Following the discussion at Winter Institute that we covered in Thursday’s lunch, Hachette Book Group ceo David Young formally confirmed their adoption of any agency model in a letter sent to agents. As part of that move, they will indeed drop their strategy of windowed releases and release e-books simultaneously with hardcovers Young writes: “There are many advantages to the agency model, for our authors, retailers, consumers, and publishers. It allows Hachette to make pricing decisions that are rational and reflect the value of our authors’ works. In the long run this will enable Hachette to continue to invest in […]
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A New Message to Macmillan Authors and Illustrators
This message ran as a paid advertisement in the February 4 edition of Publishers Lunch.To: Macmillan Authors and Illustratorscc: Literary AgentsFrom: John Sargent I am sorry I have been silent since Saturday. We have been in constant discussions with Amazon since then. Things have moved far enough that hopefully this is the last time I will be writing to you on this subject. Over the last few years we have been deeply concerned about the pricing of electronic books. That pricing, combined with the traditional business model we were using, was creating a market that we believe was fundamentally unbalanced. […]
People and More
House of Anansi Press publisher since 2005 Lynn Henry is moving to Doubleday Canada as publishing director, starting March 1. She will acquire her own list, and senior editors Amy Black, Nina Pronovost and Tim Rostron will report to her. At Random House, under editorial director Jennifer Hershey, Jessica Waters, Courtney Moran, Courtney Turco and Clare Swanson to have all been promoted and are now assistant editors. Kathleen Tucker will retire as editor-in-chief at Albert Whitman & Company on April 30. A search for a replacement is underway. UK consumer research organization Book Marketing (BML) has been bought by Bowker, […]
People and Announcements
Howard W. Reeves, publisher of Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books, will become editor-at-large of the company. Following Brendan Deneen’s departure, FinePrint Literary Management has hired Pouya Shahbazian as a literary manager/producer, specializing in book-to-film and TV deals for clients and also running FinePrint Productions, producing and packaging film and television projects. He co-founded ManDown Pictures & Management in 2007 after working at the Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silbermann Agency. CEO of Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise (and before that chief operating officer at Yahoo) Daniel Rosensweig has joined online textbook rental company Chegg.com as president and ceo. At Publishing Technology, Douglas Wright […]
Barnes & Noble Discover Award Finalists
The bookseller announced the contenders for their annual Discover Awards, to be presented on March 3: FictionBarb Johnson, More of This World or Maybe Another (HarperPerennial)Victor Lodato, Mathilda Savitch (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)C. E. Morgan, All the Living (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) NonfictionDave Cullen, Columbine (Twelve)Toby Lester, The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map that Gave America Its Name (Twelve)Neil White, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir (William Morrow)Release
Princeton Architectural Press Buys Its Independence
Princeton Architectural Press founder and publisher Kevin Lippert has bought back the company from Springer Verlag, which has owned the press since 1997. He says in the announcement, “It has been a pleasure to be part of the Springer family for these many years…but the strategic directions of our two businesses were diverging so quickly that a partnership no longer made sense. Our new independent status will provide us with the opportunity to use the innovations we’ve learned from Springer, particularly in electronic books, to continue to broaden the scope of what design publishing constitutes.”