Bonnier will move operations for children’s illustrated reference publisher Weldon Owen from Sydney, Australia to London early in 2012 as part of its consolidation with Hot Key Books, whose managing director Sarah Odedina will also oversee Weldon Owen. Six or seven new staffers will join the merged company on the editorial, production and design side; rights staffers are already based in London. Bonnier ceo Richard Johnson explained in a statement that the move owed to “a significant part of Weldon Owen’s market being in Europe and with the high Australian dollar to the US dollar we feel that a move […]
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Briefs: Indie Bookscan Holiday Sales Up 15.5 Percent; Bloomsbury’s New Literary Events Line; and More
The ABA announced that member in-store book sales over the Thanksgiving holiday long weekend, as tracked by Bookscan, increased 15.5 percent over the same week in 2010. Sales in store websites powered by ABA IndieCommerce also increased by 60 percent for the same weekend (plus Cyber Monday) as compared to last year. Ann Patchett’s STATE OF WONDER and Laura Hillenbrand’s UNBROKEN topped the Indie bestseller lists for hardcover fiction and non-fiction, respectively, in 2011. Indie Bestseller Lists page Also from the ABA, this year’s Winter Institute 7 in January will feature a new One Institute, One Read program. Tying in […]
S&S Releases eBook Edition of Fahrenheit 451
Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury has finally overcome his longstanding aversion to digital books and authorized an ebook edition of his most famous novel, FAHRENHEIT 451, which Simon & Schuster released Tuesday. The ebook deal comes as part of a new publishing agreement brokered by Bradbury’s agent Michael Congdon with S&S that includes all English-language print and digital formats of FAHRENHEIT 451 in North America, and also includes English-language mass-market rights in North America to Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, both of which will be reissued in March. The ebook edition of FAHRENHEIT, originally published in 1953, […]
Macmillan Reorganizes Sales Force, With Staff Reduction By The End of the Year
Macmillan is the latest large publishing house to reorganize its sales force, telling us they “will be making a small number of sales staff reductions at the end of the year.” President of sales Alison Lazarus said that six employees would be leaving the company, with an additional staffer set to retire by year’s end. Macmillan is reducing staff “reluctantly” but “the marketplace and the decline in physical book sales necessitates a reorganization.” The children’s sales group, however, will be “adding 3 additional heads” by the end of the year or early next year as it is “a growing part” […]
Book Country Launches Self-Publishing Platform
Penguin’s online genre community Book Country will launch an array of tools for authors to self-publish their work beginning on Wednesday, debuting in tandem with a redesign of their website. Book Country is offering three publishing packages to authors who wish to self-publish within the genres of romance, mystery/thriller, and science fiction & fantasy: a digital book with user-formatting based on a Microsoft Word file for $99, a package that adds POD printed books for $299, and a “professional” package for which Book Country creates “polished print and ePub files” from among “six different elegant interior styles,” for $549. (Book Country […]
Union Plans Rally By Harper Offices
The United Auto Workers Local 2110 plans a lunchtime rally outside of HarperCollins’ midtown Manhattan offices on Wednesday, November 16, according to a flier found by the NY Observer. They intend to protest “the elimination of guaranteed wage increases, the rising cost of health benefits and other issues.” Harper spokesperson Erin Crum says that the company is in the midst of negotiating its union labor contract. “We are offering a very fair and competitive package, one that will continue to make HarperCollins a great place to work for all our employees. We are committed to bargaining in good faith, and […]