ScrollMotion was among the app makers to be featured at yesterday’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, gaining international attention for the new version of their Iceberg Reader, coming this summer when Apple updates the operating system for the iPhone. ScrollMotion will take advantage of Apple’s newly-added “in-app purchasing” capability so that users of its readers can buy books and magazine subscriptions directly from within the app. (Which means they will purchase through their iTunes account, and Apple will get a piece of the business.) ScrollMotion claims that they will build to offering one million books, along with 50 magazines and 170 […]
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Yesterday Barnes & Noble named Katherine Howe’s debut novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane as their latest chainwide “recommended” title. Harper UK’s children’s division is making the same cuts to staff that were recently imposed on the rest of the company, with publishing directors Gillie Russell and Sue Buswell both leaving the company. But managing director Mario Santos tells the Bookseller “both Gillie and Sue have agreed to continue to work with us on specific projects.” But an update of the story says Buswell will join Random House Children’s at the end of June as part-time maternity cover for […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, June 8
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 Hana Samek Norton’s untitled historical novel, in which a pious young […]
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The Bookseller reports that Marcella Edwards has left PFD after less than two years at the agency. Edwards joined the company to manage their estates business and had headed up their initiative to reissue clients’ work in print-on-demand versions. Author Wendy Leigh told the NYDN that the announcement she would serve as co-author with “octomom” Nadya Suleman was “premature.” Leigh says “I was approached,” and adds, “but the talks were.” Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed another $300,000 in proceeds from his autobiography last year, bringing his total book earnings to $1.5 million. Justice Antonin Scalia received almost $100,000 for co-authoring MAKING […]
One Bookseller's Best BEA Ever
Bookseller Jessica Stockton Bagnulo–who blogs as The Written Nerd and is co-owner of the new bookstore-to-be, Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, had a great BEA and isn’t afraid to detail why. (Side note: it makes you think there should be something special at the show to make it easier for new booksellers to be identified and findable by publishers….)Written Nerd
Google Believes Most Out-of-Print Books Are Not Orphans
Posted on the Automat last week but worth a little more attention on this quiety day, Google posted on their public policy blog regarding the pending settlement of the GBS lawsuits. “As ‘parent’ rightsholders claim their books through the Book Rights Registry, we think it will become clear that most out-of-print books are not actually ‘orphans.’… Furthermore, many books that some think are in-copyright orphans (including a large percentage from 1963 or before) are actually out-of-copyright, and Google is working to make more information available that can clarify their copyright status.” But they say they continue to support orphan works […]