Online retailers have been consistently plagued by those who post product reviews for a fee, and some, like Amazon, are clear in declaring that this practice violates their terms of service. Now Amazon is going a step further, filing its first-ever complaint in Washington state court earlier this week. The defendants are Jay Gentile as well as “John Does” running several websites, and Amazon is accusing them of “trademark infringement, false advertising and violations of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act” through the creation of websites that offer to sell verified Amazon reviews from between $19 and $22 […]
Novik’s Uprooted Tops May Library Reads List
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is the No. 1 pick for the May Library Reads list. The list also includes The Water Knife by Paolo Baciagalupi as well as Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, excerpts of which you can start reading right now in our Buzz Books 2015: Spring/Summer ebook. The rest of the list includes: A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury) A God in Ruins, by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown) The Knockoff, by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza (Doubleday) Early Warning, by Jane Smiley (Knopf) The Ghost Fields, by Elly Griffiths (HMH) Our Souls at Night, […]
People, Etc.
Mary Faria will join Perseus on April 20 in the newly created role of vp, mass merch sales, reporting to Sabrina McCarthy. Previously she was director of sales at becker!&mayer. Rick Monteith, Peter D’Erasmo, Christina Douglas, and Cherish Barrett will now report to Faria. At Random House Children’s Publishing, Stephanie O’Cain has been promoted to senior marketing manager; Sarah Wharton moves up to assistant marketing manager, and Alissa Nigro has been promoted to marketing coordinator. In addition, Hannah Black joins as assistant marketing manager from Diversion Books, where she was marketing coordinator. Sarah Bush has been promoted to audio rights […]
New Ventures: Chronicle Books Japan; AP eBooks
Chronicle Books has partnered with Top Partners Co, Ltd to launch Chronicle Books Japan. The new entity will be the exclusive distributor of Chronicle Books products in the Japanese market, including English language books, stationery and gifts as well as Japanese language editions, and will also establish branded boutiques in a number of flagship Tsutaya Mega bookstores throughout Japan starting in May and continuing through the end of 2016. “We were looking for the next wave of publishing culture,” Top Partners ceo Kazuo Nakanishi said in the announcement. “Chronicle Books is exactly what we have long admired and are looking […]
Oyster Adds eBookstore
Oyster has launched an ebookstore to accompany its existing subscription offering. The ebookstore will sell books by existing subscription partners HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster — as well as the two major subscription holdouts, Penguin Random House and Hachette. The company touts their launch as “the most significant entrance into the retail book market in the past five years,” though Oyster’s subscription competitor Scribd has sold ebooks for years. For now, the expansion lets Oyster display and merchandise a wider selection of titles. Participating subscription titles are highlighted as “read for free,” available for separate purchase after you click through, while […]
People, Etc.
Gabrielle Gantz joins Palgrave as associate director of publicity. She was previously director of publicity at McSweeney’s. Mia Amato has joined Start Publishing as marketing director, overseeing all print and digital marketing of the recently acquired Cleis Press and Viva Editions imprints. Her background in digital channel marketing includes stints at Harlequin, Quirk Books, McGraw-Hill and Kensington. Firebrand Technologies has hired Satvinder Virdi as senior UK relationship manager, based in London, with responsibility for sales, projects and support of UK and European-based publishing clients. He was on the project management and technology operations team at Random House. Also in Europe, the company’s NetGalley has launched […]