Amazon announced more licenses for their Kindle Worlds fan fiction program, including GI Joe (from Hasbro); the TV shows Pretty Little Liars and Ravenswood (expanding their relationship with Warner’s Alloy Entertainment); and works from authors Markus Sakey and Theresa Ragan. The Seattle Times noticed an interesting restriction in Hasbro’s license. The Rhode-Island based company requires that “G.I. Joe’s comrade, Snake Eyes, cannot be a portrayed as a fan of the New York Yankees.” The paper takes a broader look at Amazon Publishing in connection with the announcement. The new non-specific statistic is Amazon Publishing head Jeff Belle saying that “the […]
Archives for February 2014
Rowman & Littlefield Says Publishing Unit Has “Best Year” Ever; Sales Rise for Indigo But Earnings Drop Sharply
Rowman & Littlefield announced their 2013 results informally, saying that book and journal sales rose by $4.1 million (or more than 8 percent) to $51 million for the year, helped by their acquisition of Down East Books. Digital products comprised just under 10 percent of publishing sales. They launched an ebookstore within their web site last summer, selling “around 12,000 ebooks” directly. Their distribution companies NBN and NBNInternational had client sales of $79 million in the year. CEO Jed Lyons declared in the announcement: “2013 was our best year since we started the business in 1975.” This time a year […]
Rakuten Installs Japanese CEO At Kobo, and More People News
Kobo’s parent company Rakuten has installed Takahito “Taka” Aiki as the new ceo of Kobo, effective immediately, with founder and ceo Michael Serbinis stepping aside into the role of vice chairman. Aiki was ceo of another Rakuten subsidiary, the Japanese telecom unit Fusion Communications. In a statement reported on by the Financial Post, Rakuten said, “Taka brings to the role a wealth of experience in building and growing successful projects and companies, and has built his career on achieving ambitious goals and forging strong teams.” It is said that he will relocate to Kobo’s headquarters in Toronto. According to his […]
Another UK Independent Publisher Seeks Support
It has been a difficult period for independent publishers in the UK, with Saqi Books the latest to announce that it is seeking new investment or else will discontinue its English-language publishing program after 30 years. In their statement they indicate: “Following considerable success and significant growth over the years, Saqi is now reviewing its long term strategy. It is no secret that publishing in the UK is an uphill struggle, especially for a small independent outfit. We have been going from strength to strength and we saw our highest turnover in 2013. The directors are now reviewing our strategy […]
People, Etc.
Today’s Penguin Random House announcement presents a unified cross-company executive team in the US finance group (and associated services), under cfo Coram Williams. Random House’s Milena Alberti takes the new position of svp, head of global corporate finance for Penguin Random House. A number of others now formally have responsibilities across Penguin Random House, including: SVP, corporate director, business affairs, John Schline (responsible for contracts and permissions) SVP, worldwide reporting and planning, James Johnston Group controller, Tom Stefanik SVP, royalty operation, Pauline James SVP, credit, payroll & disbursements, William Sinnott SVP, corporate services, Mariella Molloy Meanwhile, executive director, publishing contracts […]
FYI, There’s Nothing New About the Latest Demand for Big Damages from Apple
For a while now, we’ve cautioned readers: a) not to get caught up in the day-to-day legal maneuverings between Apple and the government (the main things that matter are the appeal, and the damages trial, in that order), and b) to be wary of stories from organizations that don’t have a deep understanding and coverage of this complex battle. So today you’ll see headlines about the latest filing from the class action attorneys suggesting that Apple should pay damages of between $720 million and $840 million. But this is nothing new. We guesstimated back in June 2013 — before the […]