McClelland & Stewart announced a new non-fiction imprint, Signal, that will be “dedicated to the power of ideas and original thinking.” Titles published by Signal will encompass politics, religion, culture, history, business, and the environment by authors including Margaret Atwood, Christopher Hitchens, Ezra Levant, Samantha Nutt and Alain de Botton. In a release M&S president and publisher Doug Pepper says, “our goal with Signal is to publish creative, daring, and intellectually significant works of non-fiction that stir the pot and raise our awareness of the most important issues of the day, Signal Website Macmillan has relaunched its Criminal Element site […]
Web marketing/promotion
eNews: e-Royalty Escalators; Sony Tablets On the Way; Product Placement; and More
Some UK agents claim to the Bookseller that they have negotiated e-royalty escalators and expect this move “will be the norm, not the exception” in the future, but it sounds more like an aspiration than a well-documented accomplishment. Blake Friedmann agent Oliver Munson is the only one saying on the record they’ve already done this: “We’ve certainly had e-book escalators in a number of contracts….. I can’t realistically envisage the much-trumpeted 25% net receipts remaining the benchmark for much longer either.” Piers Blofeld at Sheil Land also says “I have negotiated an escalator, but not with one of the big four. That would be […]
Briefs: Billy Joel Cancels Memoir; Open Road Projects $10M in Sales in 2011; and More
A little more than two months before HarperCollins was due to publish Billy Joel‘s memoir The Book of Joel, with a finished cover unveiled and a manuscript draft turned in, the book deal is off. “It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I’m not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music,” he said in a statement. Spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said that Joel’s memoir “was well into the editing process, but that Joel had not approved […]
Announcements: Russia at BEA, Harper Offers “Book Perks”
BEA will host Russia as guest of honor in their Global Market Forum program in 2012. Russia holds a similar role at this year’s London Book Fair. BEA organizers say that “Russia plans to have 50 Russian writers plus another 50 editors and publishing executives coming to New York for these events, which will include both a cultural and a professional component.” HarperCollins has officially launched a groupon-esque site, BookPerk.com. They carry–and push out–a series of offers for signed and deluxe editions of books and other “extras” like movie tie-in tickets along with contests (like a “perk of the day” […]
eNews: BAM Launches Reader App with Bluefire; S&S Joins Foursquare; Nelson Enrolls 20,000 Bloggers
Books-a-Million has launched their own reading app for the iOS platform, which works with Adobe’s DRM and they say will display ebooks originally purchased for the Nook. (BAM sells the Nook devices through their physical and online stores.) An offer on the BAM web site promises $100 in coupons with the first ebook purchase through the app. It looks as if the app was released in late November, but BAM has just put out a press release touting it today. It was created by Bluefire Productions, which says this is their “first private label application.” On the release date issue, […]
Grand Central Thriller Authors to Promote Each Other
Grand Central is trying a new kind of free ebook giveaway, cross-promoting two titles with each other. So the ebook of Brad Meltzer’s new book THE INNER CRICLE will include a free edition of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s 2002 novel The Cabinet of Curiosities, and the ebook of Preston and Child’s new title GIDEON’S SWORD will include Meltzer’s 2005 book The Zero Game. The publisher says the idea began with a suggestion from Preston and Child to Meltzer: “Doug and Lincoln emailed me and asked. They thought it would be a great way for us to thank readers while […]