While large publishers took the lead in suing to block the Audible Captions initiative, authors who control their own audiobook rights and have produced titles through Audible’s ACX program expressed concerns that their titles were in line to be “captioned” without their prior consent as well. As a group, those authors comprise a major supplier, accounting for almost 160,000 titles according to the company’s website. As we reported a week ago (and most other accounts mangled), as a strict matter of law the court order delaying the launch of Captions until there is a ruling on the expedited motion for […]
Authors
People, Etc.
Allison Devlin has been appointed sales director in client sales at Penguin Random House Publisher Services. Former literary manager at The Gotham Group Eddie Gamarra has been hired as vp studio business development for Nickelodeon. Legal A jury cleared Nicholas Sparks of all counts of defamation and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, concluding a long-running suit filed by Saul Benjamin, former headmaster of the North Carolina school founded by Sparks and his wife. In the suit, Benjamin accused Sparks of defaming him by claiming to others that he was mentally and/or physically ill, and terminating him because of […]
More Halperin “Interviewees” Apologize
The Washingtonian rounded up additional apologies and comments from Democratic politicians who commented on the record for Mark Halperin’s just-announced book, including this from former secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius: “I knew that Mark Halperin was a well-known author and political journalist but unfortunately was not as aware of the details of his disgraceful behavior toward women as I should have been. I regret having answered his questions, especially if they were designed to help a predator make a comeback.” The book was formally announced as a $22 trade paperback. Publisher Judith Regan’s commercial readiness to provide […]
People, Etc.: Halperin and Regan Return, Together
Mary Francis will take over as director of Penn Press at the University of Pennsylvania on September 23. She has been editorial director of University of Michigan Press since 2015 and spent more than 16 years at University of California Press. At Chronicle Books, Rebecca Hunt has been promoted to editorial director, entertainment. Christina Amini has been promoted to executive publishing director, adult trade. Arcadia’s director of national sales and marketing Kate Everingham will leave the company on December 31 after over 20 years there, after which she will assist on special projects in a consulting role. She will transition […]
Salinger eBooks Are Released; New Works Will Take Another 5 to 7 Years
Little, Brown announced that they will release ebook editions of J.D. Salinger’s four books for the first time on August 13. His son Matt Salinger notes in the release, ‘There were few things my father loved more than the full tactile experience of reading a printed book, but he may have loved his readers more—and not just the ‘ideal private reader’ he wrote about, but all his readers. As it became clear to us that increasing numbers of readers today read only ebooks, and after I was taken severely (if also humorously) to task by a reader with a disability […]
HMH Recalls and Postpones Wolff Book; Lawsuit Shines Harsh Light On Sparks
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is withdrawing the inventory of Naomi Wolf’s OUTRAGES from accounts and has postponed the planned June 18 release. The book was revealed to have some foundational research errors in a BBC interview a couple of weeks ago. The publisher told the NYT, “As we have been working with Naomi Wolf to make corrections to Outrages, new questions have arisen that require more time to explore. We are postponing publication and requesting that all copies be returned from retail accounts while we work to resolve those questions.” Wolf tells the newspaper the recall is contrary to her wishes: […]