Kobo has had a Dutch ebookstore since early 2012, launched in cooperation with local retailer Libris Blz, and now they have partnered with Bol.com, “the largest provider of ebooks in the Netherlands and Belgium.” BookShout has an agreement with premium supplier Forest Incentives that will enable public radio and TV stations to provide ebooks as gifts to their contributing members. Participating publishers include Harper Collins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Workman. Open Road has published 17 ebooks of poetry by John Ashbery, 87. The NYT looks at how improvements in formatting have overcome the poet’s initial objections to how his […]
Archives for September 2014
National Book Awards Young People’s Lit Longlist
The National Book Awards began rolling out their longlists one at a time Monday via the New York Times, which posted the Young People’s Literature list of 10 candidates, including Carl Hiaasen’s SKINK – NO SURRENDER, which you can start reading an excerpt from right now in our Buzz Books Fall/Winter 2014: Young Adult ebook. The shortlist of five will be announced next month, with the winner to be named November 19. The full longlist: Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory (Viking Children’s) Gail Giles, Girls Like Us (Candlewick) Carl Hiaasen, Skink—No Surrender (Knopf Children’s) Kate Milford, Greenglass […]
People, Etc.
Simon & Schuster Australia managing director Lou Johnson has resigned from the company in order to “seek challenges in her career outside of Simon & Schuster, and potentially beyond the traditional publishing environment,” the company said in the announcement, though she will stay “for the foreseeable future” to ensure a smooth transition as a search for her successor begins. Johnson joined S&S Australia in 2008 and has been managing director for the past four years, during which time responsibility for Australia shifted from the US to Simon & Schuster UK. CEO of S&S UK and International Ian Chapman said: “Lou and her […]
Stein’s A Sudden Light Tops October Library Reads List
Garth Stein’s new novel A SUDDEN LIGHT leads the October Library Reads list, which also includes #1 Indie Next pick LEAVING TIME by Jodi Picoult. The rest of the list: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming Some Luck: A Novel by Jane Smiley The Boy Who Drew Monsters: A Novel by Keith Donohue The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens Reunion: A Novel by Hannah Pittard Malice: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
Vook Acquires Byliner
After months of looking for a buyer and barely operating in the meantime, Byliner.com has been acquired by Vook. The purchase is somewhat of a full-circle pivot for Vook, which began in 2009 by producing “enhanced” ebooks with embedded videos. In the announcement, the company says, “With the acquisition of Byliner, Vook will support Byliner’s existing titles and acquire new projects for release under the Byliner imprint.” (All of the people who drove Byliner’s editorial connections that allowed them to partner with some marquee authors and institutions have left the company, however. From Vook’s author FAQ, the line will be run […]
Corporate: Harper eBooks In China, Amazon Expands In London, and Good Books Auction
HarperCollins announced an agreement with JD.com and China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation to sell English-language ebooks in China. It is “the first time the company has made its e-books directly available to consumers in China through a local retailer,” though JD.com has partnered with Harper in selling their print books in China for some time. The initiative will start with approximately 800 backlist titles. Amazon UK will relocate all of their corporate employees to London by next summer, spread across three offices for the time being. Then, as of 2017, they will occupy more than two-thirds of a […]