Hachette is set to test pilot ebook library programs with two unnamed distributors sometime this spring, according to the ALA, which met with the publisher last week. Hachette discontinued the sale of new ebooks to libraries back in April 2010 (though backlist titles remained on offer) and the ALA believes “these pilot programs will help HBG learn more about library patrons’ interests, usage, and expectations, and help the publisher devise the best strategy to reach the widest audience of ebook readers in libraries.” The Atavist will produce a free version of its online content platform this summer, the NYT reports, […]
Direct publishing
eNews: CreateSpace Allows Authors To Distribute Into Amazon Europe Sites For Free; Kobo Will Sell Harry Potter eBooks; and More
Amazon’s print-on-demand service CreateSpace will now allow self-published authors to distribute their books into Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and the UK for free through the company’s websites in those countries. “We are very excited to offer our members the option to distribute their books on Amazon sites in Europe. By doing so, they will make their books available and in stock to millions of European readers,” said CreateSpace managing director Libby Johnson McKee in a statement. “We are continually working to deliver exceptional value and world-class customer service to our CreateSpace members worldwide, and European distribution is yet another great […]
People: Changes at the Top for Nebraska Book, McGraw-Hill Education
Mark Oppegard, ceo of bankrupt NBC Acquisition Corp.–the owner of Nebraska Book Co.–will retire after 14 years leading the company and 42 years of service in all. He will stay on as evp “during a transition period that’s expected to last several months.” COO since 1999 Barry Major takes over as ceo. SVP at the college store division’s Neebo brand Steven Clemente moves up to coo. He joined the company in 2010. Report While McGraw-Hill is in “the final stages” of their search for a new head for their education division prior to its spinoff at the end of the […]
Christian Literary Agency Alive Communications Launches ePublishing Company, Bondfire
Leading literary agency for Christian and inspirational books Alive Communications has announced a separate “sister” epublishing enterprise, Bondfire Books. In the vein of Diversion Books (Scott Waxman), Bedford Square Books (Ed Victor), Paperless Publishing (Objective Entertainment), and Rosetta Books (Arthur Klebanoff), Bondfire is a standalone epublishing company. Following the model of other epublishing start-ups, founder Rick Christian says in the announcement they are paying “a 50 percent net royalty” and “five-year renewable terms.” (Other formal enterprises involving literary agencies include Pan Macmillan’s Bello in the UK, a revival line which launched in partnership with Curtis Brown UK, and the back-in-print […]
eNews: Low Estimates for Q1 Amazon and BN Tablets; Diesel eBooks for Miles; Glenn Beck’s eSerial and The Missing Metadata
IDC is one of the monitoring companies that publishes quarterly estimates of shipments of tablets and ereaders from Asian manufacturers. Usually their updates don’t cause a big stir, but this time around their estimates for the first quarter of 2012 fit the narrative of the moment: supply of Amazon’s Kindle Fire dwindled sharply. After shipping an estimated 4.8 million units in the holiday quarter, IDC puts the first quarter Fire number at 700,000 units. To be fair, it was a light quarter for Barnes & Noble‘s tablets as well, reflecting a dropoff in the reader’s tablet market (and a corresponding […]
Tor/Forge to Go DRM Free
As you may know already, on Tuesday afternoon Macmillan division Tom Doherty Associates–comprising the Tor, Forge, Orb, Starscape, and Tor Teen imprints–announced on their blog that their entire list of ebooks will be available DRM-free “by early July.” In a separate, following notice, Tor UK said that it will do the same. They added that “we are consulting with our authors at the moment and we will announce our plans in more detail in due course.” President and publisher Tom Doherty writes: “Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time. They’re a technically sophisticated bunch, […]