* Amazon and Penguin have selected the 100 semifinalists in the second Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Now Penguin editors get to browse those manuscripts and select three finalists, to be named May 15. * For those who remain self-publishing, trade publishing veteran Karen Mender and longtime book publicist Diane Mancher at One Potata Productions are launching a Self-Published Book Expo, a one-day show in New York on November 7. It will highlight service companies along with individual titles, and offer advice on marketing and publicity. * Media veteran Thembisa S. Mshaka’s PUT YOUR DREAMS FIRST: Handle Your [entertainment] Business, […]
Howe Wins Rich Poetry Prize
Fanny Howe, 68, has been awarded the 2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, worth $100,000, given to a “living US poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition.” Her poetry collections include Gone (University of California Press, 2003), Selected Poems (UC Press, 2000), On the Ground (Graywolf Press, 2004), and The Lyrics (Graywolf, 2007). She has also written 5 novels and two collections of essays. In other people news, Ron Charles has been promoted to deputy editor of the Washington Post’s Book World. Via Twitter yesterday he reported that the American Academy of Arts and Letters is giving their Academy Awards in […]
More RBI Layoffs Hit Publishing Group
First noted last night in brief Twitter reports, Reed Business Information group publisher for the publishing magazines Ron Shank confirms that his publications are “included in the larger RBI action of reducing staff today.” Calling it “stressful and unfortunate,” Shank says “we are losing three staff editors, all of whom have made valuable contributions to the business over many years. Their duties will be assumed by existing staff and we will not cut market coverage in any category.” He notes, “We continue to find new business and partnerships with many clients, but also see measured belt-tightening by advertisers and delays […]
Amazon Says Error Affected Over 57,000 Titles, and Has Been Fixed–Or Not Quite
Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener said yesterday the company is fixing the “glitch” that removed the sales ranking from what they now say was 57,310 books worldwide. Without explaining the error itself (or the provocative customer service e-mail) any further, Herdener admitted, “This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.” He says that affected books were in “broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also […]
People and Announcements: Harriot, Howard Books, Pimsleur, Publishing Technology and B&T Digital
Michael Harriot has joined Sanford J. Greenburger Associates as an agent. He was at Vigliano Associates for the past nine years, representing his own clients as well as co-agenting deals with David Vigliano. At Simon & Schuster Children’s Sy Sumg has joined the subsidiary rights group as assistant manager. Simon & Schuster’s Howard Books will relocate from W. Monroe, Louisiana to Nashville, TN, the “epicenter of Christian publishing,” on May 1. The relaunch of the web site for S&S’s Pimsleur audio offers free half-hour lessons and a test of other “digital premiums.” The unit is also adding instruction in Dari […]
Quill & Quire Editor Derek Weiler, 40, Dies Suddenly
The editor of the Canadian book trade magazine died Sunday. The magazine’s site has a short posting, amplified by almost 100 comments. The cause of death was not indicated, but reportedly Weiler was “in poor health for several years.”Toronto Star In other obituaries, Judith Krug, 69, died Saturday of cancer. She started Banned Books Week in 1982, and was director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom since it was founded in 1967.