New Name, Expanded Scope for Business Line Grand Central Publishing announced a new name this morning for the old Warner Business imprint — now to be known as Business Plus — and a new plan to extend the line to the UK. Executive editor Rick Wolff will continue to lead acquisitions in the US, and Headline editorial director David Wilson will oversee the new UK effort. (Headline has not previously had a dedicated business line.) Together they will “develop joint acquisition strategies, and [look] to acquire world rights when possible.” Another Internet Publishing Contest MediaPredict.com is working with Touchstone Fireside […]

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 Kathleen McCleary’s HOUSE AND HOME, about a woman who loves her house […]

Not the Lead Story You Expected Missed in the larger wave of publicity about Google’s rollout of their “universal search” initiative (more effectively blending multiple types of results — news, blogs, videos, images, books, maps, etc. — to a search query), the company also sort of announced what might or might not turn out to be a major change in the universe of information presented through Google Book Search. Google’s Book Search blog obliquely indicates the service now includes “millions of books that we know about but that aren’t yet online” but a press alert more clearly underscored that “Google […]

Oregon Voters Reject Library Levy Jackson County, OR voters turned down an $8.3 million tax increase designed to reopen their 15-branch library system by a 60-40 margin — about the same as a vote last November (prior to the actual closing of the libraries in early April.) The head of the Save the Libraries campaign “said he believes many residents voted against the levy not because they don’t support the libraries, but because they don’t support this method of funding them.” South Oregon Mail Tribune Proposed Denver Post writer Douglas Brown’s proposal for JUST DO IT, about his adventures having […]

Winton Team Adds Another Winton, Shoemaker & Co.is acquiring Soft Skull Press, expecting to close by the end of June (at the same time as their acquisition of, and name change to, Counterpoint.) Current Soft Skull publisher Richard Nash will become editorial director of Soft Skull and executive editor for the parent company. Perenially cash-strapped, and even more so after the PGW bankruptcy, Soft Skull’s backlist comprises about 150 titles. Amazon Plays their Music Card, DRM Free Publishers may still be divided but the world at large is moving steadily towards consumer-friendly access and away from complicated locks on digital […]

Bertelsmann Income Drops on Napster Charges, Strong Euro In a brief first quarter overview, Bertelsmann reported sales of 4.38 billion euros, down from 4.46 billion euros a year ago, reflecting the absence this year of BMG Music Publishing revenue and the continued pounding of the dollar. The company says that “if-only” growth (our general term for their “adjusted for portfolio and foreign exchange effects”) was 1.7 percent. They reported a net loss of 70 million euros for the quarter, due to a 114 million euro special item for out-of-court settlement costs and provisions for lawsuits related to Napster. The company […]