Amazon posted on their Kindle Forum about their negotiations with Hachette Book Group on Tuesday afternoon. While the company tells people in the trade when looking for “feedback” that they are looking for their fare share of the “business efficiencies” and profits created by the growing ebook market, their argument to the public on their own forum is that “a key objective is lower e-book prices.” They say that’s “a” key objective, but the entire post is then about ebook prices. Notice carefully they acknowledge there are other objectives in their negotiations that they do not disclose or discuss at all. […]
eNews
Macmillan to Offer Frontlist eBooks to Libraries, At $60 Each
Macmillan is broadening their ebook library lending program to include frontlist ebooks for the first time. Last October they went from a modest pilot program to a full backlist offer of approximately 11,000 titles. With the expansion announced Wednesday, Macmillan will offer ebooks for lending the same day new books go on sale, and their full collection of available titles grows to approximately 15,000 books. Frontlist titles will be available to order in early August. Newly-published titles are priced for libraries at $60 each, dropping to a standard $40 each 12 months after publication, vendors tell us. The frontlist titles will […]
People, Etc.
Brenda Marsh has joined Abrams in the newly created position of vp, business development. The position will focus on both new and existing business opportunities, market analysis and company growth initiatives. Most recently, Marsh was vp, author relations at Barnes & Noble. Last week, Barnes & Noble added retired Vice Admiral John R. Ryan to the board. They note in their filing that he “has substantial experience serving on public company boards undergoing strategic transactions such as separations, including serving as a director of Cablevision Systems Corporation during its 2010 spinoff of Madison Square Garden, its 2011 spinoff of AMC Networks, Inc., […]
BookLamp Was Bought By Apple
The mystery of BookLamp’s disappearance online has been solved: The company was purchased by Apple. The price was not disclosed, but a source tells Tech Crunch — which reported the news on a tip and then obtained confirmation from Apple — that the price was “higher than $10 million and lower than $15 million.” Apple’s only official comment, was: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.” In April BookLamp’s web site displayed a “thank you for your support” message that only indicated their beta book recommendation engine (the […]
People, Etc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has hired Bridgett Paradise as svp of human resources and chief people officer, reporting directly to CEO Linda Zecher. Her role “will encompass human resources strategy and policy, including talent management and acquisition, organizational design and employee benefits. Paradise has been at Microsoft, most recently in the position of general manager, human resources for the worldwide services division. Abigail Naqvi has joined Bloomsbury as the new head of academic marketing for the Americas. Previously she was marketing manager at Palgrave Macmillan. At HarperCollins, Susan Yeager has been promoted to director of sales, mass merch. At Knopf Children’s, Allison Wortche has been promoted to […]
John Ingram Invests In Mediander
Chairman and ceo of Ingram Content Group John Ingram has invested in Mike Fine’s ambitious online “knowledge engine” startup Mediander.com, providing an “early-stage investment” through his personal investing vehicle, JRI Ventures LLC. According to the announcement, “the investment will be used to fund research and development, as well as technical, marketing and other operating expenses.” Fine has been the sole funder of Mediander up until now. ICG as a company also has venture capital arm that has taken stakes in a variety of digital publishing related start-ups. In 2010, John Ingram invested both personally and corporately in ReThink Books, which started […]