Former Literature Director at the National Endowment of the Arts Ira Silverberg will join Open Road Integrated Media on April 22 as strategic advisor, author brands, reporting to Tina Pohlman. In his new role, Silverberg will focus primarily on backlist acquisitions for “a wide range of authors.” Jane Friedman, co-founder and ceo of Open Road said in the announcement: “Ira’s broad range of experience has given him a deep understanding of all aspects of the publishing industry and he will make an incredible addition to Open Road.” Silverberg added: “Joining Open Road allows me to get back to the very […]
International News
Awards Nominees: Stella, Arthur C Clarke, and LBF International
Australia’s Stella Prize announced their shortlist: Burial Rites, Hannah Kent Night Games, Anna Krien The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane Boy, Lost, Kristina Olsson The Swan Book, Alexis Wright The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka, Clare Wright Another shortlist comes from the UK’s Arthur C Clarke award for best science fiction novel: God’s War, Kameron Hurley Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie The Disestablishment of Paradise, Phillip Mann Nexus, Ramez Naam The Adjacent, Christopher Priest The Machine, James Smythe Longer still, the London Book Fair announced the shortlist for their new International Industry Excellence Awards, bestowing honors in no less than 16 categories. The full release is […]
Penguin Random House Acquires Santillana Trade Publishing
Though the story was denied when it first circulated in April 2013, Penguin Random House has now officially acquired the Santillana trade book business from Spain’s challenged Prisa Group. Santillana Ediciones operates in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, including Brazil. Santillana says in their announcement that the purchase price was 72 million euros. Penguin Random House declined to comment on Santillana’s account. PRH ceo Markus Dohle says in a note to employees, “Santillana’s outstanding publishing houses and rich frontlists and backlists make them the perfect partner for Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, creating an unrivaled roster of Spanish and international authors that […]
Some Hints on UK eBook and Self-Published Sales
In London, Nielsen presented 2013 data about the UK market from their Books & Consumers surveys at their annual conference. (They survey approximately 3,000 book buyers per month. Surveys are different from Nielsen Bookscan’s direct point-of-sale data, so bear that in mind when reading about these results.) They estimate based on their respondents that UK book sales totaled £2.2 billion in 2013, with ebooks comprising 25 percent of unit sales but only 13.5 percent of revenues, at £300 million. In their view, ebook sales rose 20 percent during the year. We had noted recently that consumer surveys are one tool […]
Briefs: Trudeau Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison; Carnegie & Greenaway Awards Shortlists; and More
Allen Guelzo has won the inaugural Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History for GETTYSBURG: The Last Invasion (Knopf). The $50,000 prize was announced Monday night at a ceremony held at the New-York Historical Society. The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal shortlists were announced this morning, with the winners to be named on June 23. Anne Fine, Rebecca Stead, and Susan Cooper landed on the Carnegie list, while Jon Klassen appears twice on the Greenaway shortlist for THIS IS NOT MY HAT and THE DARK (text by Lemony Snicket). Onetime bestselling weight-loss “guru” and infomercial staple Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 10 […]
Kobo Continues to Press Case to Preserve Agency In Canada
Kobo continues to press their motion to rescind the ebook pricing consent agreements in Canada between the Competition Commission and the four agency publishers that we first reported on last week. In a memorandum of fact filed March 10, they reiterated their primary argument that “without a stay, Kobo will be irreparably harmed. Its contracts with four of the largest E-book publishers in Canada will be terminated or fundamentally altered. Kobo – not the Consenting Publishers – will bear the financial losses arising from these changes.” As in the US, the Commission has focused on their predictions that “the price […]