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O'Reilly Podcast on 'The Value of Free'
As part of O'Reilly's TOC podcast series, Wattpad CEO Allen Lau will speak on how to leverage free content, and whether you can really build a business on "free." More information here.
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New York Review Books Does E Only with NYRB Lit
In September, NYRB Lit, the new e-book series from New York Review Books devoted to publishing contemporary literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, will release its first title, The Water Theatre by Lindsay Clarke.
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Random House Launches TV Division
After several years of working in the film business, with its Random House Films unit, Random House is getting into television. The publisher is partnering with TV production/distribution company FremantleMedia to develop scripted programs based on its books.
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Kickstarter from Words without Borders Launched for 'The Polish Boxer'
Words without Borders has announced a Kickstarter campaign in support of Bellevue Literary Press and Pushkin Press's publication of Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon's The Polish Boxer to bring Halfon to the U.S. to promote the book and speak with high school students.
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Tracking Amazon: Amazon Career Choice Program Gets Front Page Feature
On the morning of July 23 through July 24, the front page of Amazon featured a letter from Jeff Bezos on the Amazon Career Choice Program--a tuition reimbursement program for full-time Amazon associates for other fields.
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Steve Jobs Biographer Resists Subpoena in e-Books Case
Bestselling author Walter Isaacson has eluded an “informal discovery conference,” at least for now, to produce materials regarding e-books from his conversations with Steve Jobs.
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Tracking Amazon: Jennifer Weiner's Endorsement Launches 5 Books
On July 22, Jennifer Weiner, author of The Next Best Thing, gave five book recommendations to read this summer. On July 23, all five books saw significant increases on Amazon in both print and Kindle.
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Self-publishing Goes Big Time
If it wasn’t clear before that self-publishing is transforming the book industry, Pearson’s $116 million acquisition of self-publishing vendor Author Solutions Inc. should wipe away any lingering uncertainty. The purchase of Author Solutions—which has 1,600 employees, has published 150,000 authors, nearly 200,000 titles and reported just under $100 million in revenues last year—and its integration into Penguin operations marks a new era for the self-publishing category going forward.
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Podcast: PW's Week Ahead for Friday, July 20
Just in time for Olympic gymnastics, the BookStats industry tally of 2011 book sales shows a business in the middle of a back-flip. And in reviews, we learn about another difficult trick – how to turn Bluebeard, the notorious wife-murderer, into a romantic hero. Listen here.
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Tracking Amazon: 'Today' Show Catapults 'To Heaven and Back'
On July 19, Mary C. Neal appeared on the Today show for her book To Heaven and Back. Less than 24 hours later, the book is #5 on Amazon's bestseller chart, up from #225. For Kindle, the e-book has jumped to #12 from #347.
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Pearson Acquires Self-Publishing Vendor Author Solutions For $116 Million
Pearson has acquired Author Solutions Inc., one of the largest self-publishing ventures in the world, for $116 million from Bertram Capital.
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'Bared to You' Picks Up Steam
It’s not flying out of the stores the way Fifty Shades of Grey has, but Bared to You, the self-published title by Sylvia Day acquired by Berkley this spring, has crossed the 100,000-copies sold level at outlets tracked by Nielsen BookScan.
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Exclusive Video Preview: Oprah's Interview With Cheryl Strayed
We have an exclusive preview of Oprah's interview with Cheryl Strayed, author of "Wild," the latest Oprah Book Club Selection -- and the first selection in Oprah's Book Club 2.0.
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Smashwords Author Boosted by iBookstore
R.L. Mathewson, a romance writer published by Smashwords, saw sales of her e-books rise after being promoted with a banner and a "brick" ad on iBookstore's "Romance" and "Featured" pages.
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Peeters Leaves Perseus, McCarthy and Anastas Promoted
After eight years with Perseus Books Group, Clare Peeters, v-p, corporate strategy & business development is leaving to become v-p and managing director at private investment firm Axel Johnson.
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Pubslush Revamps its Book Crowdfunding Model
After revamping its business model, Pubslush, a crowdfunding venture designed for the book market, is relaunching itself as an alternative to sites like Kickstarter that attract a wide range of fundraising projects.
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Zondervan Realigns, Lays off Eight
On June 26, Zondervan laid off eight staffers, in what the company called a “realignment.” According to Zondervan, the eight positions that were eliminated were “primarily support functions.”
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New University of Missouri Press Director Defends Makeover
Speer Morgan, the new director of the University of Missouri Press, insists that the university's recent actions are part of a strategy to make the press more relevant.
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Tracking Amazon: BDSM E-books Take Over Kindle Chart
The 50 Shades trilogy is entrenched in the top three spots on Amazon's Kindle chart, but a number of e-books with BDSM elements have also crept into the top 100.
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Quarto Shareholder Group Wants to Replace Orbach
Over the weekend, shareholders that own 19% of the stock of Quarto, the London-based publisher, requested that a special meeting be held to replace its chief executive and co-founder, Laurence Orbach with Tim Chadwick. The Quarto board will recommend that the proposal be defeated.
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