Kevin Doughten will join Crown as senior editor on September 24, focusing on non-fiction. He was most recently an editor at Viking. Olga Rogozina has joined the Van Lear Agency in Moscow as both a literary agent and contracts manager. Previously she was foreign rights manager at Astrel. Founder of Chicago’s 10-store Beck’s Bookstores, Bob…
Audio
More from Amazon: Merging the Digital/Audio Reading Experience, Kindle Serials
Amazon’s new device launch on Wednesday garnered the most media attention, but the company also introduced some intriguing new features that merge or break apart reading experiences — while potentially raising rights-related questions. People have long speculated that it would be great to “sync” ebooks and digital audio recordings so you can go back and…
Initiatives: Faber In Audio Co-Venture with Canongate; Hay House Enrolls Bloggers
In the UK, Faber has entered in an audio co-publishing venture with Canongate (which acquired audio publisher CSA in 2010). Canongate will produce and sell audio editions of up to about a dozen Faber titles annually, the Bookseller reports. (Faber will continue to publish audio versions of their poetry books independently.) In the US, Hay…
Audible Launches $20 Million Fund for Authors, and Services to Promote their Audiobooks
Audible.com is announcing a fund comprising $20 million to be paid out directly to authors (and not shared with publishers), accompanied by a set of marketing and merchandising services. In fact, the fund is a reward for enrolling in the Audible Author Services program. The company says “the honorarium is a direct payment from us…
Corporate: Indigo Raises Co-Op Again; Dutch Investor Buys Selexyz; and More
When Canada’s dominant book chain Indigo made comprehensive changes to its co-op program last year, local publishers were not exactly happy. Now they are upset again over further co-op increases that went into effect on April 1, but are only beginning to register with some publishers. Quill & Quire reports that Indigo “raised co-op fees…
Audible Lines Up Film Stars for Audiobooks; Hay House Launches Film/TV Divisions
Audible is going Hollywood, enlisting a number of accomplished actors–including Annette Bening, Colin Firth, Dustin Hoffman and Kate Winslet–to narrate a new line of audiobooks, featuring many classic works selected by the performers. Scheduled for release beginning in early 2012, the offerings include these pairings: Kim Basinger (The Awakening by Kate Chopin) Annette Bening (Mrs….