Macmillan ceo John Sargent has thoughtfully continued the dialog over ebook pricing that he opened via the company’s blog at the beginning of the month. Not all readers will agree with the company’s thinking on pricing, but Sargent should continue to win points for his earnest and straight-forward participation in the conversation. And yes, we continue to hope that more publishing people find appropriate ways of similar engagement. To that end, you can listen to Hachette Book Group ceo David Young and HBG’s svp of digital media Maja Thomas in conversation with Charlotte Abbott at 1:00 today on BlogTalkRadio. In […]
eNews
People, Etc.
At St. Martin’s, Marc Resnick has been promoted to executive editor, after over thirteen years with the house. Peggy Hageman has joined the Overlook Press as an associate editor. She was previously at HarperCollins. Mark Levine has joined BookMasters Distribution Services as publisher relations manager, joining newly appointed vp of business development Tony Proe. Most recently Levine as an acquisitions editor for Barnes & Noble Publishing. powerHouse will use Random House Publisher Services for sales and distribution to the book and specialty trades. Gail Hareven‘s The Confessions of Noa Weber, translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu won the Best […]
eGlimpses: Apple Organizes Bookstore; HP Working with BN?
A company called BustedLoop–which is developing a product called AppSlice that will help aid the app discovery process–says that by “leveraging data available to Apple enterprise partners” they “can see what kinds of electronic books Apple plans to offer on the iPad,” Forbes reports. No big surprise, they’ve discovered that the iBookstore will merchandise books much more finely than the current app store. The number of “top-level” ebook category headings keeps changing though; they say it was 35 in late February, but now is organized around about 20 main categories (and another 150 sub-categories).Forbes If you look very carefully at […]
Anonymous Official Says Canada Is "Leaning" Towards Approving Amazon's Expansion Plan
The Canadian Booksellers’ Association has urged the country’s government to reject Amazon’s application to operate their own Canadian-based warehouse and fulfillment operation. But an article in the Globe and Mail quotes an unnamed senior official who indicates the Harper administration is “leaning towards” approving Amazon’s plan, believing there is a “net benefit” to Canadians. That person added, “If you look at the issue specifically, it’s Amazon setting up a warehouse to be able to distribute what they already distribute via the Internet. There’s no change in terms of Canadian content.” Part of the booksellers’ argument is that “individual Canadian booksellers […]
More Announcements
Yesterday Kaplan released Lloyd Constantine‘s book Journal of the Plague Year: An Insider’s Chronicle of Eliot Spitzer’s Short and Tragic Reign, following a wave of pre-publication coverage. (It was originally scheduled for publication a month later.) The ebook lists at a discount of more than 30 percent off the $24.95 hardcover, priced at $16.99. The National Association of College Stores‘ subsidiary NACS Media Solutions will market the Espresso Book Machine to the college bookstore market, and will also “permission academic content for distribution” through all Espresso machines. Elsevier said in a press release they will launch between 8,000 and 9,000 […]
Announcements: Electronic
Samsung has announced “imminent availability” for their ereader, previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and Barnes & Noble will drive their electronic store. They say their electromagnetic resonance stylus pen is the device’s “most visibly distinguishing feature,” designed to allow more natural annotations and note-taking. When previously announced, the company indicated high price points, ranging between $399 and $699.ReleaseCompany page Edelweiss will create an online catalog of new titles being exhibited at BEA in conjunction with the convention organizers, and participation will be free to all exhibiting publishers. On his blog Michael Cairns has more information about new […]