Amazon announced their updated line of third-generation Kindle Fire tablets early Wednesday, continuing to expand the basic specs, content features and other extras. Now called Kindle Fire HDX, they promise an “exclusive new display” that “goes beyond HD” with “exceptional pixel density.” The 7-inch model starts at $229 and will ship October 18 (the 4G version, at $329, ships November 14) ; the larger 8.9-inch model — “startlingly light at 13.2 ounces, 34 percent lighter than the previous generation” — ships starting November 7, and starts at $379 (the 4G version ships on December 10.) Feature and service additions include […]
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People, Etc.
The Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency announced last week at the agency’s 35th anniversary celebration that Jennifer Weltz will succeed Jean Naggar as president of the agency, with Naggar moving to the new position of chair. Naggar noted that her daughter Weltz, who was named partner in 2004 and later vice president, “has been president in all but name these past few years” and that “her incisive intelligence, energy, marketing acumen, love of books, ready humor, and editorial flair have combined to build and lead JVNLA confidently into a future all of us here are reaching to identify.” Director of […]
Goodreads Creates Controversy
Goodreads has attracted considerable attention — and controversy — for recent moves to limit readers and authors attacking each other on their site. In simplest form, Goodreads is getting stricter about removing reviews that “primarily…talk about author behavior” in a negative way. One of the primary objections from members was that the site acted unilaterally, without any prior notification, in removing reviews that were judged as violating the site’s guidelines from member pages. In their most recent note, Goodreads claimed that their actions so far were limited to only 21 members so far. At the same time, they have realized: […]
Nelson Continues to Lift Harper’s Results
News Corp. reported results for their fourth quarter and full fiscal year, ending June 30. HarperCollins had sales of $329 million and EBITDA of $22 million in the fourth quarter (derived from the annual report), and for the full year, they recorded sales of $1.369 billion and EBITDA of $142 million. That compares to sales of $1.189 billion and EBITDA of $86 million in fiscal 2012. All but $5 million of the sales gain was attributed to the acquisition of Thomas Nelson (which accounted for $172 million in sales). And $27 million of the EBITDA gain came from Nelson as […]
People, Etc.
In the continuing consolidation of responsibilities and reporting lines at the merged Penguin Random House, Random’s Cyrus Kheradi has been promoted to svp, director of international sales & marketing for Penguin Random House, overseeing all of the company’s U.S.-originated activities in his area, including the sales team for Penguin’s export market and its international marketing group. The company indicated that “selling responsibilities for the individual international reps at Random House and Penguin are unchanged.” Kheradi also continues as director, East Asia business development for Random House. He reports to Penguin Random House US president and coo Madeline McIntosh, who said: “For […]
Bigger and Broader, Digital Book World 2014
The big fifth annual Digital Book World Conference has officially opened for registration, convening at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City January 13 – 15, 2014. DBW now stands alone as largest book publishing conference focused on the digital transition worldwide. Back with a broader view than ever, DBW 2014 will expand to incorporate new tracks on change management; marketing and discover; new business models, startups and technology; and academic and scholarly publishing; while continuing to examine digital change in children’s publishing as part of the partnership with Publishers Launch Conferences. DBW 2014 will feature more executives and thought-leaders […]