Bloomsbury has made another addition to its growing academic division with the purchase of Oxford International Publishers Limited, which operates as Berg Publishers, for 1.8 million pounds in cash, 200,000 million pounds in stock, and up to 1 million pounds in deferred compensation based performance. Focused on books and journals for the academic student market in the fields of fashion, design and culture studies, Berg had sales 1.58 million pounds in 2007. Kathryn Earle will continue to run the company.Release
International News
Journalist Tries to Verify Boy Soldier's Story
Journalist Malcolm Knox–who uncovered the lies in Norma Khouri’s book–worked with Sudanese refugee and one-time boy soldier Cola Bilkuei on his book COLA’S JOURNEY and was asked to verify the book’s accuracy. (Just published in Australia, it is not available elsewhere for now.) “So what are we left with? Aside from boy soldiers, a priest and a lawyer who knew Cola in Africa, we have the assurances of the Australian government, which gave Cola his first passport and checked on him through cousins who already lived here…. “Ultimately, though, between what could be verified and what lies on the pages […]
Medina Will Return in Serbia
After being withdrawn in the wake of protests by Muslims, Serbian publisher Beobook indicates their edition will return to bookstores. Company director Aleksandar JasiÄ “explained that despite the fact that the book was withdrawn from the stores in July, copies were still available in the streets at double prices, adding that soon after the publisher dropped the book, pirate versions started to sell”–and he says reader reactions have been “very positive.”Serbian report
The Season in France
A French news service share statistics on the big French fall publishing season, “an important ritual on the French literary circuit. Every year, by the end of August, French booksellers get agitated, critics get irritated, and writers become nervous as a profusion of titles hits the bookshelves.” The total count of 676 novels is down slightly from last year’s 727 works. Of those, 210 are works in translation. They come from 98 publishers in all, and even the biggest houses have only a small share: “Gallimard and Fayard have 18 novels each, Le Seuil 15, Grasset 14, Le Rocher 13, […]
Sony Reader Goes to France–But It Isn't Simple, and Another Reader Is On the Way
The Sony Reader will launch in France next month, in an exclusive partnership with retail chain Fnac, along with publisher Hachette Livre (two Hachette books are included in the 300-euro price). A press conference is scheduled for next Tuesday to announce the launch. In the meantime, France’s Virgin Megastore is speaking out, claiming to be concerned that “exclusive arrangements hamper the development of supply for legal downloading.” The Bookseller says that subsidiary VirginMega is “working on a digital book project that would be open to all publishers.”Bookseller Separately, Business Week looks at a trial program in the country through France […]
Indigo Sets Out Recycled Paper Requirements
Canada’s dominant book retailer Indigo has informed publishers of new recyled paper guidelines that “will require publishers to use an average of 20% post-consumer recycled paper for uncoated books and 10% for coated books, starting this fall. Those levels will then climb to 50% (for coated and uncoated books) after five years. Indigo has also set benchmarks for magazine vendors, and has vowed to reduce its own internal paper usage by 25%,” Quill & Quire reports. A consulting company Indigo worked with indicates that “publishers will not be punished for failing to meet the new benchmarks” but those who do […]