A deal is a deal except when it isn’t, apparently, as the Department of Justice has asked Judge Denise Cote to essentially throw out the settlement terms she already approved and ratified for Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster (and is about to issue final orders on for Macmillan and Penguin) — and impose a harsher set of selling conditions on the publishers as part of the “punishment” of Apple following Judge Cote’s finding of guilt. They now want five years of no agency at all for ebooks at Apple, with the expressed hope that those terms spread […]
Archives for August 2013
Hannah Kent’s Debut BURIAL RITES Leads September Indie Next List
Hannah Kent’s debut novel BURIAL RITES is the #1 pick for the September Indie Next List, which also features two BEA Buzz Book selections — THE AFFAIRS OF OTHERS by Amy Grace Loyd and KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR by Katy Butler — as well as ALEX by Pierre Lemaitre, the first of the 40 titles featured in our own Fall/Winter Buzz Book sampler that you can enjoy right now. The full list: #1 Pick: Burial Rites: A Novel, by Hannah Kent Night Film: A Novel, by Marisha Pessl Alex, by Pierre Lemaitre (translated by Frank Wynne) Enon: A Novel, by […]
People
Susan Batcheller has been promoted to group commercial operations director of the Walker Books Group, while continuing in her role as vp, marketing services and sales operations at Candlewick. In addition, David Macmillan has joined as group export product and sales manager. Previously he was senior US sales manager for Templar Books in the UK. In the UK, Penguin veteran and legal and human resources director Helena Peacock has been named group legal director for Penguin Random House UK, reporting to Ian Hudson. Random House UK human resources director Neil Morrison has been made Penguin Random House UK group HR […]
Michaels Leaves Hachette for New Role at Macmillan Science
Hachette Book Group USA president and chief operating officer Ken Michaels is leaving to join Macmillan Science and Education in the new role of global chief operating officer at the end of August. Reporting to ceo Annette Thomas, Michaels will be based in both New York and London. Michaels says in the announcement, “There has never been a more exciting time to be in publishing, and the bringing together of Macmillan’s portfolio of science and education businesses represents a powerful opportunity, to make a major impact on learning and discovery around the world. I am looking forward to what we […]
Author News: New Worlds for Geddes and Vonnegut
Bestselling photographer Anne Geddes will publish her new print books and products through Sourcebooks, starting next spring. They plan new photographic books as well as “a baby journal, a gift book for moms, board books, and more.” Sourcebooks is also taking over sales of existing Geddes ebooks immediately. The Geddes Group publishes existing/backlist US print books directly, in a distribution agreement with Perseus Distribution, after publishing through Andrews McMeel for a number of years. Additionally, Geddes will contribute to Sourcebooks’ fast-growing franchise of personalized children’s books and story apps, Put Me In the Story. She “will anchor the baby edition of Put Me […]
More Obama Kindle Fires
The NY Post looks into ways that Amazon has supported President Obama. They cite data from the Center for Responsive Politics indicating Amazon employees donated over $116,000 to the president’s 2012 re-election campaign (and roughly $25,000 to the Romney campaign). Separately, the paper quotes the Amazon Web Services site, which touts how the Obama campaign used their technology in the campaign. “The AWS solution helped facilitate the fund-raising of hundreds of millions of dollars, prioritized millions of phone calls and coordinated thousands of volunteers.” But the Post errs in saying Amazon’s announced 5,000 new warehouse employees will “increase Amazon’s workforce […]