From Publishing Perspectives: Devised as an annual season-closer, the FutureBook conference is positioned by The Bookseller to focus on the digital context of the publishing business that’s more compact in the UK and, in some ways, more easily sorted than are other markets. Presumably next year’s FutureBook Live will be seated in a non-European UK—something both emotionally … Read more
From Jeff Rivera: I am a lifelong book lover. I was the type of kid who preferred being in the library rather than playing recess or football with his friends. I’d always wanted to be an author and was fortunate at the age of 28 to have the first novel I wrote, Forever My Lady, which … Read more
From The New Republic: When Penguin and Random House announced in the fall of 2012 that they intended to merge, Hurricane Sandy was barreling toward New York City, America’s publishing capital. It was an instant metaphor for headline writers: “As Sandy Loomed, the Publishing Industry Panicked.” People inside both companies worried about their jobs; people outside the companies worried … Read more
From The Washington Post: Education activists are increasingly becoming concerned about the computer grading of written portions of new Common Core tests. Can a computer really grade written work as well as a human being? . . . . On April 5, 2016, the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, Parents Across America, Network for Public … Read more
From Kristine Kathryn Rusch: I think the moment writers dream of being published, they have the same wish. They want to write the books of their heart. They want those books to reach a vast audience, and they want someone else to worry about doing all the things that turn a book from a rectangular … Read more
From The Bookseller: Amazon has come under fire for removing reviews from its online book listings, with some customers having had all their reviews removed or being blocked from posting further reviews on Amazon. Authors, bloggers and publishers have criticised the development, with many sharing their frustration through the #giveourreviewsback hashtag. Amazon has blamed temporary “technical issues”. Author … Read more
From Publishing Perspectives: ‘Your competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Audible,’ publishers will hear this year at BookExpo and the rival rights fair, ‘are more than willing to fill the gap.’ . . . . The reality, he says, is that “big data” is not really the stuff of most publishers’ future traction in a … Read more
From Good Ereader: There are many mainstream online media outlets that proclaim that the e-reader has lost its shine and that the hardware is in a state of decline. The Barnes and Noble Nook is cited as the leading example of an e-reader that was once relevant, but not anymore. Are people no longer buying … Read more
PG notes that the title of the OP is a classic example of damning with faint praise. From Publishers Weekly: The four large publicly traded consumer publishers that recently reported their financial results for the quarter ended March 31 were all able to point to some good financial news. HarperCollins had the best results, with … Read more
From the Associated Press: The publisher of Sherman Alexie, who faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, is postponing the paperback of his latest book. Hachette Book Group had planned to release the paperback of his memoir “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” in April. Hachette told The Associated Press on Sunday that the … Read more
From TeleRead: The recent interview that Hachette CEO Arnaud Nourry gave to Indian news site Scroll.in has been a sort of nine-day wonder of the ebook world lately. In this interview, Nourry called the ebook a “stupid product” because it’s “exactly the same as print, except it’s electronic. There is no creativity, no enhancement, no real digital … Read more
From The Atlantic: For better or worse, writers and readers live in an age of the million-dollar book deal. The Big Five publishers (Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster) increasingly gamble on massive book advances in hopes that they might put out one of the biggest hits of the year. Last … Read more
From Publishing Perspectives: Some of the FutureBook conference’s most memorable moments came from speakers who addressed challenging issues and lobbied for awareness to drive the industry forward. . . . . During the conference, the collegial and congratulatory aspects of the program were occasionally punctuated by contrarian events, comments, personalities presenting healthily challenging viewpoints to … Read more
From The Hollywood Reporter: In 2003, former Miramax employee Rachel Pine started shopping a novel, The Twins of Tribeca, about a young ingenue who goes to work at Glorious Pictures, run by the notoriously larger-than-life brothers Tony and Phil Waxman. It was pitched as a satirical roman a clef of her time as a publicist at … Read more
From The Wall Street Journal: Book publishers are giving an advance review of the industry’s future, and it looks a lot like the past. After a decade of technological upheaval and lackluster growth, executives at the top four U.S. consumer book publishers say they are done relying on newfangled formats to boost growth. It has … Read more
From Nathan Bransford: I should emphasize from the start of this post that as of this writing there are no signs that Barnes & Noble is close to bankruptcy. And yet in publishing circles, the prospect of Barnes & Noble going the way of Borders is sort of like a doomsday conversation that is impossible … Read more
From No Shelf Required: This month, libraries across North America that work with hoopla digital will be able to provide access to some 15,000 (backlist) titles by HarperCollins, one of the ‘big five’ publishers that have resisted working with non-traditional ebook business models and adhered to the one-copy-one-user approach, resulting in less-than-ideal user experience for public library … Read more
From The New York Times: Amazon on Friday announced plans to acquire Whole Foods, the high-end grocer. If approved by antitrust enforcers, the $13.7 billion deal would give Amazon control of more than 400 stores, an extensive supply chain and a new source of consumer data. Amazon will argue to federal authorities, most likely the … Read more
From Publishers Weekly: One of the country’s biggest bestselling authors is teaming up with a former president to write a new novel that will be copublished by two of the Big Five trade houses. In a joint announcement, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and the Hachette Book Group announced that former President Bill Clinton and … Read more
. Here’s a link to The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and a Friendship Made and Lost in War PG says the the book looks like one he would enjoy, but the publisher, Hachette, should have spent a little money to hire a good narrator, one who knows how to pronounce Verdun, among other things.
From The Verge: Two years ago, author John Scalzi signed a $3.4 million deal with leading science fiction and fantasy publisher Tor Books to publish 13 novels over the course of the decade. The novel that kicks off this new contract, The Collapsing Empire, is just now hitting bookstores. For Scalzi, there’s a lot riding … Read more
From The Digital Reader: Cory Doctorow just announced his support for an ebookstore platform that has me scratching my head. . . . . It’s not just that he has apparently abandoned his support for free Creative Commons-licensed ebooks in favor of selling ebooks (welcomes to 2007, Cory!) but also that he believes that authors should be sales … Read more
From MacGregor Literary: So a new year is here, and it’s time to make some predictions about what will happen in 2017. I do NOT have the gift of prophecy, but that doesn’t stop me from pontificating and making wild surmises, all while not really having a clue about much of anything beyond the concept … Read more
From The Globe and Mail: Apple Inc.’s long legal struggle over alleged anti-competitive e-book pricing took another turn on Friday as the company joined a consent agreement with Canada’s Competition Bureau that will ban a controversial sales tactic for three years. Three of Canada’s four major book publishers – Hachette Book Group Inc., Macmillan (a … Read more
From Paid Content: New York, the District of Columbia and fifteen other states have joined the e-book pricing class action suit against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin, bringing the total number of states involved so far to 31 (if you include DC and Puerto Rico). The amended complaint reveals details that were previously redacted, including an … Read more
From Wired magazine: Apple and five of the “Big Six” trade publishers are reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations. The point of concern is the five publishers’ staggered but identical move to an agency rather than a wholesale pricing model, not just for Apple, but for all e-book retailers — a … Read more