As of yesterday, Amazon officially moved subscription payments for self-published ebooks in the Kindle Unlimited program to their new system of paying by the number of pages read by subscribers. In an email to participating authors, the company said that in June subscribers read over 1.9 billion pages (as measured by their new standardized page count). From there, authors concluded that the per page payout for July — when Amazon has promised the pool will comprise at least $11 million — will be close to .0058 cents for every page read. But, per Amazon’s procedure of determining the final pool […]
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People, Etc.
Kelly Bowen has joined Arcadia Publishing and the History Press as director of marketing and corporate communications. She was previously publicity director at Algonquin Books. Springer Nature (the newly combined Springer + Macmillan Science and Education) has created a new policy & external relations team led by evp Eric Merkel-Sobotta, and a combined communications under evp Joyce Lorigan. Both will report to ceo Derk Haank. Awards David Hackett Fischer won the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. The $100,000 award will be presented at the Museum & Library’s annual gala on November 7.
People: A Harry Potter Play, and More
JK Rowling announced on Twitter that she has written a play — Harry Potter and Cursed Child — that will open in London’s West End next summer. She calls it “a collaboration” with writer Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany, along with singer-songwriter Imogen Heap. Tickets will go on sale this fall, and the production will be stated at the Palace Theatre. The theater’s website says the play “will explore the backstory leading up to Harry’s parents untimely death at the hands of Lord Voldemort.” Rowling writes, “I’ve had countless offers to extend Harry’s story over the years, but Jack, […]
People, Etc.
Jeff James will join Thomas Nelson as vp, marketing for Nelson Books on June 29. Previously he was the founder and ceo of Mythology, a marketing consulting practice for Fortune 500 firms. Steven Sussman will join Skyhorse as director of sales on June 29. Previously he was director of sales at Dover Publications. Antonella Pearce joins IPR License as business development manager. She was at the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS). J.K. Rowling has written extensively about the “reactionary, prejudiced, narrow-minded, ignorant and bigoted” Dursley family and their deep-seated resentment of Harry Potter on Pottermore, covered here by the Guardian. Partnerships […]
People, Etc.
Kim Shannon has been promoted to vp, director, retail sales at Penguin Random House. Awards The Carnegie Medal was awarded to Tanya Landman for Buffalo Soldier, while the Greenaway Medal was given to William Grill for Shackleton’s Journey, which he wrote and illustrated. Grill is the youngest prize winner (at age 25) in more than 50 years. Obituary James Salter, 90, died June 19 in Sag Harbor, NY. He was the author of novels including A Sport and a Pastime (1967) and Light Years (1975) as well as two short story collections and a memoir. The NYT reports his wife […]
Amazon Changes Kindle Unlimited Payments to Cover Pages Read Rather Than Titles Downloaded
Just a year after launching, Amazon told KDP authors on Monday that as of July they will completely change the payment formula for the monthly pool of funds distributed to authors whose works are borrowed through Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners Lending Library. Going forward the fund will be “paid out based on the number of pages KU and KOLL customers read” rather than “based on qualified borrows.” Amazon says, “We think this is a solid step forward and better aligns the interests of readers and authors. Our goal, as always, is to build a service that rewards authors for […]