Old habits are hard to break. With BEA’s switch to a mid-week show and just two days of floor exhibits, a number of veteran fairgoers were confused to learn this morning that the show floor does not open until tomorrow. Sufficiently so that BEA pushed out an e-mail reminder on this point. Today is for conferences only (though the Rights Center is open, and remainders buyers are allowed on the floor.) But the conference sessions are crowded indeed. With digital publishing very much top of the agenda, the realignment of the IDBF conference to run concurrently with BEA has been […]
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Disney Takes Over Marvel Publishing; Cursor Signs with PGW
Disney Publishing announced today that they are taking over management of–and aiming to expand–subsidiary Marvel Entertainment’s children’s licensed book publishing business worldwide. “Working with key licensees around the world, including the U.S. market, DPW will create original new content for coloring and activity, novelty, gift and sound books as well as for high end storybooks and chapter books.” Richard Nash’s start-up line has officially confirmed their distribution deal with PGW, starting July 1–though their first print title, Lynne Tillman’s Some Day This Will be Funny, won’t publish until spring 2011.
People, Etc.
Tom Spain is now vp, editorial director at Simon & Schuster Audio. He will add oversight for their children’s audio program, oversee audio sub rights, and is working on creating “audio-based applications that take full advantage of all that evolving technologies and platforms have to offer.” At distributor NBN, director of rights and permissions for the Rowman & Littlefield group Clare Cox will now be available to work with clients to sell foreign rights on their behalf. Weldon Owen publisher and chief executive in Australia Sheena Coupe will retire in August after 25 years with the company. She will be […]
ABA Actually Gains (9) Members for the Year
One previously-predictable lowpoint of BEA is moment during the American Booksellers Association annual meeting when a board member announces the annual decline in registered member stores. But this year, for the first time since we’ve been following the numbers, the association actually gained members–nine to be exact–with 1,410 registered stores. (That gain does not necessarily reflect a change in the entire store landscape, since not all independent bookstores are members of the national organization.) Here are the reported member-store numbers for the past decade: 2010: 1,4102009: 1,401 2008: 1,5242007: 1,580 2006: 1,6602005: 1,703 2004: 1,804 2003: 1,908 2002: 2,097 2001: […]
A Wimpy Holiday On the Way
Abrams’ Amulet imprint has announced the fifth volume of Jeff Kinney’s bestselling Wimpy Kid series for a November 9 national laydown. The title won’t be revealed until July, but they have confirmed purple as the color of the new book’s cover. Kinney will sign in the Abrams booth at 11 on Thursday at BEA, and they are giving away wimpy water bottles and bookmarks. Kinney says the new book “is about change and the different ways Greg and his best friend, Rowley, deal with it. To me, this book is the lynchpin in the series, and I’m excited to be […]
eNews from the Publishers: Ballantine and Harlequin Try Digital Shorts that Connect to Longer Works; Sesame Street eBookstore Opens with Subscription plan
Ballantine will publish a 6,000-word digital short story from Steve Berry in September for $1.99 that bridges to his November 23 book release THE EMPEROR’S TOMB. The WSJ calls it “a literary appetizer, inexpensive enough to attract potential readers who might otherwise not be willing to buy a new novel from an author whose works they haven’t yet read.” Matt Schwartz at Random House says, “realistically, it would be hard to get something like this in print. But the e-book format is very flexible. What this does is offer an affordable entry point into Steve’s world.” In the press release, […]