Penguin Random House will sell Fodor’s Travel to Internet Brands, a Los Angeles-based online media and technology company that owns FlyerTalk.com and Wikitravel.org. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and deal is expected to close shortly. Fodor’s will become part of Internet Brands’ consumer Home/Travel group, though PRH, which acquired the 80-year-old company in 1986, will continue to sell and distribute Fodor’s print guides to the book trade on behalf of Internet Brands. As Fodor’s was integrated into a division containing PRH Audio and Living Language, publisher Amanda D’Acierno and publicity director Katie Punia “very much continue with us”, according […]
News
On the Watchlist: Federal Overtime Changes Would Affect Publishing
The Department of Labor has issued new rules regarding overtime pay that, if implemented, would significantly lift the minimum salary level at which white collar and creative employees are exempt from overtime pay requirements — going from the current $23,660 per year up to a new level of $47,476 per year. The new rule is scheduled for implementation on December 1. But “Republican lawmakers, who are close to many of the industries that oppose the new rule, have vowed to block it during a mandated congressional review period,” the NYT reports. If adopted, the new rules could have broad applicability […]
Briefs
Children’s book author Beverly Cleary appeared on the Today Show, in advance of her 100th birthday, on April 12. The WSJ has short profiles of “six of the world’s most esteemed translators” (by “world” they mean the world of translating other languages into English): Don Bartlett, Jamey Gambrell, Ann Goldstein, Edith Grossman, Lydia Davis, and Michael Hofmann. The Romance Writers of America named the finalists for their annual RITA Awards, with the winers to be announced July 16 at their annual conference. J.K. Rowling is receiving a lot of attention for sharing via Twitter two form letter rejections of her first […]
HarperCollins Will Lower TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Trade Paperback Price For Schools
HarperCollins announced Tuesday afternoon that it will offer the trade paperback edition of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird at a lower price through its accounts that sell directly to K-12 schools in the US. The price promotion, which starts April 27, will reduce the $14.99 list price so that schools can “effectively purchase the book based on an $8.99 cover price.” A company spokesperson tells us the promotion is “open-ended at this time” and they “will evaluate it on an ongoing basis as we do with other sales promotions.” HarperCollins US & Canada president & publisher Michael Morrison said in […]
Scholastic Responds to Criticism on Book Recall; CEO Determined It Didn’t Meet Their Standards
Scholastic issued another press release on Monday regarding the withdrawn picture book A Birthday Cake for George Washington, responding to criticism from PEN America and the National Coalition Against Censorship calling the move “a shocking and unprecedented case of self-censorship.” Scholastic insists it was not self-censoring, and removed the book “because it did not meet the standards which support our publishing mission.” The new statement attributes the decision to ceo Richard Robinson, who “determined that the book should be withdrawn because the book did not meet Scholastic’s standards for appropriate presentation of complex subject matter in a picture book directed […]
Scholastic Pulls Picture Book After Slavery Depiction Backlash
Scholastic announced that it has withdrawn publication of the picture book A Birthday Cake for George Washington by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, which was published on January 5. The book had been criticized sharply for its upbeat depiction of slaves, with School Library Journal calling it “highly problematic” while Kirkus Reviews deemed it “an incomplete, even dishonest treatment of slavery.” There are more than 100 one-star reviews of the book on Amazon so far. The publisher said in a statement Sunday night: “While we have great respect for the integrity and scholarship of the author, illustrator, and editor, we […]