Within minutes of each other, Amazon’s Kindle Store and Google Play launched in Brazil Wednesday evening–just as Kobo’s previously-announced Brazilian offering formally launched. The Play store includes titles by Brazilian authors as well as translations of international bestsellers, while the Kindle store sells their low-end device for R$299 ($143 US), along with 1.4 million ebooks, including more than 13,000 Portuguese-language ebooks by authors such as Jorge Amado, Lya Luft and Martha Medeiros. In addition, Kindle Direct Publishing and the various mobile apps are also available in Brazil. “We are excited to launch this new Kindle Store for Brazilian customers, offering […]
Bill Bryson Sues Former Agent For “Misconduct and Profound Neglect”, Including Years of Lost Royalties
Bestselling author Bill Bryson filed suit November 30 in New York Supreme Court against his former literary agent, Fred Morris of Jed Mattes Inc., alleging “misconduct and profound neglect” over a period of years, and charging that Morris “failed to perform some of the most fundamental duties of an agent” including royalty remittance and processing contracts for review and signature. The suit also claims the defendant “insisted that JMI is entitled to continue collecting a commission of fifteen percent of Bryson’s earnings on the very works Morris has neglected” and seeks to sever once and for all any connection between […]
People, Etc.
Benjamin Lee will join the Atria Publishing Group as associate publisher on January 2. He moves over from Simon & Schuster, where he was most recently director, sales, retail and marketing, overseeing Target, Readerlink, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Kobo, Google, various other digital aggregators and the Christian retail market including Family Christian, Lifeway and Mardel. Elizabeth Psaltis will join the Gallery Books Group in the newly created role of marketing director, reporting to Louise Burke. Psaltis, who was previously advertising and promotion director for Berkley, NAL, Riverhead Trade, Perigee, and Penguin Press, will be responsible for marketing efforts for Gallery, Threshold, […]
More NYT Bestseller List Changes, As YA and Middle Grade Get Separate Lists
The New York Times will split its children’s Chapter Book bestseller lists into separate middle grade and young adult lists beginning with the December 16 issue (though the lists will be online Friday and were sent around to the trade last night.) Those two lists, as well as the series bestseller lists, will reflect sales across all platforms, including ebooks. (Author John Green has posted a screenshot of the YA and middle grade lists here.) The picture books bestseller list, however, will concentrate on hardcover unit sales only. In a note to publishers sent this week the NYT adds: “We […]
Amazon Sells Subscription Package of Kids Books, Videos and Apps
Amazon’s latest announcement has two interesting aspects: They are bundling digital children’s content across media into a combined “library” or subscription, and they are broadly selling that subscription to all customers, not just Prime “members.” Called Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the all-in-one subscription service works on any Kindle Fire device and will be available as part of an automatic OS software update “in the coming weeks.” The package features books, games, educational apps, movies and TV shows focused on children ages 3-8. Amazon Prime members get preferred pricing–$2.99/month per individual child (or $6.99 per family)–but others can subscribe for $4.99/month (or $9.99 […]
eNews: Digital Romance Imprints from Cosmopolitan, Random House Australia
Cosmopolitan is partnering with Harlequin on Cosmo Red Hot Reads, a digital line that will publish two original ebooks every month starting in May 2013. The ebook romance novels, which will run approximately 30,000 words (to “appeal to readers on a variety of platforms, including mobile devices”), will bear both the Cosmopolitan and Harlequin logos on their covers. At least some will be written “by some of Harlequin’s bestselling authors.” “We are very excited to be Cosmopolitan’s partner in publishing and believe these stories will prove popular with women everywhere, especially new adult fiction readers,” Harlequin publisher and ceo Donna Hayes said […]