The author class has been certified by Second Circuit District Court Judge William H. Pauley, III in the suit brought by three authors against Harlequin for underpayment on ebooks licensed to Harlequin subsidiaries. In May, the Appeals Court overturned Judge Judge Harold Baer’s dismissal of the class action suit, allowing one of four original claims to go forward. (Judge Baer passed away in May, which is why a different judge has taken over the case.) The class as approved by Judge Pauley incorporates authors in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand who signed standard Harlequin contracts […]
Authors
Grisham Apologizes For Interview Comments
In a written statement on Thursday issued through publisher Doubleday and posted on his website, author John Grisham apologized for remarks he made to the UK’s Telegraph in an interview: “Anyone who harms a child for profit or pleasure, or who in any way participates in child pornography — online or otherwise — should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. My comments made two days ago during an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children. I can […]
Briefs: Hachette Launches Author Portal, Yale Moves Up Modiano
Hachette Book Group has launched their Author and Agent Portal as a “channel” within their business-facing site hachettebookgroup.biz. Similar to portals from Simon & Schuster, Random House and others, it includes unit sales information by title, weekly Nielsen BookScan sales data, an “interactive publication timeline for the 12 months prepublication,” a feature for sending large files between author and editor, and an online-piracy-reporting tool. Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch says in the announcement, “The Portal is designed to add transparency to the publishing experience by making sales data and resources readily available and easy to use to authors and agents, our valued partners in the […]
People, Etc.
Once again, the naming of the Nobel Prize for Literature laureate will align perfectly with the Frankfurt Book Fair: The Swedish Academy said the new honoree will be announced on Thursday. (The Peace Prize will follow on Friday.) In other awards, the Giller Prize will cull their longlist down to a shortlist by noon today. (Then, next week we get the Booker Prize ceremony on the evening of October 14, followed by the National Book Awards finalists on October 15.) After about 7 months at Regan Arts, Michael Szczerban will join Little, Brown on October 27 as executive editor, acquiring food […]
Seth Godin Direct — and In Print Only
Author, entrepreneur and “ruckus maker” Seth Godin has unveiled his latest experiment in a long line of efforts to publish directly: His new forthcoming book WHAT TO DO WHEN IT’S YOUR TURN [And it’s always your turn] is available online for discounted direct, pre-order through October 8, while Godin closes his first printing. The trade paperback “full-color book in magazine format” is positioned as “focusing on our invented battle with fear and our obligation to do work that matters.” Put a different way, he is “taking the most powerful, personal messages of [his] blog and recent books, mixing them with evocative photos and […]
People, Etc.
Amazon’s director of author and publisher relations Jon Fine “has decided to leave the company at the end of the year,” according to internal announcement cited by Porter Anderson. The note from Charles Kronbach says, “Over the last seven years, he has represented Amazon at hundreds of publishing and author events around the world, helping to raise awareness about the myriad opportunities Amazon offers to the storytelling community. More to come on transition as we move towards Jon’s departure at year’s end.” Fine first joined Amazon in 2006 as director of copyright and media law. At Viking Penguin, Melanie Tortoroli […]