The BookMasters Group is starting CONVERSO, designed “to make the digital production and distribution process simple and more accessible for small and mid-sized publishers.” They say they will provide digital distribution to “more than 40 digital outlets” and promise “a better deal on revenue-sharing and conversion than competing offerings.”ReleaseList of distribution partners Goldberg McDuffie Communications is launching a new division, GMC Consulting, designed to “help authors, agents and publishers develop creative strategies to meet the challenges of the digital era.” Led by the agency principals Camille McDuffie and Lynn Goldberg, they aim to “help build platforms for authors, developing marketing […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, April 26
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Longtime CNN anchor Kitty Pilgrim’s SINCLAIR, tracking abrilliant archaeologist and a […]
Open Road to Release Styron eBooks, But Random House Not Ready to Release Other Authors
Open Road will go ahead with their planned republication of backlist works by William Styron in ebook form starting May 4. Initially the ebooks will only be available on Kindle, the NYT reports, though the company intends to have distribution through other online retailers as well. (The company declined to indicate for now whether they are selling on an agency or wholesale basis.) While Random House is not contesting this agreement, spokesman Stuart Applebaum says the house’s position on electronic rights to older works remains as stated by ceo Markus Dohle last year (“Random House considers contracts that grant the […]
Ambrose's Biggest Lie? His Connection to Eisenhower Exposed
Before dying of lung cancer in fall 2002, historian Stephen Ambrose’s reputation was tarnished as Forbes and other publications found evidence of plagiarism in Ambrose’s works–first in his book THE WILD BLUE, but then in at least six other books and even his doctoral thesis. Now much of Ambrose’s work about Dwight D. Eisenhower appears to be fabricated or at least mispresented, as the Eisenhower Presidential Library has found evidence that the two men likely never spent more than a few hours together. As the New Yorker notes, “Ambrose had made his name chronicling the life of Eisenhower. More than […]
Awards: LAT Prizes and IACP Cookbook Awards
At the LAT Festival of Books, the paper awarded its annual book prizes: BiographyLinda Gordon, Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits (Norton) Current InterestDave Eggers, Zeitoun (McSweeney’s Books) FictionRafael Yglesias, A Happy Marriage (Scribner) Art Seidenbaum Award for First FictionPhilipp Meyer, American Rust (Spiegel & Grau) Graphic NovelDavid Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon) HistoryKevin Starr, Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance 1950 – 1963 (Oxford University Press) Mystery / ThrillerStuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho Press) PoetryBrenda Hillman, Practical Water (Wesleyan University Press) Science & TechnologyGraham Farmelo, The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of […]
More People News and Announcements
Brad Parsons will join the Hachette Book Group on May 24 as associate director of their online marketing team, focusing on fiction. He will report to executive director of online marketing Kelly Leonard. Currently senior editor for books at Amazon, Parsons has been with the etailer since 1999. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced two electronic agreements today. They have partnered with NetGalley to deliver galleys, promotional materials, and other digital content, and they have also joined Edelweiss’s interactive digital catalog system.