Long on-the-verge EPUB3 may finally land. Hachette Book Group underscored their commitment to new standard and the enhanced content it supports, announcing that they will release 16 titles in EPUB3 between this November and next March. Beginning with titles across a variety of nonfiction genres and children’s books, they plan to “publish all standard novels in EPUB3 by March 2013” as well. The news had been widely expected ever since Barnes & Noble bought the company in 2009, prior to launching the first iteration of the Nook, but Fictionwise will officially shut down on December 4, according to an email […]
People, Etc.
Tom Clancy is returning to William Morris Endeavor for representation, where Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Tracy Fisher will serve as his primary agents. Clancy next novel THREAT VECTOR publishes next month, and Paramount is “rebooting” the Clany movie franchise with “Jack Ryan,” directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Chris Pine, Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner, set for a Christmas 2013 release. Allison Hollett has joined Osprey as US vp, sales and marketing, where she will develop and manage all aspects of the company’s marketing and publicity efforts working out of Osprey’s New York offices. Hollett, previously director of trade sales […]
Favorites Erdrich, Boo, Win National Book Awards
The National Book Awards were presented Wednesday evening at Cipriani Wall Street. In keeping with the awards’ recognition of writers with a broad audience and larger reach, favorites Louise Erdrich and Katherine Boo won in the fiction and nonfiction categories. Accepting the nonfiction award for Behind The Beautiful Forevers, Boo said that if the prize were to mean anything, “it is that small stories in so-called hidden places matter because they implicate and complicate what we consider to be the larger story, which is the story of people who do […]
Bookselling: That Bookstore in Blytheville Finds New Buyer; WHSmith High Street Comps Drop 5 Percent
Arkansas-based independent That Bookstore in Blytheville, which looked like it was going to close this week, has found a new buyer, Arkansas Business reports. Grant Hill told the paper he was “working with Southern Bancorp and the Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce to secure the $35,000 needed to buy the business” from owner Mary Gay Shipley, who put the store up for sale in February. Shipley confirmed the purchase, saying “We are getting to a contract and hope to be able to make an announcement soon.” In the UK, WHSmith said in a brief update that high street sales […]
People, Awards, Etc.
At Abrams, publisher Steve Tager takes on the new role of chief marketing and business development officer, focused on driving new business initiatives, including exploiting company’s digital assets. The marketing and publicity departments will also report to him. Deborah Aaronson takes over as vp, publisher for the adult trade group. She has been with the company since 2000. Elisa Urbanelli returns to the company as associate publisher for the adult group, also acquiring in categories including art and museum publications. She was previously a managing editor for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and most recently was a freelance […]
CIA Director Petraeus Resigns After Affair With Biographer Broadwell Disclosed
As you may have already noted, publishing has been featured in the fallout from CIA director David Petraeus’ resignation Friday afternoon,when he disclosed an extramarital affair with a woman later revealed to be Paula Broadwell, author (with Vernon Loeb) of the authorized biography ALL IN: The Education of General David Petraeus. Published by Penguin Press in January with modest results (it was No. 13 on the NYT nonfiction bestseller list for a week in February and fell off the list two weeks later), book sales rose online over the weekend, and the paperback is due for release next month. Penguin […]