For a few hours today a Bloomsbury UK sales conference that was accidentally made “public” on YouTube was discovered and served as the book trade distraction of the day. Something similar happened earlier this spring when Penguin’s video take on “Empire State of Mind” was accidentally public online for a short period. By the afternoon, the Bloomsbury UK players’ take on the copyrighted Glee cast version of the song “Don’t Stop Believin” was gone again. On Twitter, reactions ran from gleeful to glum, since the music video also included a mock-serious narrated set-up from company executive Richard Charkin (who termed […]
News
Books In the News: NYT Breaks Woodward, Questions for Betancourt
The NYT “obtained” an embargoed copy of Bob Woodward’s OBAMA’S WARS in advance of next week’s release–and serialization in the Washington Post. The Times leads with the theme that some of President Obama’s national security team has doubted his Afghanistan strategy and “spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf.” The Post followed with their own story, emphasizing even more explicitly than the Times that Obama wanted “to hand it off and get out of Afghanistan” rather than triple troop levels, “repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that […]
WSJ to Launch Weekend Pull-Out Book Review, Under Robert Messenger
The NY Observer says that the Wall Street Journal has hired Robert Messenger–who has been at The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, and the New York Sun–to run a new pull-out book review section set to appear in the newspaper’s weekend edition later this month. One source tells them it will carry a “significant” number of pages, but that’s all they for details. Current WSJ books editor Erich Eichman will report to Messenger. The book reviews will be inserted into a secret new section being edited by Gary Rosen, though Messenger reports to editorial page editor Paul Gigot.Observer
Briefs: Quick Ruling Possible in Burkle/B&N Trial; Figuring Out E-Book Bestseller Lists; and More
After final arguments in the trial stemming from Ron Burkle’s complaint about B&N’s poison pill measures, a Delaware court judge said B&N “may have responded in a reasonable manner last year”, and that he would try to issue a ruling quickly. He didn’t say how soon that would be and acknowledged his ruling may be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.AP The New York Times Book Review is now available as a standalone subscription for the Kindle. In related news, TIME’s Andrea Sachs wonders when e-books will be incorporated into the NYT and other bestseller lists, the way it now […]
Macmillan CEO Is “Appalled” by Wylie Publishing Deal with Amazon
In a blog post on Macmillan’s website, CEO John Sargent has issued his response to Andrew Wylie’s move to distribute select backlist titles exclusively via Amazon. First, Sargent “welcomes” Wylie to the fold as a publisher, joking that he’ll be knocking on the agent’s door to ask for AAP dues: “In today’s world job functions, channels of distribution, and age-old relationships are constantly shifting. Combining the functions of agent and publisher raises serious issues that I feel strongly about, but if Andrew wants to attempt to disintermediate publishers, that is his right.” But Sargent is “appalled” that Wylie has chosen […]
People, Awards and Announcements
At Ballantine Bantam Dell, Mark Tavani has been promoted to Editorial Director for Fiction. Scribd has hired Robert R. Macdonald as Senior Vice President of Business Development, to work out of the company’s soon-to-be-announced location in Manhattan. Previously he led media and strategic partnerships at Google. In partnership with Alibris, Borders has launched Borders Textbook Marketplace, featuring more than 1.4 million titles and a buyback option.Release Seamus Heaney and previous winners Robin Robertson and Jo Shapscott are among those shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Poetry. The winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced on October 6.BBC Square One […]