The story of Amazon removing IPG clients’ ebooks from sale spread quickly yesterday. Among additional details, IPG president Mark Suchomel told Crain’s Chicago and the WSJ that ebooks comprise less than 10 percent of the distributor’s revenues. And he told the Chicago Tribune “that the e-books sold through Amazon’s Kindle tablet account for about 5 percent of the company’s business.” (Their lists are not particularly deep in leading ebook categories like popular fiction and romance.) According to IPG’s website, they had 4,444 titles available in Kindle format. Their EPUB title count is about 500 titles lower, hence Suchomel’s exhortation to […]
Distribution
Hachette Wins Back Disney and Hyperion Distribution Business
Hachette has won back distribution for the Disney Book Group and Hyperion, which had moved to HarperCollins in 2007. Under the preliminary agreement between the parties, “the move to Hachette is contemplated to take place in Spring 2013.” Hachette already distributes Disney’s Marvel unit and that relationship has been extended as well. HBG took over Canadian sales and distribution for Disney in spring 2011 after the bankruptcy of HB Fenn.
People: Pohlman to Open Road, and More
Tina Pohlman will join Open Road on March 5 as publisher, filling the position vacated by Brendan Cahill last year, though the job itself has expanded with company’s recent hiring of multiple editorial specialists. She’ll report to ceo Jane Friedman and is charged with “lead[ing] Open Road’s editorial services, expansion into new verticals, and acquisition of new titles.” Friedman says the company has published over 2,000 titles since April 2010, and under Pohlman and the expanded editorial staff they will add “a minimum of 1,000” more titles by the end of 2012. Pohlman was formerly publisher of trade paperbacks at Crown. She […]
People, Etc.
Robie Rogge, who has spent 42 years “generating income for The Metropolitan Museum of Art through innovative publishing and new lines of products, such as Color Magic and Flash from the Past Flashdrives,” is setting up her own company to help other clients in developing new products, reinventing existing ones, and extending successful lines. At Little, Brown Children’s, Elizabeth Bewley has been promoted to senior editor. She joined their Poppy imprint in 2008. In the UK, Dan Shepherd will Hachette Children’s Books on May 1 as deputy managing editor, a newly created position within the company. He has been group sales […]
eNews: Bedford Square, Nelson, Book Baby and Author House
Ed Victor’s Bedford Square Books–which has been controversial for splitting proceeds with its authors rather than just taking a standard agency commission–already has its first success story. Tesco buyer Garry Blackman read about Bedford Square’s plan to publish Louise Fennell‘s debut novel DEAD RICH in the Evening Standard and asked to see the manuscript. The chain placed an order “understood to be taking tens of thousands of copies” and Victor sold the rights to Simon & Schuster UK (after reportedly having been rejected by 17 publishers in his original submission). Evening Standard In a follow-up post, agent Kristin Nelson clarified […]
People, Etc.
Betsy Mitchell will work for Open Road as strategic advisor for sci-fi and fantasy, and will “spearhead” their acquisition and publishing of backlist sci-fi and fantasy titles. Mitchell retired from her position as editor-in-chief at Ballantine Bantam Dell’s Del Rey Spectra in December. She started her own editorial services company. At Norton, Alane Mason has been promoted to vp, executive editor. She has been an editor for the company since 1999. Barnaby Dawe, marketing communications director at News International, is moving over to corporate sibling Harper UK, in the new position of chief marketing officer. He will report to Victoria […]