In a keynote conversation at Digital Book World Thursday morning, Apple executive Keith Moerer revealed that since the launch last fall of iOS8 – which embedded the iBooks app within the operating system for the first time — the company has averaged more than 1 million new users a week of iBooks. While Moerer obviously touted this stat as significant, he did admit that device Pre-loading “makes it so easy for customers to download a free book,” Moerer noted; the company recently ended promotion that gave new iBooks users access to ten free ebooks from both major houses and indie publishers, which also spurred […]
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People, Etc.: ICM to Represent Crichton
ICM is now representing rights to “the majority of titles” written by the late Michael Crichton (including most of his best-known novels, with the exception of Jurassic Park). Sloan Harris and Jennifer Joel will lead representation on the literary side, and the agency says it will “work closely with Sherri Crichton and licensees of rights licensed in Michael Crichton’s work to broaden the reach of his stories, worlds, characters and brands across all media.” There is work for potential posthumous publication and exploitation as well. ICM says it will also focus on “the exploration of Crichton’s heretofore unknown and unpublished works […]
People, Etc.: Franzen Interview to Open BEA
Book Expo America’s opening event will feature author Jonathan Franzen interviewed by Salon book critic Laura Miller, on May 27 at 12 PM (an hour before the show floor opens; this year the trade exhibition runs for two and a half days). This will be Franzen’s first event to discuss his new novel PURITY, which FSG will publish in September. The conversation will include “a discussion of the author’s writing [and] the important influences in his life” as well. Nonfiction publisher at Pan Macmillan Jon Butler is leaving the company at the end of the month to join Quercus as managing director, with current […]
Big Changes at Penguin Publishing Group: Tart Takes Over Viking As Ferraro Leaves, Putnam and Dutton Combine, Hudson Street & Gotham Close
Having taken over as president of newly-formed Penguin Publishing Group in September, Madeline McIntosh has moved quickly to reshape that group through “several major organizational alignments, leadership changes, and promotions.” McIntosh notes to staff in a lengthy memo that “wide-ranging” reorganization “was a lot to absorb, but I hope that you will value being able to see the total picture all at once. I am delighted that these changes will provide new opportunities for growth for so many of our existing colleagues, and that they will set us up perfectly to continue to provide the very best service to our authors and […]
People, Etc.
Rachel Meier has been named to the newly created position of publishing manager for Crown, Crown Archetype, Hogarth, Broadway, Three Rivers Press, and Tim Duggan Books. Ami Webster McConnell has joined Howard Books as vp, editor in chief. Most recently she was senior acquisitions editor for fiction at Harper Christian and helped launch the fiction program at Thomas Nelson. Michael Eisenberg has joined the book publishing group at Highlights in the newly created role of director, book marketing, reporting to Jack Perry, after consulting with the company for the past five years. Previously he was svp, co-publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux […]
DBW: It’s Almost Here
If you’re still getting around to finalizing your plans for this week’s big Digital Book World events, here is the registration link to use to still secure a 10 percent discount off the posted individual conference and Total Access Pass ticket prices. (And remember that onsite prices starting tomorrow will be higher than the pre-show prices available through the end of the day today.) We kick things off tomorrow with the full-day Publishers Launch Kids — the full schedule is posted here — and DBW is running their focused workshops at the same time. (Children’s publishing people have lots of options: You can […]