Amazon told the company’s “associates” by e-mail that as of May 1 they are paying “advertising fees” (their name for referral commissions) on Kindle book sales (and magazine, newspaper and blog subscriptions) for the first time since the launch of the store. Those fees range from 4 percent to 8.5 percent. At the same, they are reducing the fees paid on Kindle device sales to the same range of 4 percent to 8.5 percent. In an interesting but unconfirmed side-effect, it looks as if Amazon has restored Kindle data to their web services program as part of the new sales […]
At Least Some Canadian Booksellers Ask Government to Lift Import Restrictions
The Canadian Booksellers Association said in a release last week that parallel import restrictions on books from publishers outside of Canada are “no longer commercially reasonable and should be repealed.” CBA vice president Mark Lefebvre told Quill & Quire that the current law, particularly given the strong Canadian dollar, is “a tariff on the Canadian book-buying public.” Part of the booksellers’ argument is that customers are driven to purchase cheaper editions from US online sellers. Canadian books are generally priced higher in Canadian dollars, so that when their currency reaches parity with the US dollar the Canadian editions are considerably […]
Authors Guild Asks Copyright Office to Fix Reversion "Gap"
The Authors Guild and the Songwriters Guild of America asked the US Copyright Office on Friday to fix “a quirk” in copyright law that could block certain works from the late 70s from being eligible for 35-year termination. Under the 1976 revision of copyright law, authors (and all other copyright holders) are allowed to terminate transfers of their copyrights to publishers after a set number of years, with different provisions for pre- and post-1978 works. Congress made such provision “because of the unequal bargaining position of authors, resulting in part from the impossibility of determining a work’s value until it […]
Latest Barnes & Noble "Recommends": Nancy Pickard Novel
The bookseller has selected Nancy Pickard’s just-released THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING from Ballantine as their latest promotional “mail selection.” CFO Jaime Carey says in the announcement it “grabs readers with the main character’s personal struggle with loss. Riveting and dynamic, this moving novel will have readers enthralled from beginning to end.” The sixteenth selection in the program, it’s their first pick since Louise Penny’s THE BRUTAL TELLING last September. Release
Awards, People and More
Colman Andrews won the James Beard Foundation’s cookbook of the year award for THE COUNTRY COOKING OF IRELAND as Claudia Roden‘s A BOOK OF MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD entered the cookbook hall of fame. Click through for the 11 category winners, including Thomas Keller‘s AD HOC AT HOME for the general cooking award.Full list Amanda Patten has joined Quirk Packaging as editor. She had been at Touchstone Fireside division for eight years. Jessica Krakoski will join Cave Henricks Communications as a publicity manager in May and will relocate to the company’s Austin headquarters in August. Most recently she was publicist at […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, May 3
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 NYT bestselling nonfiction author Jen Lancaster’s APOCALYPSE HOUSE, which follows a […]