Haights Cross Communications has sold Recorded Books to private equity fund Wasserstein & Co., with Northwestern Mutual and Lexington Partners also contributing investment capital, and financing from BNP Paribas. The company’s primary market is unabridged audiobooks for libraries, schools and the retail market, but they also distribute 100,000 ebooks through their One-Click Digital Platform. Recorded Books ceo Rich Freese says in the announcement, “This strategic partnership provides us with the resources to further broaden our content offerings and services for customers, and accelerate our growth into additional global markets.” HCC used to report publicly until they filed, and emerged from, a […]
Libraries
Abrams Announces eBooks for Libraries
At the ALA meeting in Philadelphia, Abrams announced that their frontlist ebooks are now available for libraries to purchase and lend, through the established vendors. Each “sale” activates the ebook for a year of lending, on the one-copy/one-user model. Abrams says they are selling to libraries at their standard digital list price. They are also offering “a full catalog of backlist” titles, so the program includes the Diary of Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. Abrams ceo Michael Jacobs says in the announcement, “We’ve been eager to fulfill library requests for both our frontlist and backlist e-books and are thrilled […]
Simon & Schuster Expands Library eBook Pilot; Guinness Moves to Macmillan
Simon & Schuster’s small pilot program for digital library lending is expanding to add 15 public libraries served by OverDrive. As with the initial efforts at New York City libraries, S&S will make available its full catalog of ebooks, offering unlimited checkouts for a year on a one copy/one user basis. The company has said previously that their library pricing is “a little bit more” than their ebook list prices. “We are pleased to expand our eBook distribution in libraries through this pilot with OverDrive,” Simon & Schuster vp, global ebook market development and strategy Doug Stambaugh said in the […]
Pierce Brown Tops February Library Reads List
The February Library Reads list top pick is RED RISING by Pierce Brown, with the rest of the list featuring: The Good Luck of Right Now, by Matthew Quick This Dark Road to Mercy, by Wiley Cash The Martian, by Andy Weir After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman Ripper, by Isabel Allende The Ghost of the Mary Celeste, by Valerie Martin The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress, by Ariel Lawhon The Winter People, by Jennifer McMahon E.E. Cummings: A Life, by Susan Cheever
The January Library Reads List
The new library initiative from 2013 announced the Library Reads list of recommended titles for January 2013: The Dead In their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World, by Rachel Cantor The Wind Is Not a River by Brian Payton Orfeo by Richard Powers The Kept by James Scott Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart The First True Lie by Marina Mander In other lists, Shelf Awareness posted their top books for […]
Briefs: New Divisions for Macmillan Children’s UK; Charlotte Zolotow Dies; and More
Macmillan Children’s UK announced the creation of two audience-focused publishing divisions, Macmillan Under 6s, to be overseen by publisher Stephanie Barton, and Macmillan Over 6s, led by Venetia Gosling. Both Barton and Gosling will report to Belinda Rasmussen, with Gosling also working with Pan Macmillan publisher Jeremy Trevethan on crossover projects. Each new division also announced additional promotions: At Under 6s, Suzanne Carnell becomes publishing director, Picture Books & Pre-School, and Jackie McCann moves up to editorial director, Campbell and nursery. At Over 6s, Gaby Morgan has been promoted to editorial director, adding backlist strategy to her existing remit of […]