A federal grand jury indicted three people behind a publishing scam called PageTurner that defrauded elderly authors out of $44 million. The people arrested were Gemma Traya Austin of Chula Vista, CA, and Michael Cris Traya Sordilla and Bryan Navales Tarosa, both of the Philippines, who ran a company called Innocentrix Philippines. The indictment alleges that between September 2017 and December 2024 representatives for the company placed unsolicited phone calls to elderly authors, represented PageTurner as a book publishing business, claimed Hollywood executives were interested in adapting the authors’ work, and fraudulently convinced victims to send them money for various […]
Distribution: IPG Launches Program For Christian Publishers
IPG has launched a dedicated program for Christian publishers and added four new publishers: Our Daily Bread Publishing starting July 1; Scepter Publishers and Iron Hill Press starting May 1; and Global Publishing Partners starting March 1.
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Season Preview: Nonfiction, Part 1
This season’s nonfiction brings new, and newly translated, work from some of literature’s greatest thinkers and writers, including W.G. Sebald, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Yiyun Li, Maggie Smith, and J. M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos. The season also brings several examinations of and stories from the media trenches, with Steve Oney’s book on NPR, Michael Grynbaum’s on Condé Nast, Christine Wenc’s on The Onion, and memoirs from Graydon Carter and Barry Diller. Memoirs continue to hold a strong place on publisher lists, with upcoming titles from Melissa Febos, Amanda Knox, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Lidia Yuknavitch, and […]
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Pearson to Release AI Skill-Building Tools with Microsoft
Pearson released a brief trading update for the fourth quarter and the full year 2024, and announced an AI partnership with Microsoft. Pearson and Microsoft will release a series of educational tools designed to help people build AI skills “through new AI credentials and certifications.” The companies will also collaborate on a series of AI tools to build workforce skills and learn the English language. Pearson will also expand their use of Microsoft’s AI Copilot tool “across its workforce.” They say in a release, “This is part of an ongoing effort to introduce workplace AI tools that enhance efficiency, creativity, […]
Harlequin Trade Restructures Into Three Imprints, Dropping Two
Harlequin has restructured its trade division, moving from five imprints to three, “to combine strengths, best meet the needs of the market, and optimize growth.” The publisher will keep all staff and publish the same number of titles among Mira Books, Park Row Books, and Hanover Square Press. Mira will absorb Canary Street Press (a relaunched version of the flagship HQN romance imprint) and Graydon House will be phased out by the end of the year, with any titles after 2025 published by the remaining imprints. According to a release, “Mira Books will return to its roots as a key […]