Facebook is expected to make significant announcements at Thursday’s f8 developer conference about integrating media into the site, including “a huge package of wide-ranging news, video and music partnerships, and a structure for sharing content activity inside and outside of Facebook.” AllThingsD reports that the motto for the event is, “Read. Watch. Listen.” The “read” theme may apply more to news (Yahoo is said to be among the “publisher” partners)–though Tech Crunch says the “like” button will get more nuanced, with the addition of “Read,” “Listened” and “Watch” buttons (plus one called “Want”). ATD TC Open Road has licensed ebook […]
Financing/Start-Ups
People, Etc.
Faber finance director David Tebbutt was killed early Sunday morning and his wife, Judith, was taken hostage by suspected Somali extremist militants at a tourist lodge in the Kiunga marine reserve on the Lamu archipelago off Kenya’s northern coast. Tebbutt and his wife had been on holiday and had only arrived at the resort a few hours before the attack. Tebbutt joined Faber in 2002 and was previously managing director of The Harvill Press and finance director of Routledge. The Bookseller is collecting tributes to Tebbutt from trade colleagues. The Australian At Touchstone, Kaitlyn McCrystal has been promoted to associate […]
Briefs: Liberty Deal For BN Reportedly “Looks Shaky”; More on McGraw-Hill; Inkling Raises Another $17M; and More
Two-and-a-half months after Liberty Media’s initial offer to purchase Barnes & Noble for $17 a share (or just over $1 billion), the NY Post claims the deal now “looks shaky.” Or it may simply be a delay in the initial timetable, as “a deal failed to materialize last week, which was a preliminary target for a final deal since talks began in May, according to sources.” Drawing on a single, unnamed source, the paper says “at least one private-equity giant this week hired a consulting firm to take a fresh look at B&N’s books in case their deal falls apart.” […]
International News: PA and IPG Want to Block Amazon/Book Depository Merger; Competition Commission on the Pearson/REDGroup Case; and More
As expected, the UK Publishers Association and Independent Publishers Guild are asking the government to block Amazon’s purchase of The Book Depository, calling for a wider public investigation into the competition between the online and bricks and mortar bookselling market. What’s less expected is that their request is a joint one, which PA ceo Richard Mollet said in a statement “reflects the strength of feeling among publishing companies that the OFT should block this merger.” Bookseller Meanwhile, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will conduct an ‘informal review’ of Pearson’s proposed acquisition of REDGRoup Retail’s online business. The closing […]
Pottermore Launches, Will Sell Ebooks in October
After days of feverish speculation, JK Rowling announced her new interactive and collaborative site Pottermore at a press conference Thursday morning. It’s free for users and features new illustrations and interactive “moments.” And yes, there will be ebooks, which the site will sell exclusively and directly to users, along with audiobook versions of all seven Potter books. The digital editions will be available for a variety of platforms through OverDrive. But even though the ebook and audiobook editions will only be available at Pottermore, her print publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic are partnering in the venture and will receive unspecified royalties. […]
eNews: $1 Million More in Funding for Figment; Millions of Images from Yale
Teen writing site Figment has secured an additional $1 million in angel investor funding, which will go to developing new sales, marketing and distribution models and a marketplace where authors and publishers can sell their works. Figment will also move into publishing this fall with Blake Nelson’s DREAM SCHOOL, a sequel to his novel GIRL serialized in the 1990s by Sassy magazine. Nelson and Figment will split royalties equally, and PGW will distribute the book online and as a limited-edition print book. PaidContent Yale University has made its entire digital image collection available online for free and for unlimited use. […]