It’s a safe bet that when David Young of Hachette, Madeline McIntosh of Random House and Drake McFeely of Norton first agreed to discuss the impact of digitization at the ABA’s Winter Institute in San Jose they had no idea of the hot-button issues the timing would bring. For the most part the questions skirted the issues rather than plunging in, but it was the first chance to hear publicly from Random House, which so far has spoken more by not making a deal with Apple than anything else. Young made it clear that at Hachette they “had been considering […]
eNews
Macmillan Launches A New eBook Price Point Now–At Amazon As Well As BN.com
Buy buttons for Macmillan’s physical books have yet to return at Amazon (at least in any meaningful way), but the publisher quietly launched what may soon be just a remnant of their earlier strategy to keep up the price of ebooks: the “enhanced” edition. Kristin Hannah’s WINTER GARDEN, which released yesterday, was one of the few (if only) Macmillan books you could buy directly from Amazon, which was offering the Kindle version only and not the trade hardcover. But the book carries the curious digital list price of $29.99–three dollars higher than the print book list price. The Amazon information […]
ScrollMotion Signs on Textbook Publishers for iPad Deal
Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Kaplan and HMH are among several textbook publishers that have signed with Scrollmotion to adapt and develop textbooks as applications, test-prep and study guides for the iPad. Scrollmotion will take and adapt digital files provided by publishers for the iPad, and then add extra features, which the WSJ reports “include applications to let students play video, highlight text, record lectures, take printed notes, search the text, and participate in interactive quizzes to test how much they’ve learned and where they may need more work.” To date textbook adoption on e-readers has been slow (as Amazon could attest with […]
People and Announcements
Howard W. Reeves, publisher of Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books, will become editor-at-large of the company. Following Brendan Deneen’s departure, FinePrint Literary Management has hired Pouya Shahbazian as a literary manager/producer, specializing in book-to-film and TV deals for clients and also running FinePrint Productions, producing and packaging film and television projects. He co-founded ManDown Pictures & Management in 2007 after working at the Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silbermann Agency. CEO of Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise (and before that chief operating officer at Yahoo) Daniel Rosensweig has joined online textbook rental company Chegg.com as president and ceo. At Publishing Technology, Douglas Wright […]
What's Next in this Brave New Agency World?
If only we had a quiet weekend coming up to consider all the possibilities and next steps. First things first: When Are Amazon and Macmillan Back In Business?Note carefully that Amazon has not “capitulated” yet. They only said they would do so “ultimately.” Does that really mean “in early March” when Macmillan’s new terms become effective, or slightly thereafter when the iPad launches–or sometime far sooner? As we posted to our site last night after the special mailing, John Sargent at Macmillan says simply, “We are in discussions with Amazon on how best to resolve our differences. They are now, […]
Sargent On Ongoing Amazon "Discussions"
Macmillan ceo John Sargent has commented on what happens next between the publisher and Amazon, a first answer to the what kind of timeline “ultimately” means for the restoration of buy buttons: “We are in discussions with Amazon on how best to resolve our differences. They are now, have been, and I suspect always will be one of our most valued customers.”