OverDrive continues to perfect the uninformative release in a brief bulletin noting they have “temporarily suspended pre-sales and display” of the forthcoming Harry Potter ebooks at library websites. “This is only a postponement, and libraries will soon be able to resume pre-ordering the titles in preparation for launch in April.” Needless to say, no cause is cited, and they add “we’ll keep you posted as the process unfolds,” but of course they won’t–they’ll just announce when it’s working again. There was a brief moment earlier in the month when PaidContent noticed the New York Public Library online catalog showed the Potter […]
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At Goldberg McDuffie Communications, Kathleen Zrelak has been promoted to vp, director of publicity. Author of PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM Kyung-Sook Shin has won the Man Asian Literary Prize, receiving $30,000. Translator Chi-Young Kim also received US$5,000. The Bancroft Prize for history is being shared this year by Anne Hyde’s Empires, Nations and Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860; Daniel Rodgers’ Age of Fracture; and Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement. As part of the relocation of Bonnier’s Weldon Owen from Australia to London, Martina Challis has been […]
ALA President Raphael Continues Dialog with Publishers
Before the pointed address by the NYPL’s Anthony Marx at this morning’s AAP annual meeting, president of the American Library Association Molly Raphael spoke to the organization with prepared remarks. In a respectful address that acknowledged the two organization’s mutual goals and needs, she said, “We must be allies in this new environment; we must understand that we are all part of the same ecosystem.” Much of Raphael’s message was in between the lines, taking note of recent discussions between her association and publishers. It’s clear they understand that publishers are not allowed (and also not likely) to discuss a […]
NYPL President Urges Publishers to Propose Pilot Models
In an impassioned address at the Association of American Publishers’ annual meeting, president and CEO of the New York Public Library Dr. Anthony Marx told publishers: “We’re eager to be promoting your books. We are trusted by our patrons to have views about quality. We help to sell your books.” He noted, “on the library site now, if you come in looking for a book and it’s out, the first thing we ask you is whether you want to buy a copy. Our patrons buy books and we buy books. We bring in speakers thorough NYPL live and we hope […]
Publishers Acknowledge Legislative and Educational Challenges
As this morning’s annual meeting of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) in New York underscored, in today’s complicated and changing times the organization has more legislative and policy issues on its hands than it has in some time. Association president Tom Allen emphasized how much has changed since he joined the organization in 2009. As many of the morning’s speakers underscored, “we have a lot to talk to our publics about.” Allen noted he is “struck by the fact that when you pick up a book…it’s very hard for members of the public to see the contribution made by […]
Briefs: Encyclopedia Britannica Discontinues Print Edition; Vieser Werlag Declares Bankruptcy; and More
Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer publish print editions after more than 244 years of doing so, the NYT first reported Tuesday with an advance look at the press release, with the 32-volume set published in 2010 deemed to be its last-ever. (That edition has sold just 8,000 copies, a far cry from Britannica’s peak in 1990, when 120,000 sets sold; there are another 4,000 copies of the 2010 edition still sitting in the company’s warehouse.) Instead Britannica will concentrate on its online business and a wide range of editorial products, including several different digital versions of Encyclopedia that has, to […]