On Wednesday the Booker Prize organizers formally announced what had been the subject of speculation and debate over the past few days: They will expand eligibility beyond the Commonwealth, to include any novel “originally written in English and published in the UK.” At the same time, the prize will try to keep submissions to a reasonable number, so the newly-eligible authors will be competing with existing pool for nomination slots from their publishers. As is currently the case, nominations can only be made by UK publishers — but a revised, self-reinforcing submissions process will favor publishers who have had titles […]
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Stephen Power has joined Amacom as senior editor, responsible for the management and human resources publishing programs. Previously he was a senior editor at Wiley. Liese Mayer will join Scribner as editor on September 16. Previously she was an associate editor at The Overlook Press. Sara Hartman-Seeskin will join Sourcebooks as rights and exports manager. Previously she was international rights manager for Free Spirit Publishing. In addition, Liz Kelsch has been promoted to publicity manager and Nicole Komasinski moves up to associate graphic designer. Claire Anderson-Wheeler has joined Regal Literary as an agent. Previously she was an agent at Anderson […]
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At Liza Dawson Associates, Monica Odom has been promoted to associate agent, and also serves as manager of finance and social media development. The recipients of the 2013 Rona Jaffe Foundation Awards are Tiffany Briere (fiction/nonfiction), Ashlee Crews (fiction), Kristin Dombek (nonfiction), Margaree Little (poetry), Kirstin Valdez Quade (fiction), and Jill Sisson Quinn (nonfiction) The National Book Awards will announce their first-ever longlists exclusively on The Daily Beast over a four-day period beginning September 16 with the Young People’s Literature category (the Poetry longlist will be announced September 17, followed by Nonfiction on the 18th and Fiction on the 19th.) […]
Barnes & Noble Postpones International Rollout Again
Barnes & Noble’s promised international expansion of Nook stores has been quietly postponed again. The last time the company delayed their timeline was in late July, in their delayed annual SEC report, which stated, “the company now expects expansion into these 10 markets to be accomplished by the end of 2013.” Now their new SEC report for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 pushes that target forward another 4 months, saying “it now expects expansion into these 10 markets to be accomplished by the end of fiscal 2014.” As a result of the continued delays, they may face a financial penalty […]
Briefs: Bloomsbury Buys Legal Publisher; Consumer Settlement Payout Rises
Bloomsbury has acquired Oxford-based legal publisher Hart Publishing for £6.5 million in cash. The company says the unit is expected to “be immediately earnings enhancing.” The purchase is the latest step in their standing promise to boost academic and professional revenues to 50 percent of company sales within 5 years. It also nearly exhausts their cash resources for acquisitions. As of June 30, the company reported cash reserves of £8.5 million. The estimated per-book payouts to ebook consumers as a result of the legal settlements has been increased. Amazon has received attention for an informational post on their forums and email […]
Briefs: Amazon Appeals to Supreme Court, Adds Kindle Mexico; and More
On August 23, Amazon filed a brief with the US Supreme Court, asking it to hear their challenge to New York’s 2008 law requiring the etailer to collect sales tax in the state due to their network of online affiliates (Amazon Associates). The New York Court of Appeals upheld the law in a ruling in March 2013. The company hired former Solicitor General Ted Olson, now at the Washington, DC office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who filed the petition, to represent them in the matter. (Irony alert: Apple’s lead law firm in the ebook pricing cases is the New […]