Canada’s Heritage Minister announced approval for Apple to launch a Canadian iBookstore, which “represents new opportunities for Canadian authors and publishers.” To win that consent, Apple has promised to promote Canadian-authored books; to increase “opportunities for Canadian publishers and authors” and access to titles from Aboriginal authors and publishers; and to provide “assistance to Canadian publishers in streamlining processes of e-book creation and enhancement.”Release
International News
Curtis Brown UK Launches Paid Writing Classes for Fiction Writers
The latest news item driving online commentary is the launch of a three-month novel-writing course by Curtis Brown UK, “the first and only new writing school to be run by a literary agency.” They charge 1,600 pounds, and promise to “consider” students’ for representation: “We don’t guarantee that we’ll offer representation but we do guarantee that every student’s work will be read by a Curtis Brown book agent and every student will receive a detailed critique on their work at the end of the course.” They also require that students give the agency an exclusive opportunity to consider their completed […]
Canada’s Doubleday Book Club Closes As Direct Brands Unit Goes Bankrupt
Direct Brands’ Canadian unit DB Media has filed for bankruptcy and the administrator told employees yesterday that the unit is ceasing operations immediately and all jobs are terminated, putting about 100 people out of work. The Canadian book club operated as Doubleday Canada, and the other major unit used the Columbia House name. In an e-mail to the Toronto Sun, Direct Brands ceo Deborah Fine referred to it as a “strategic decision to close the Canadian operation.” To avoid any confusion, the Random House Canada underscored in a brief statement that their line “is very much in active business and […]
Waterstone’s Remains Rosy On Neverending “Turnaround” As Comps Still Fall
Waterstone’s parent HMV reported sales for the first half of the fiscal year at the bookselling chain of 219.5 million pounds, down 2.4 percent overall, and declining 3.2 percent on a same-store basis. They had an operating loss of 9.9 million pounds, which is better than the loss of 12.9 million pounds a year go. In the best stiff-upper-lip tradition available, management insists that they are making “good progress on [the] turnaround at Waterstone’s.” At the same time HMV reminds investors that “the outcome of our full financial year will be largely determined by the next four weeks of the […]
People
Former longtime director of rights and contracts at McClelland & Stewart Marilyn Biderman has opened an eponymous literary agency, based in Toronto, and is out with her first submission in both the US and Canada: French-Canadian Marguerite Pigeon’s debut novel OPEN PIT. Biderman says she will represent genre, commercial and literary fiction, along with narrative nonfiction and memoir and “the occasional expert as a client as well.” In deciding her next step in publishing, Biderman says, “I really looked at what was important to me and where my allegiances lie. It’s always been with the publishing process and protecting the […]
Penguin Takes Classics to Egypt In New Joint Venture
The WSJ reports that Penguin is about to announce a joint venture with Egypt-based publisher Dar El Shorouk to publish books from the company’s Classics line in Arabic. The line is expected to debut in “the first half of 2011,” and will incorporate some Arabic classics as well. Dar El Shorouk chairman Ibrahim El Moallem believes the ebook editions in particular “will go all over the place,” even in Arabic-speaking countries where authorities try to censor books. He also “said that presenting the Penguin library as a series of the world’s greatest books may help trump the censorship issue.” The […]