Simon & Schuster’s small pilot program for digital library lending is expanding to add 15 public libraries served by OverDrive. As with the initial efforts at New York City libraries, S&S will make available its full catalog of ebooks, offering unlimited checkouts for a year on a one copy/one user basis. The company has said previously that their library pricing is “a little bit more” than their ebook list prices. “We are pleased to expand our eBook distribution in libraries through this pilot with OverDrive,” Simon & Schuster vp, global ebook market development and strategy Doug Stambaugh said in the […]
DBW Survey Points to Author Dissatisfaction With Traditional and Self-Publishing
Having already offered a sneak peek at some of the results, CUNY professor Dana Beth Weinberg presented some additional data and analysis of the Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest author survey, which focused on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing and self-publishing. While the survey pointed to some obvious conclusions — namely that “authors in general do not seem overly pleased with their publishing experiences, whether with traditional publishing or self-publishing — it offered up some interesting data points about preference, such as 24.1 percent of traditionally published surveyed authors being “very satisfied” with the pricing of their […]
People: Shinker to Depart Gotham/Avery, Tart To Oversee Imprints; Penguin and Random Children’s Merge In UK
President and publisher of Gotham/Avery Books Bill Shinker will step down on January 31 “to do consulting,” after what Penguin president Susan Petersen Kennedy calls a “storied four-decade publishing career [that] uniquely includes the founding of two lasting Penguin and Random House imprints: Gotham Books and Broadway Books.” Succeeding Shinker on February 3 is Brian Tart, who will also remain president and publisher of Dutton. Newly reporting to Tart are Gotham/Avery associate publisher Lisa Johnson; Gotham editorial director Lauren Marino; and Avery editorial director Megan Newman. Gotham/Avery intends to continue publishing approximately 25 hardcover and 30 paperback titles annually. Kennedy […]
How Startups and Publishers Can Work With Each Other
One prominent topic at Digital Book World Tuesday was the relationship between startups and publishers, and how both sides can best work together. (As a case in point, Ingram Ventures announced an investment in social ebook retail startup Librify — after first meeting them at DBW a year ago.) In the morning, Mike Shatzkin presented the results of the DBW Startup Survey, with respondents from 43 startups and 25 book publishers from 8 companies. 74 percent of startups “considered themselves disruptive” to publishers — which is an inherent conflict — and said that the toughest challenges they face with our industry […]
S&S Adds New Sci-Fi/Fantasy Adult Trade Imprint, Simon451
Having recently launched a science fiction & fantasy imprint out of its children’s division, Simon & Schuster will now do the same through their adult trade imprint, starting in October 2014. The new imprint, Simon451 (a reference to Ray Bradbury’s iconic novel, published by S&S) is devoted to “publishing literary and commercial speculative fiction across categories such as science fiction, fantasy, dystopian, apocalyptic and the supernatural.” Simon451 will focus primarily on digital-first editions and ebook originals but also experiment with publishing serialized novels and original short stories, while reissuing classic backlist titles in digital format. Titles on the Simon451 launch list […]
People
Hachette svp publishing operations and strategic planning Craig Bauer is leaving, to join Macmillan Science and Education as svp of global publishing operations. Macmillan Publisher Services has appointed Guy Browning as vp, fulfillment, reporting to global trade coo Andrew Weber. Browning, who starts his new position on January 27, moves over from Macmillan UK, where he was most recently distribution director for their center in Swansea, Wales. Richard Nash has joined Byliner as vp, partnerships. Previously he was vp, community and content at Small Demons. At Henry Holt, Allison Adler and Caroline Zancan are both being promoted to associate editor. […]