A judge hearing Apple’s lawsuit against Amazon for using the term ‘appstore’ (which Apple believes is trademark) said in a hearing Wednesday she is “probably” going to rule against Apple because Apple hasn’t demonstrated confusion among consumers. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said she will review court filings before issuing a final decision. Bloomberg Fast Company profiles Harlequin’s digital-only imprint Carina Press and its executive editor Angela James. Carina plans to publish 190 books this year, and though Harlequin never breaks out revenue for individual imprints, director of digital publishing Malle Vallik said, “We’re doing very nicely, above where we […]
Pottermore Launches, Will Sell Ebooks in October
After days of feverish speculation, JK Rowling announced her new interactive and collaborative site Pottermore at a press conference Thursday morning. It’s free for users and features new illustrations and interactive “moments.” And yes, there will be ebooks, which the site will sell exclusively and directly to users, along with audiobook versions of all seven Potter books. The digital editions will be available for a variety of platforms through OverDrive. But even though the ebook and audiobook editions will only be available at Pottermore, her print publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic are partnering in the venture and will receive unspecified royalties. […]
People, Etc.
Random House Children’s announced a number of promotions in its production department. Mary Ellen Owens has been promoted to production manager, while Shameiza Ally and Natalia Dextre move up to production supervisor. Claribel Vasquez also joins the department as production supervisor, moving over from corporate reprints. F+W Media announced a number of staff hires. Jamie Wilkinson has joined the company as group publisher/community leader, Automotive/Outdoors. Previously she was senior director of operations and business development at ESPN outdoors. Paul Dinas joins as business editor, arriving from Alpha Books where he was a senior editor. In addition, Simone Parham joins as […]
Random Revives Loveswept As Digital-Only Romance Imprint
The Random House Publishing Group is bringing back its once-popular romance imprint Loveswept (originated by Bantam Books and closed down a few years ago) as a digital-only imprint this August with eight titles, including Iris Johansen’s new novel THIS FIERCE SPLENDOR and others by Sharon & Tom Curtis, Deborah Smith, Juliana Garnett and Sally Goldenbaum. From then on the imprint, which will publish ebooks simultaneously in North America and the UK through Transworld, will bring out one new e-release every month and reissue select backlist titles. In the US each title will include bonus content, and the classic titles will […]
Briefs: Pottermore Details Leaked; BN eBook Market Share; Indies Charging For Events, Again; And More
The Times UK claims they received an “official marketing memo” by mistake with details about JK Rowling’s Pottermore website, which officially launches Thursday at 7 AM EDT at an event at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. According to the story, Pottermore is “a sophisticated online game that contains clues to prizes that are hidden in the real world. These are an unstated number of magic wands secreted in Britain and America, and possibly other countries.” The Times notes it’s still not clear whether the treasure hunt is Pottermore itself, or a marketing ploy, or if the “leak” is […]
People, Etc.: Norton Relaunches Liveright & Company Imprint
Norton is relaunching the literary imprint Liveright and Company under the direction of Robert Weil, who has been named publisher and editor-in-chief of the imprint. Liveright, founded by Horace Liveright (along with Albert Boni) in 1917 and whose assets Norton bought in 1974, will publish up to 20 books a year beginning in spring 2012, mostly comprised of serious non-fiction as well as literary fiction, graphic novels and works in translation. “It has long been my hope to reinvigorate the Liveright imprint and to build upon its tradition of publishing outstanding works that define and redefine our culture,” Norton chairman […]