SVP and publisher at The Taunton Press Don Linn is leaving that post to join digital publishing start-up Quartet Press, overseeing finance, administration and general management. He notes, “I’m an entrepreneur at heart and I’ve been fascinated with this transitional phase of reading, writing and publishing for some time. So when the opportunity to create Quartet presented itself, it seemed the time was right to make the move.” Linn joins Kassia Krozser, Kirk Biglione, and Kat Meyer as a partner in Quartet, which expects to launch romance imprint Quench Romance! in fall 2009, followed by “additional categories and service offerings […]
eNews
Kindle Krunching: Week 2
With a second week of data, we’re still looking for the impact (if any) of Kindle sales as reflected in the broader USA Today chart. As was the case last week, Kathryn Stockett does seems to be getting a big Kindle boost. Almost every other title on the Kindle Top 10 declined overall in the USA Today list, though. Daniel Silva and Jennifer Weiner had the top two hardcover fiction titles for the week, but Weiner did less well relatively with the Kindle audience. Here’s our chart, ranking the books according to their position on the Kindle bestseller list, with […]
Google Settlement at the NYPL and In the NYT
If you were so inclined you could probably spend the better part of the next month on daily seminars and webinars related to the proposed Google Books legal settlement. Yesterday’s venue was the NY Public Library, moderated by David Ferriero (moments before he was reported as President Obama’s pick to be Archivist of the United States). A number of librarians expressed concerns about managing the single all-access terminal to be provided for each public library branch. Bertelsmann’s Richard Sarnoff suggested that on this and other matters, the settlement should be viewed as a starting point rather than a definitive rule-set. […]
LibreDigital Gets More Funding, and People News
LibreDigital has closed a $15 million Series B funding round, led by new investor Triangle Peak Partners and existing investor Adams Capital Management. (Existing investors include HarperCollins and the New York Times Comany.) They say the new capital will be used by “to expand marketing and development of the company’s digital platform, designed to help publishers go direct to consumers as they access, buy, read and share content across online and mobile platforms.” Rachel Dicker has joined Baker & Taylor as director, publisher digital services, reporting to Linda Gagnon, svp, publisher digital services and business development. She was formerly Director […]
Data Coup: USA Today Bestseller List to Include Kindle Sales Data
As of today’s list, USA Today’s weekly tabulation of bestselling books incorporates data on Amazon Kindle book sales as a component of their rankings. Significantly, it’s the first outside list to which Amazon has contributed Kindle sales data. Amazon’s Laura Porco says in the announcement: “We are thrilled to be contributing Kindle book sales information to USA Today for their comprehensive bestseller list for books customers. Given the great overlap of taste between Kindle customers and physical book buyers, the USA Today Best-Selling Books List is truly reflective of what customers are buying regardless of format.” Among the open questions […]
Vonnegut Stories to Be Sold Individually As e-Exclusives Before Print Edition
Delacorte Press will offer $1.99 ebook versions of two Kurt Vonnegut stories, Hello Red on August 25, and The Petrified Ants on September 29, prior to the print publication of their 14-story collection LOOK AT THE BIRDIE on October 20. Upon release, ebook readers will be able to be able to purchase all 14 stories individually (at the same $1.99 price point for each) or an ebook version of the whole book.