Publisher of Cormorant Books Marc Côté has also been named publisher of Thomas Allen, effective March 1. He replaces Patrick Crean, who is leaving after more than 12 years with the company. “I feel I have accomplished the goals I set out to achieve…namely to launch and establish a thriving new independent publishing house that is nationally recognized for its award-winning and critically well-received books,” Crean said in a statement. “I also feel that in this time of historic change in the book industry, it is a good moment for me to pause and reflect on the essentials of book […]
Apple Launches iBooks2, “A New Textbook Experience For The iPad”, Opens Door to Self-Published Illustrated Books
Apple svp of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller led off Apple’s much-anticipated “education announcement” at New York’s Guggenheim Museum Thursday morning, before a strictly-limited but modestly-sized audience of about 150 invitees and members of the press. (Though focused on education, guests included multiple heads of trade houses.) “This is really special for everyone at Apple, because today’s event is about education. Education is deep in our DNA and has been from the very beginning.” Schiller said that “as students are starting to be introduced to iPad in learning, some really remarkable things are beginning to happen.” That was true to an […]
Briefs: Penguin’s “Strong Holiday As Pearson Ups Earnings Guidance; Grand Central’s New Digital Romance Imprint; and More
Pearson won’t report its preliminary annual earnings until February 27 but Thursday the company provided a short trading update indicating that for the year as a whole, Pearson generated approximately £2 billion in digital revenues and approximately £600m in revenues in emerging markets. They also expect to exceed their full year earnings guidance by 10 percent (with the original forecast being 83p per share), attributing the good news to “rapid growth in digital services, our expanding position in developing economies and the continuing transformation of our business portfolio.” Penguin’s results are said to be “strong” during the holidays, with expectations […]
Supreme Court Upholds 1994 Law that Put Some Foreign Works Back Under Copyright
By a 6 to 2 vote, the Supreme Court upheld a 1994 law extending copyright protection in the US to works under copyright in other countries that are part of the Berne Convention, in the case Golan v. Holder. The challenge was brought by a group of orchestra conductors, musicians, and publishers who lost access to works that had been in the public domain and went back under copyright after the law was passed. The law in question “mainly applies to works first published abroad between 1923 and 1989.” Congress was essentially required by the World Trade Organization to amend […]
People, Etc.
Cambridge University Press chief executive since 2002 Stephen Bourne will relinquish his position in April–but will stay with the organization thereafter as president, “focusing on international relations and helping the new management team with a range of transitional matters.” He says, “Those who know me well will recognise that this is a momentous step for me…. I look forward to continuing to work with them in achieving a smooth transition to a new model by which the Press will continue its remarkable balancing act between prosperity and outstanding service to a global public.” At Penguin Press, Virginia Smith Younce has been […]
Guessing Bertelsmann’s Results; Adding Grain of Salt
As often happens, ahead of Bertelsmann actually announcing their annual results, Germany’s Manager Magazin is claiming to report what’s in store. Bear in mind the publication has been wrong before in their pre-reporting (which is amusing, since Bertelsmann’s Gruner + Jahr owns part of the magazine). What they claim is that Bertelsmann will miss their own expectations, with sales up 2 percent for the year and profits falling slightly, by 0.9 percent, to 650 million euros. They also claim that sales at Random House have fallen to “approximately 1.7 billion euros” and EBIT will be down about 5 percent at […]