The last of the big six trade publishers to at least try lending ebooks to libraries, Simon & Schuster announced on Monday their first experiment: A one-year pilot program with the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Queens Public Library that will make available S&S’s complete catalog of ebooks, with new titles available immediately upon publication. Manhattan and Brooklyn’s program will start lending April 30, with Queens to follow suit in mid-May. Under the pilot program, the three library systems can acquire any S&S ebook title at any time, with each title available for use for […]
Booksellers Plead with Court Not to Dismiss DRM Case
The three booksellers who sued Amazon and the six largest publishing houses for what they characterized as restrictive DRM practices filed a response to those parties’ motions to dismiss the case. In the memo, filed yesterday, Posman Books, Fiction Addiction, and Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza say Amazon are “misreading” the complaint and relying on an “unsupported assertion of what they claim is contained in non-public contracts that they have purposefully decided not to produce to the court.” The original suit–already revised and amended once–“more than adequately alleged harm to competition in the market for ebooks” in the booksellers’ view. […]
Corporate: HMH Buys Tribal Nova; Penguin Partners with Mind Candy; Amazon Defends “Heavy Investments”
Two new acquisitions highlight publishers’ increasing interest in game development. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced they acquired Montreal-based educational technology company Tribal Nova, which develops digital games, products and services for pre-school children. The Tribal Nova team will continue to operate out of Montreal, though they will be absorbed into HMH’s Content and Product Innovation group, dedicated to the incubation and development of next-generation content for both K-12 and consumer markets. “The combination of Tribal Nova’s game development expertise with HMH’s proven educational content and learning design capabilities will enable HMH to bring a more holistic and personalized gaming experience to market,” […]
People: Futter Named Publisher of Twelve as Goldstein Leaves to “Pursue Other Interests”
Cary Goldstein is leaving Twelve after seven years, the last two as the imprint’s publisher, to “pursue other interests.” Grand Central president and publisher Jamie Raab said in the announcement that Goldstein has contributed an enormous amount to the imprint’s many successes.” He will remain at Twelve through May 1 as part of the transition that will see Grand Central vp, editor-in-chief Deb Futter will add to her existing duties responsibility for the Twelve imprint as publisher. Futter has been at Grand Central since 2007. “I can’t think of a sharper or more experienced editorial voice to shape this dynamic […]
People, Etc.
Tad Floridis has joined Zola Books as director of international business development, with an initial mandate to take the company into the UK and British Commonwealth markets. Floridis was previously co-founder and associate publisher of Canongate’s US arm. “We are delighted that Tad will be laying the groundwork for our launch abroad,” Zola ceo Joe Regal said in the announcement. “His wealth of experience will help us target the best opportunities for development of content, identify possible strategic business partnerships, and build expert local teams in each of the markets we plan to enter in the coming months and years.” […]
Bookselling: Northshire to Hire 25 For Saratoga Springs Store; Blackwood & Brouwer to Close; WH Smith Declines Continue
Northshire Books, which is preparing to open a second store in Saratoga Springs, NY, will announce later today that the store will hire 25 full-time and part-time employees. The Post-Star reports interviews will begin in Saratoga Springs next week, and will continue throughout the spring. Conversely, Blackwood & Brouwer in nearby Kinderhook, NY will close at the end of June after 23 years in business. “There’s no blame coming from us in any specific direction,” co-owner Rondi Brower told the Albany Times-Union. “It was a combination of factors. The miracle is that we stayed alive so long, not that we’re […]