Sony’s 20p discounted price on select ebooks, a promotion that lasted for more than eight months, has ended after the company redesigned its ebookstore. In a statement to the Bookseller Sony said “Discounted 20p pricing is not currently offered on the newly relaunched UK Reader Store. However, pricing is always subject to revision. The duration of our 20p pricing is indicative of our commitment to provide great e-books at exceptionally accessible prices, which is a philosophy we continue to hold.” Now that the steep discount on books such as Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI and John Lanchester’s CAPITAL (and earlier, […]
Archives for March 2013
People, Etc.
Craig Herman has joined Peanuts Worldwide as executive director for publishing, where he will work on expanding the global publishing program for the Peanuts brand as well as transition the business to the optimal blend of physical books, e-books, and hybrid digibooks and apps. Previously he was vp, associate publisher at Running Press. Little, Brown announced that the trade paperback edition of JK Rowling‘s THE CASUAL VACANCY will be published with a new cover on July 18, 2013. In separate Dan Brown news, Doubleday announced he will make his only US appearance for INFERNO at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall […]
Hastings Book Comps Continue to Decline
Hastings Entertainment reported fourth quarter and full year results Monday morning. For the quarter, the company reported net income of $1.2 million, compared to a loss of $8.4 million a year ago, with an overall loss of $9.3 million, nearly cut in half compared to the $17.6 million the company lost in 2011. Overall book comps dropped 4.5 percent for the quarter, compared to a 2.4 percent increase at the same time last year, “primarily due to decreased sales in new and used books and magazines, partially offset by strong holiday sales of Nextbook tablets.” (Without digital sales, book comps […]
Google Unit to Launch eBooks That Tie In to Their Hot Game, Ingress
A division within Google–Niantic Labs–is readying the first in a potentially extensive line of ebooks and books, in conjunction with author and co-publisher Thomas Greanias and his @tlantis Books. It’s known as the ALIGNMENT series and the first first ebook novella, the 150-page THE ALIGNMENT: INGRESS, is set for publication on April 2 in the Google Play Store, but also on all other major ebook platforms, either simultaneously or shortly thereafter. (Pricing for the title has yet to be finalized.) The books tie in to Niantic’s hot alternate/augmented reality MMOG Ingress that Google has been rolling out in closed beta […]
Amazon Publishing Adds A Literary Imprint, Little A
Amazon Publishing will now publish literary fiction, story collections, and memoir under what they are calling a new literary imprint, Little A. That imprint will also publish a digital-only series “focused on short stories from debut writers” in North America and the UK under a separate moniker, Day One. The launch titles for Little A include A.L. Kennedy’s just-published THE BLUE BOOK, Alison Lynn’s THE EXILES (July) and James Franco’s ACTORS ANONYMOUS (10/15). Day One officially started with Kodi Scheer’s February 5 Kindle Single story, “When a Camel Breaks Your Heart.” Next up is Bridget Clerkin’s “Monster,” releasing March 19. […]
People, Etc.
Confirmed via Twitter though not officially announced yet by the ABA, Anthony Marra‘s debut novel A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA from Hogarth will be the No. 1 Indie Next pick for May. Marra was among the authors appearing at Winter Institute 8 and you can read a 20-page excerpt from the beginning of his book right now in the current edition of our packed free ebook BUZZ BOOKS 2013: Spring/Summer. It also includes a sample from No. 1 Indie Next April book Kate Atkinson’s LIFE AFTER LIFE, another April pick (Aleksandr Hemon’s The Book of My Lives), and more highly-touted […]