Penguin and Starz Entertainment have collaborated on an “Amplified Edition” of Ken Follett’s PILLARS OF THE EARTH, featuring extensive video and audio clips, to tie in with the 8-part 8-hour miniseries that debuts this Friday. The app will be available on the iPad and iPhone, and will be updated on a weekly basis with new scenes and text-embedded video clips from the TV mini-series as each episode airs.AP PW (with video) A lawsuit waged by children’s book writer Elaine Scott against Scribd alleging the site’s copyright filtering technology is itself a form of copyright infringement has been dropped, after Scott […]
People and Announcements
Lisa Richards has joined Macmillan as National Account Manager, representing all of the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group’s imprints to retail accounts serviced by Levy, including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Target. She has previously worked for TOKYOPOP, Viz Media, and Prima Publishing, and reports to Director of Children’s Sales Mark von Bargen. After 18 years with Hodder and Headline, James Horobin will join Simon & Schuster UK in the newly created role of Group Sales, Marketing and Brand Development Director. He reports to Executive Director Kerr MacRae. At Headline, Aslan Byrne becomes UK and International Sales Director with immediate effect, reporting […]
Briefs: LAT on ‘Future of Reading’; New Nook Gets FCC Approval; Palin Biography for Tweens Delayed; and More
Paperwork for a new edition of the Nook, codenamed Bravo Delta and CR Nook, has shown up on the FCC website (with specs and pictures withheld)The Digital Reader A front-page LAT feature hits many of the same notes on the intersection of reading, technology and digital books as did an ongoing series in the NYT last year, with the usual point-counterpoint between those who worry about people not reading enough and those who are excited by technological possibilities. LAT Zondervan is delaying publication of a Sarah Palin biography for young readers after deciding that October was not an “optimal time” […]
NEA Cuts Big Read Budget
Earlier this month the NEA awarded $1 million in grants for The Big Read program to 75 non-profit groups. That’s down from $3.7 million to 267 groups last year. NEA spokeswoman Liz Stark told the St. Louis Dispatch that the program was scaled back because it is now established and the NEA wants to “fund it at a sustainable level.” She said other groups are expected to take over funding and planning.St. Louis DispatchOriginal NEA release
People, Etc.
Kaplan has promoted Brett Sandusky to Director of Marketing. He was most recently a digital marketing manager for the company. At Publishers Group West and Perseus, Roy Remer is leaving his position as a Bay Area rep to work at the Zen Hospice in San Francisco, where he has volunteered for the last 13 years. Ty Wilson, head buyer for Copperfield’s bookstores the past seven years, will take Remer’s position. Simone Garzella Literary Scouting has been appointed the literary scout for the production company Aid+Abet Films. Wiley has been named the exclusive global publisher and distributor of RSMeans professional reference […]
Briefs: The Right Cover for ‘Dragon Tattoo’; Amazon Stock Down to ‘Neutral’; Murray Out at S&S;
The WSJ looks at the laborious process Knopf went through to find the right cover for THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Senior designer Peter Mandeslund prepared “nearly 50 distinct designs” over a 3-month period, ranging from “a monochromatic white cover dotted with blood…rejected for its lack of color” and “a vivid fuchsia jacket emblazoned with an illuminated typeface, [which left executives looking for something more original.” Even the final product met with some “pushback” among retailers and the Knopf sales team, who were looking for a more conventional depiction in lines with other thrillers. But chairman Sonny Mehta insisted […]