Ian Fleming Publications Ltd has appointed Jonny Geller and Curtis Brown to represent the Ian Fleming James Bond novels and future James Bond literary works worldwide, replacing Simon Trewin and United Agents. Curtis Brown will also represent the James Bond novels written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson as well as translation rights in the Young Bond series by Charlie Higson. Aurum’s previously announced imprint headed up by former Granta staffers Alex Clark and Rosalind Porter will be called Union Books, and they will publish 20 titles a year beginning in January 2012, starting with Donovan Hohn’s MOBY […]
AAP eBook Numbers Rise, Making Up About 19 Percent of April Trade Sales
Monthly ebook sales as measured by the AAP from 14 reporting publishers rose slightly in April to $72.8 million, the second-biggest ebook sales month so far this year after February’s monster month of $90.3 million. Once again, that puts ebooks behind adult trade hardcover ($111.4 million) and trade paperbacks ($95.9 million) for the month, and but this time they comprised just under 19 percent of all trade sales for April. The sales numbers seem to indicate that Random House’s move to the agency model in March (when ebook sales were at $69 million) has been absorbed into the overall ebook […]
eNews: Apple Set To Lose ‘Appstore’ Suit; Carina Press Profiled; and More
A judge hearing Apple’s lawsuit against Amazon for using the term ‘appstore’ (which Apple believes is trademark) said in a hearing Wednesday she is “probably” going to rule against Apple because Apple hasn’t demonstrated confusion among consumers. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said she will review court filings before issuing a final decision. Bloomberg Fast Company profiles Harlequin’s digital-only imprint Carina Press and its executive editor Angela James. Carina plans to publish 190 books this year, and though Harlequin never breaks out revenue for individual imprints, director of digital publishing Malle Vallik said, “We’re doing very nicely, above where we […]
Pottermore Launches, Will Sell Ebooks in October
After days of feverish speculation, JK Rowling announced her new interactive and collaborative site Pottermore at a press conference Thursday morning. It’s free for users and features new illustrations and interactive “moments.” And yes, there will be ebooks, which the site will sell exclusively and directly to users, along with audiobook versions of all seven Potter books. The digital editions will be available for a variety of platforms through OverDrive. But even though the ebook and audiobook editions will only be available at Pottermore, her print publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic are partnering in the venture and will receive unspecified royalties. […]
People, Etc.
Random House Children’s announced a number of promotions in its production department. Mary Ellen Owens has been promoted to production manager, while Shameiza Ally and Natalia Dextre move up to production supervisor. Claribel Vasquez also joins the department as production supervisor, moving over from corporate reprints. F+W Media announced a number of staff hires. Jamie Wilkinson has joined the company as group publisher/community leader, Automotive/Outdoors. Previously she was senior director of operations and business development at ESPN outdoors. Paul Dinas joins as business editor, arriving from Alpha Books where he was a senior editor. In addition, Simone Parham joins as […]
Random Revives Loveswept As Digital-Only Romance Imprint
The Random House Publishing Group is bringing back its once-popular romance imprint Loveswept (originated by Bantam Books and closed down a few years ago) as a digital-only imprint this August with eight titles, including Iris Johansen’s new novel THIS FIERCE SPLENDOR and others by Sharon & Tom Curtis, Deborah Smith, Juliana Garnett and Sally Goldenbaum. From then on the imprint, which will publish ebooks simultaneously in North America and the UK through Transworld, will bring out one new e-release every month and reissue select backlist titles. In the US each title will include bonus content, and the classic titles will […]