Founded in 2009 as a venture-capital backed ebook publisher and marketer, Open Road has been sold to an investor group led by former Arcadia Publishing and Perseus Book Group ceo David Steinberger, selling for “between $60 million and $80 million” according to the WSJ. Investors include private equity company Abry Partners, MEP Capital (which acquired Rosetta’s ebook catalog earlier this year), Grove Atlantic (which has worked with Open Road as a customer), and “a number of prominent individual investors from the worlds of publishing and finance” according to the press release. Paul Slavin, who took over as ceo in 2016 […]
Acquisitions for RBMedia, and Hachette UK
RBmedia has acquired Toronto-based Author’s Republic, a distribution platform for self-published audiobooks. The deal includes the company’s Novel Audio audiobook publishing imprint as well. (Novel Audio was originally Audiobooks.com Publishing, and changed its name after the Audiobooks.com retail site was sold to RBmedia’s predecessor. And RBmedia just sold Audiobooks.com to Storytel.) RBmedia says in the announcement that the two will “also provide audiobook creation tools, a narrator marketplace, and other functionality to enable self-published authors to produce and distribute their audiobooks to as many listeners as possible.” Separately, Hachette UK’s Hodder Education Group has acquired John Catt Educational.
BN Launches New eReader
Barnes & Noble will launch a GlowLight 4 ereader on December 8. CEO James Daunt insists in the announcement, “Barnes & Noble is now investing significantly in our Nook line of products. The GlowLight 4 is the second Nook device to launch this year as we set about to bring a new family of devices to our customers and to reinvigorate Nook in the coming months and years.” He added, “The team is working steadfastly to develop new NOOK products, and we are delighted to see such a strong pipeline of innovation into 2022.”
The First of The Best of the Best Books of 2021
It’s time for the first tabulation of our annual aggregation of selective lists from all over — newspapers, reviewers, booksellers, librarians, book clubs, major awards and more — to provide a clear consensus on the year’s very best books. Last year Isabel Wilkerson’s CASTE led as “book of the year” from start to finish, and Brit Bennett’s THE VANISHING HALF was the clear top novel the entire way, but this year the leading picks are all tightly packed for now. In a bit of good news, a year ago when we first listed the top 11, four of the six […]
UK Judge Allows Ambramovich’s Libel Suit Against Harper to Move Forward
Last week UK High Court Mrs Justice Tipples made a preliminary ruling that allows Roman Abramovich’s libel lawsuit against HarperCollins and author Catherine Belton over the book PUTIN’S PEOPLE to proceed to trial. The judgment was limited to analysis of “the meaning of the passages” that Abramovich’s alleges are libelous, to “determine the impression that would have been conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader.” Mrs Justice Tipples found that the book asserts “the claimant is under the control of President Vladimir Putin and, on the directions of President Putin and the Kremlin, he has had to make the fortune from […]
Robinson’s Sons Explore Possibilities to Challenge His Will
The late Dick Robinson’s sons are “exploring avenues” to challenge his will, the WSJ reports. While Reece Robinson signed a document in July waiving his right to challenge the will, according to a legal filing seen by the paper, Ben Robinson declined to do so. In response to a follow-up summons, Ben and Reece responded together on November 12, “asking New York Surrogate’s Court…for documents regarding the will, written in 2018, and the right to examine related witnesses.” Thomas Rice, a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie who represents Scholastic, said: “Creating legal delays and distractions isn’t in the best interest […]