TODAY'S NEWS

PEN: China Has Failed to Deliver Freedom of Expression
By Lynn Andriani
Three international PEN centers have determined that the climate for freedom of expression in China has measurably deteriorated over the past year. Centers in the U.S., Canada and China released a “report card” one month before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Failing to Deliver: An Olympic-Year Report Card on Free Expression in China." Among the report's findings: there are more writers and journalists in Chinese prisons than there were seven months ago.
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Nebraska Book Co. Reports Gains
Nebraska Acquisition Corp., parent company of the college textbook wholesaler and bookstore operator Nebraska Book Company, reported that total revenue for the year ended March 31 rose 6.8%, to $581.2 million, while net income dipped 8.6%, to $7.2 million. The company attributed the earnings decline to increases in depreciation, amortization and interest expense. Sales in the college bookstore group, NBC's largest, rose 8.6%, to $454.4 million, due to the addition of more stores plus a 4.0% increase in same store sales. NBC operated 260 college stores at the end of March and in the first quarter added 11 more locations while losing contracts to five stores. In the textbook wholesale unit, sales rose 2.9%, to $139.7 million as higher prices and lower returns offset a decline in unit sales. Revenue in the complementary services unit, which provides an array of technology services, rose 6.7% to $34.4 million. Mark Oppegard, president of NBC, said he was pleased with the company's fiscal 2008 performance, noting that despite "competition for student transactions, we believe we are well positioned to meet that challenge."

Susan Driscoll to Wolters Kluwer
By Lynn Andriani
Veteran book publishing executive Susan Driscoll is taking a new position as executive v-p and general manager of the books business at Wolters Kluwer Health. Driscoll was most recently CEO of iUniverse, which Author Solutions bought last September. Read on »

In Memoriam: Phil Englehardt
Publisher and author Francis "Phil" Englehardt, Jr., died on June 27 at the age of 53. Englehardt was v-p of sales and marketing at PublishingWorks, a small press in Exeter, N.H. He founded Revolution Booksellers, which merged with PublishingWorks earlier this year. Englehardt nurtured talented writers of all ages and recently signed a book of verse, Walking Backwards Towards Old Age, by 99-year-old John Archer. Both of Englehardt's own novels were published by PublishingWorks: MotorcycleMan: Restless and its sequel, MotorcycleMan: Voodoo Moon. A memorial gathering will be held at the corporate offices of PublishingWorks on Wednesday July 16, from 4 to 8pm.

Job Moves
Lisa Grubka has joined Foundry Literary + Media as an agent. Grubka arrives from William Morris, where she spent the last six years representing both fiction and non-fiction. Grubka's worked with such authors as Alton Brown, Kerry Reichs and Julia Allison. Before William Morris she was at Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

At Goldberg McDuffie Communications Angela Hayes has been promoted from director of publicity to v-p. Kathleen Carter has been promoted from publicist to senior publicist. And Liza Lucas has been promoted to publicist.

Sarah Burningham has been named associate director of marketingis at HarperStudio. Burningham came to HarperCollins as associate director of publicity at Regan Books and moved to William Morrow in March 2008; she's worked on campaigns for such authors as Ralph Nader, Neal Boortz and William F. Buckley, Jr. Before joining HarperCollins she was at Workman Publishing and Miramax Books.

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: You Can Do It; The House on First Street; A Crime So Monstrous
This morning on Fox & Friends, former NFL player and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy promoted his new children's book You Can Do It (Little Simon Inspirations, $16.99), just published yesterday. After the jump: investigative journalist David Sirota and Virginia senator Jim Webb. Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Crais in the House
Monday night Warwick's of La Jolla, Calif., hosted a packed house for Robert Crais, whose latest, Chasing Darkness (Simon & Schuster), bowed July 1. Pictured here (l. to r.) are: Susan McBeth, Warwick's events coordinator; Crais; and Adrian Newell, Warwick's book buyer.
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JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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