Amazon announced another changed in how they will compensate self-published authors who participate in the Kindle Unlimited subscription payment pool. In July the system switched from paying for every download to paying based on pages read — and now those per-page rates are becoming much more complicated, international, and opaque. Starting with the November fund payments, Amazon writes, “payouts per country will differ based on local country factors” as take “marketplace differences into account.” In other words, as Kindle Unlimited has rolled out to multiple countries — most recently India, where the subscription price is the equivalent of $3 a […]
Authors
People: Ward Promoted to Random House EIC
Andy Ward has been promoted to president and editor-in-chief of the Random House imprint effective immediately, reporting to Susan Kamil, who transfers her EIC duties and remains as publisher. She says the promotion is “in recognition of the bestselling and critically lauded titles he has brought to Random House, his universally acknowledged editorial gifts and publishing skill, the respect he elicits from his authors, peers, and the agent community, and his motivating, nurturing collaboration with his colleagues.” Kamil “will be concentrating on the long-term and day-to-day publishing decisions for our lists, while Ward is “responsible for the daily management of the Random House […]
Harry Potter Play Is Officially “The Eighth Story” In the Series
J.K. Rowling’s two-part play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is now officially described as “the eighth story in the Harry Potter series.” In a posting on Pottermore, Rowling provides a synopsis of the story, which picks up 19 years after the books ended (at the time of the epilogue on the characters’ as adults). “It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Hanya Yanagihara‘s A Little Life earned its first big award win on Thursday, recipient of the Kirkus Prize for fiction, as Ta-Nehisi Coates won the nonfiction prize for Between the World and Me — and both are in contention for National Book Awards. Pam Muñoz Ryan‘s middle-grade novel Echo won the young readers’ literature prize. Longtime executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Hut Landon was feted this week as he retires from that position. Bookselling This Week has some testimonials from colleagues and friends reflect on his passion for, and many contributions to, the bookselling community. At Zondervan, Robyn Burwell has […]
People, Etc.
The Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction was awarded to Stalin’s Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan (Harper Canada). Following the Giller Prize shortlist earlier in the week, finalists were announced for Canada Governor General’s Awards. Rachel Cusk‘s Outline is now a contender for both awards. Joining her on the Governor General’s nominees for English-language fiction are: How You Were Born, Kate Cayley (Pedlar Press) The Evening Chorus, Helen Humphreys (Harper Canada) The Winter Family, Clifford Jackman (Random House Canada) Daddy Lenin and Other Stories, Guy Vanderhaeghe (McClelland & Stewart) Kathrin Scheel has started a new foreign rights agency based in Hamburg, […]
People: Henning Mankell Dies, and More
Henning Mankell, 67, author of Kurt Wallander series of detective novels and over 40 works of fiction and theater, died Monday from complications of neck and lung cancer. Mankell’s crime novels sold more than 40 million copies around the world and were filmed as series for Swedish TV and the BBC (the latter starring Kenneth Branagh.) A spokeperson for his UK publishers Harvill Secker said in a statement: “Beloved by readers across the world, especially for his Kurt Wallander series, it was a privilege to have worked with a man of such talent and passion, and to have been his […]