Bertelsmann has hired Judith Hartmann as cfo, starting some time prior to the end of the year, filling the past that was held by Thomas Rabe before he became CEO at the beginning of 2012. Hartmann is currently cfo of GE Deutschland and will also become a member of Bertelsmann’s group management committee Andrew Hodder-Williams is rejoining Lion Hudson–where he started his career almost thirty years ago–as publishing director, starting August 6. Since 1997, he has worked as a publishing and telecommunications consultant for KPMG Consulting and Atos, as well as working as an independent consultant. Nick Jones has taken the role […]
With Comments on DOJ Proposed Settlement Still Unavailable, Kohn Tells Court the Government is Violating the Tunney Act
June 25 was technically the deadline not only for public comments on the Department of Justice’s proposed settlement with Hachette, Harper, and Simon & Schuster, but also for Justice’s publication of those comments along with their replies. But as of Tuesday morning, more than two weeks after the deadline, there was no sign of any of these comments on the DOJ’s website. Even though the government now has one extra week–until August 3–to file its motion for entry of a proposed final judgment on the settlement, the opportunity for Judge Denise Cote to evaluate that voluminous number of comments shrinks […]
BEA Moves Up 2013 Dates By A Week, Will Now Run Between May 29 and June 1
Book Expo America announced Monday afternoon that the book fair will take place a week earlier than planned, with the conference to run on Wednesday, May 29 and the show floor set to open between Thursday, May 30 and Saturday, June 1. (The Book Blogger Conference will also take place on the 29th, with Saturday, June 1 open to the public.) BEA officials had wanted to move the date for some time “as it is expected to drive down hotel prices by 10% – 20% depending on the property,” and received the “surprise” go-ahead from Javits earlier Monday. There will […]
Authors, Etc.: Englander Wins Frank O’Connor Prize; Dagger Awards; And More
Nathan Englander has won the 2012 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for his collection WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK (Knopf). The Guardian reports the prize money dropped to €25,000 this year from €35,000 in previous years, with funding not yet confirmed for future years. The CWA announced the longlists for three of its Dagger Awards for crime writing as well as the winners in three additional categories: Ellis Peters Historical Dagger: Aly Monroe, ICELIGHT CWA International Dagger: Andrea Camilleri, THE POTTER’S FIELD Dagger in the Library: Steve Mosby In author news finally making way to […]
eNews: Kobo Confirms Japan Launch; Amazon Brazil Tipped for Q4
Firming up reports from June, Kobo has formalized their July launch dates in Japan: The Kobo Touch device is available for pre-order as of today with a full ebookstore, with more than 2.4 million ebooks plus additional Japanese-only content, ready by July 19 on parent company Rakuten’s website. The e-reader will be priced at 7,980 yen including tax (or $100 USD). Amazon, reported to have been in negotiations with Japanese publishers for three years, is running a banner on its Japanese site saying that Kindle “will be on sale soon.” Also coming to a slow boil is Amazon’s Brazilian store, […]
The Scheduling Order for the eBook Price Fixing Trial
Earlier this week when we reported on the June 3, 2013 bench trial date scheduled by Judge Denise Cote for the DOJ’s ebook price fixing suit against Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin, we weren’t sure of the exact schedule she had in mind. It took a while to appear on the docket but we now know the court’s official scheduling order. All parties, including the DOJ, State attorneys general, and the three defendants, must submit an amended Joint Official Report taking into account the June 22 rulings by July 6. They must then contact Judge Kimba Wood about scheduling settlement discussions […]