Amazon essentially confirmed in a press release that next week’s press conference will include a new version of their Kindle Fire, since the first edition is now “sold out.” CEO Jeff Bezos says, “Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead.” Amazon claims that over the past nine months (between December and August, including pre-orders), “Kindle Fire has captured 22 percent of tablet sales in the US.” Thanks to the recent court case between Apple and Samsung, we have pretty precise comps for tablet sales from those two companies. (Also thanks to that case, we know […]
Archives for August 2012
People
At Little, Brown, Miriam Parker has been promoted to newly created position of online marketing director for all of the company’s imprints, including Mulholland Books, Reagan Arthur Books, and Back Bay Books. Parker, who has been at L,B for the past 12 years, will be responsible for creating online promotion plans for all imprints, including Mulholland; developing content for imprint websites, including Mulhollandbooks.com; and overseeing online advertising strategy. Online marketing associate Anna Balasi will now report to Parker, and Little, Brown will be hiring a new Mulholland marketing manager/Michael Connelly brand manager to fill Parker’s previous position. In addition, Brittany […]
Three Settling Publishers Agree to Pay Consumers $69 Million, Plus $7.5 Million to States for Legal Costs
A little later than planned, attorneys general from 49 states (all but Minnesota), five territories and the District of Columbia have filed with Judge Denise Cote’s court a proposed settlment of their ebook price-fixing action with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. The publishers have agreed to pay approximately $69 million in consumer restitution, and “about $7.5 million to the states for legal fees and other costs.” (When the agreement to settle was announced in April, the AGs said they expected the publishers would pay about $52 million, but that was before Simon & Schuster had agreed to […]
Nook Adds Argos, Blackwell’s, and Foyles as UK Partners
Barnes & Noble announced that retailer Argos, academic bookseller Blackwell’s and independent bookstore Foyles will also sell the Nook in the UK as of October, after announcing its deal with John Lewis earlier in the week. The Argos deal is particularly significant as it means the Simple Touch and GlowLight devices will be sold in a chain of 700 stores, while Blackwell’s and Foyles enables BN to have some bookstore presence to compete with WHSmith (which stocks Kobo) and Waterstones (which sells Kindle.) In a statement BN director of digital products Jamie Iannone touted that “Argos built its brand on […]
Judge Cote Accepts Authors Guilds’ Brief; Will Accept A Kohn Filing of 5 Pages Only
In a brief ruling on Tuesday, Judge Denise Cote accepted the amicus curiae brief submitted by the Authors Guild, and agreed to do the same for businessman and attorney Bob Kohn, as long as he resubmits his brief by next Tuesday, September 4 and turns his dozens of pages into 5 pages or less, just as everone else was ordered to do. “Kohn had a full opportunity to express his opinion on the proposed FInal Judgment during the public comment period and took full advantage of this opportunity. Any additional remarks need only address new arguments presented in the Government’s […]
AP and Huffington Post Both Have Copies of NO EASY DAY; Author Says Bin Laden Was Killed Without A Fight
Even as the Pentagon and CIA are reviewing the text of “Mark Owen’s” forthcoming NO EASY DAY, the AP “purchased a copy” of the embargoed on Tuesday and the Huffington Post also “obtained” a copy at a bookstore. Publisher Dutton moved up the official release to next Tuesday, September 4. The author tells the AP he did “not disclose confidential or sensitive information that would compromise national security in any way.” In a brief excerpt from his pending 60 Minutes interview, Owen says the release date was not intended to influence the presidential campaign: “This book is not political whatsoever. […]