The real business of the digital transition isn’t so much the business model experiments that get press releases and “news” coverage day, but rather it’s finding and deploying the right digital services and solutions to produce, distribute and license your content. The right processes can save companies money and time, and maximize the new business opportunities that digital helps to power. Our new trio of Publishing Services “mini-conferences” on September 26, co-presented with Digital Book World, is laser-focused on learning about the solutions available in three key areas. There are lots of general digital events, but almost none that target […]
Archives for September 2013
Harper Lee Copyright Lawsuit Officially Dismissed
As promised last week by Samuel Pinkus’s defense lawyer, Harper Lee’s copyright lawsuit against him was officially dismissed Wednesday afternoon. (The dismissal included the associated companies Veritas Media, Keystone Literary, and Philologus Procurator.) Each side will bear the cost of their own attorney fees. Gloria Phares, representing Harper Lee, had not yet returned our request for comment. Pinkus’s attorney Vincent Carissimi had said last week that both sides “reached a mutually satisfactory resolution.”
People, Etc.: Enderlin Promoted to St. Martin’s Paperback Publisher
Jennifer Enderlin has been promoted to svp, publisher for St. Martin’s Griffin and St. Martin’s Paperbacks, the role previously held by Matthew Shear, who died last month. SMP publisher Sally Richardson said in a statement: “In the past 20 years she has been here, Jen has proven herself an astute acquirer of talent; a gifted hands-on editor; and a supportive colleague always ready to help, advise, and read for other editors. She has a keen understanding of the market and the realities of its timing and competition, which has enabled her to position and publish authors for book-by-book growth as […]
Find and See
We have been busy implementing more refinements at PublishersMarketplace.com, as you may have already noted. Today we have gone live with the latest (and final) additions to our long-in-the-making sitewide Super Search feature. The biggest expansion is the inclusion of our 10-year database of major bestseller lists. In the past, you could only search this powerful archive by ISBN — but with our new index, the entire database is searchable by author and title, helping to unlock lots of valuable data. We have also rolled in our job listings and rights/proposal board, so Super Search now looks across 13 different […]
Judge Rules Lance Armstrong’s Books Are Protected Speech; Rejects False Advertising Claims
A month after holding a hearing on a proposed class action lawsuit against Lance Armstrong for making false statements in his books IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE and EVERY SECOND COUNTS, California Federal court Judge Morrison England threw out most of the suit. Siding with Armstrong and his respective publishers Putnam and Crown (each defended separately, though now part of the same parent company), he wrote: “The Court concludes, despite plaintiffs’ allegations that the Armstrong books contained false and misleading statements, that the content of the books is afforded full First Amendment protection,” England wrote in his 39-page ruling, issued […]
People, Etc.
Crown is designating specialized vertical marketing teams for the imprints that comprise Crown Archetype, to create “even more focused, specialized teams with expertise within our respective core categories.” Meredith McGinnis has been promoted to director of marketing for Harmony Books, focused on health, wellness, spirituality, and self-improvement, with marketing manager Christina Foxley working only on Harmony titles. Julie Cepler moves over to serve as director of marketing for Archetype, Crown Forum, and Three Rivers Press, while Tommy Cabrera is promoted to marketing associate for those imprints. VP, director of marketing and publicity for Crown Business Tara Gilbride will continue in […]