with a pre-publication review–which actually gives you a sense of why the […]
People, Etc.
Joerg Pfuhl “has decided to leave” his position as ceo of Random House Germany (and member of the Random House executive board) at the end of this year. He first joined Bertelsmann in 1994. Company ceo Markus Dohle says Pfuhl told him “he wanted to devote more time to his family and to his interests in education, consulting, and philanthropic work and give them the same undivided focus he has given the company.” The German unit’s chief operating officer since 2005 Frank Sambeth will take over as ceo January 1. Vintage senior editor Jennifer Jackson has been named senior editor, Knopf and Doubleday. […]
Authors Guild Locates HathiTrust “Orphan” Owner In Minutes, Questioning Entire Process
The legal questions raised by the Authors Guild in their lawsuit earlier this week have just begun, but any notion that the HathiTrust’s process for diligently seeking potential rightful owners of “orphan works” before providing the full text for download is sufficient has been easily punctured. Yesterday, after some “cursory research into some of the names on the list,” the Guild quickly found one rightful owner: J.R. Salamanca, a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, actively represented by John White of the John White Literary Agency. LOST COUNTRY, his book listed as an orphan, was made into the Elvis […]