On Tuesday afternoon Amazon made a new proposal to Hachette Book Group, only after an email from Amazon’s David Naggar to “a few authors and agents” looking for some “feedback” magically found its way to both the WSJ and the NYT at the same time. Amazon’s suggestion is to give the entire sales price of HBG ebooks directly to the authors, in exchange for restoring normal relations on the publisher’s list while negotiations continue: “Hachette authors would get 100 percent of the sales price of every Hachette e-book we sell,” Naggar’s letter says, and in turn, the etailer “would also return to normal levels of […]
Archives for July 2014
Amazon Said to Offer Normal Trading with Hachette — As Long As All eBook Revenues Go to Authors
[This was a quick, preliminary version of this story. See our far more comprehensive, updated version here] Following a stream of public criticism from authors — starting with James Patterson, Malcolm Gladwell and Stephen Colbert but then spreading to many of the best-known authors in the business through the Douglas Preston-driven open letter — Amazon has “floated” to a set of agents a proposal that would reward authors better than ever on ebook sales (and therefore only punish Hachette). The hypothetical proposal from David Naggar at Amazon, which amazingly found its way in letter form to both the WSJ and the NYT at […]
Harper Targets Readers with Relaunched Web Site, Direct Sales and Offers
HarperCollins has relaunched their primary web site to focus on readers, and as part of that effort they are selling their full catalog of print, ebook and physical audio books directly (while also linking out to an extensive set of retailers). The new home page prominently highlights three recent releases available at 15 percent off plus free shipping in print, or 20 percent off in ebook form. Additional banners promote other value offers, including a sale on summer reading picks for kids and teens. Chief Digital Officer Chantal Restivo-Alessi says in the press release, “We are excited to be able […]
People
Amazon Publishing editorial director of Little A and New Harvest Julia Cheiffetz announced on Twitter, “I resigned from Amazon Publishing yesterday. I’m grateful to my devoted team and proud of our books. On to new adventures.” Rachel Bressler will join Plume as editorial director on July 14, taking over from Phil Budnick (recently named director of field & wholesaler sales for Penguin’s adult hardcover division). Bressler was the executive director of corporate and publisher relations at The Park Literary Group, and prior to that was associate publisher at Ecco. Paul Whitlatch is joining the Hachette Books imprint as senior editor, starting […]
People
Charles Watkinson joined the University of Michigan Library on July 1 as associate university librarian for publishing and director of the University of Michigan Press. Most recently he was head of scholarly publishing services and director of Purdue University Press. At Macmillan, Ruth Esehak-Gillespie has been promoted to international sales and marketing manager. At Harper UK, Natalie Jerome has been promoted to nonfiction publisher. Ann Lawson has been hired as head of Publishing Technology’s ingentaconnect division. She was at EBSCO Information Services, most recently as senior director. At Harlequin, Erika Imranyi has been promoted to executive editor, Mira. Co-founder of The […]
Omnific Pairs with Simon & Schuster (And Licenses Titles to Amazon)
Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books has announced a co-publishing agreement with independent publisher of romantic fiction, Omnific Publishing. Under the agreement, Gallery and Pocket will co-publish “a select number” of titles with Omnific, both as ebooks and print books. Additionally, S&S will distribute all Omnific titles. Gallery Books Publishing Group president and publisher Louise Burke says in the announcement: “Omnific have been innovators in both their editorial approach to romantic fiction, and in their publishing and business philosophy. We have been greatly impressed with the high-quality and market success of many of their books, and look forward to a partnership […]