EU nations continue to wrestle with disparities in sales tax on print and ebooks, and a general need to raise public revenues. On January 1, France will officially defy EU law and lower the VAT on ebooks to match the tax on printed books. That rate has been 5.5 percent–but is scheduled to rise to 7 percent in the new year, which is causing uproar from France’s network of over 3,000 independent bookstores. (VAT on most goods in 19.6 percent.) France24 In the UK, however, the House of Commons was told that under EU law the country cannot reduce or […]
International News
People, Etc.
Hilary Redmon will join Ecco as executive editor, focusing on non-fiction, starting on December 19. She has been a senior editor at Free Press. Literary agent Emmanuelle Morgen will join Stonesong on January 5, representing adult and children’s fiction, including women’s fiction and romance, historical fiction, and young adult fiction, and nonfiction in the areas of psychology, pop science, self-help, and memoir. Morgen has been at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management. In the rapidly-consolidating Dutch publishing world, NDC/VBK will put its imprints Contact, Mouria and Augustus together with the two Amstel imprints LJ Veen and Atlas to form a new publishing […]
Grand Central Pairs with Little Brown UK for Crime In Translation
Hachette divisions in the US and UK–Grand Central and Little Brown UK–are forming a transatlantic venture to publish crime, suspense and thrillers in translation. They will be part of the Grand Central line in the US, and in the UK will comprise a new imprint, Trapdoor. The partners intend to publish up to six books a year. Mitch Hoffman will run the effect from the US, and Sphere associate publisher Dan Mallory will oversee the UK side. The first announced title is Swedish authors Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s DARK SECRETS, already sold in 16 territories, the first in a series featuring a psychological […]
As the Euro Burns, the European Commission Investigates Agency eBook Pricing
As the European Union wrestles with its very financial foundations, their antitrust agency the European Commission is focusing on the essential issue: It will formally investigate whether the original Agency Five and Apple “have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition in the European Union or in the European Economic Area.” The Commission says it is “examining the character and terms of the agency agreements entered into…for the sale of e-books. The Commission has concerns that these practices may breach EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices.” […]
Penguin Takes 45 Percent Stake In Brazil’s Companhia das Letras
Penguin has expanded its relationship with Brazil’s Companhia das Letras, taking a 45 percent stake in the publisher. The two companies have collaborated on co-publishing Penguin Classics in Brazil since fall 2009, when they formed Penguin Companhia Classicos and Penguin Companhia. Co-founder Luiz Schwarz writes, “Nothing will change in our philosophy or direction. Our editorial choices will be made as independently as always, but with a closer contact with the great editorial team of the Penguin family around the world. This is how Companhia plans to face the important challenges of publishing’s future: we will join forces with one of […]
International: Ediciones B, Planeta Launch Digital Imprints; and More
Spanish publisher Ediciones B launched a new digital imprint, B de Books, where the house will publish e-originals and ebook editions of its trade titles DRM-free, some at prices that are aggressively low for the Spanish market. Patricia Cornwell’s THE SCARPETTA FACTOR was available at launch for €1.99, and John Locke’s LETHAL PEOPLE will be released in January at €2.99. Commenting on the decision to publish DRM-free, B de Books director Ernest Folch said DRM had become a “barrier to readers” and is ineffective, since “DRM-protected titles are pirated the minute they hit the market.” El Cultural (in Spanish) Meanwhile Planeta […]