Simon & Schuster Australia managing director Lou Johnson has resigned from the company in order to “seek challenges in her career outside of Simon & Schuster, and potentially beyond the traditional publishing environment,” the company said in the announcement, though she will stay “for the foreseeable future” to ensure a smooth transition as a search for her successor begins. Johnson joined S&S Australia in 2008 and has been managing director for the past four years, during which time responsibility for Australia shifted from the US to Simon & Schuster UK. CEO of S&S UK and International Ian Chapman said: “Lou and her […]
Stein’s A Sudden Light Tops October Library Reads List
Garth Stein’s new novel A SUDDEN LIGHT leads the October Library Reads list, which also includes #1 Indie Next pick LEAVING TIME by Jodi Picoult. The rest of the list: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming Some Luck: A Novel by Jane Smiley The Boy Who Drew Monsters: A Novel by Keith Donohue The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens Reunion: A Novel by Hannah Pittard Malice: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
Vook Acquires Byliner
After months of looking for a buyer and barely operating in the meantime, Byliner.com has been acquired by Vook. The purchase is somewhat of a full-circle pivot for Vook, which began in 2009 by producing “enhanced” ebooks with embedded videos. In the announcement, the company says, “With the acquisition of Byliner, Vook will support Byliner’s existing titles and acquire new projects for release under the Byliner imprint.” (All of the people who drove Byliner’s editorial connections that allowed them to partner with some marquee authors and institutions have left the company, however. From Vook’s author FAQ, the line will be run […]
Corporate: Harper eBooks In China, Amazon Expands In London, and Good Books Auction
HarperCollins announced an agreement with JD.com and China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation to sell English-language ebooks in China. It is “the first time the company has made its e-books directly available to consumers in China through a local retailer,” though JD.com has partnered with Harper in selling their print books in China for some time. The initiative will start with approximately 800 backlist titles. Amazon UK will relocate all of their corporate employees to London by next summer, spread across three offices for the time being. Then, as of 2017, they will occupy more than two-thirds of a […]
Slaughter Squares Off with IRS Over Self-Employment Tax On Royalties
Last week Forbes uncovered two previously unreported lawsuits in US tax court which saw thriller writer Karin Slaughter square off against the Internal Revenue Service. While the suits themselves are interesting on their own, they are particularly relevant for authors with respect to the classification of book royalties as self-employment income, something the IRS has held for more than six decades. The first suit, which Slaughter settled with the IRS in July, covered the 2008 tax year, for which the IRS “had been demanding $146,155 in tax and a $29,231 penalty on top of the $1.14 million [Slaughter] originally paid.” […]
NYT to Add 12 New Monthly Bestseller Lists and Feature Selected Niche Lists In Print
The New York Times will start offering a new set of focused, monthly bestseller lists as of the September 21 issue of the NYT Book Review, and will continue to roll out new lists into 2015, adding 12 new lists in all. More importantly, they will at least a couple of the new “niche lists” a week in the print edition. The press release says four, but the 9/21 package includes two of the new lists. The fine print explains, “This page features a rotating combination of weekly best sellers — Paperback Trade Fiction, Mass-Market Fiction, Paperback Nonfiction, Advice, How-To and […]