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All Eyes on Amazon Publishing
After Borders’s final collapse in late July, things are slower in the publishing industry. Amid the summer calm, though, many are eyeing Amazon’s new publishing unit, Amazon Publishing, which was unveiled just before BEA and which has quietly, some might say secretively, been staffing up.
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Princeton Review Deal Worth $33 Million
In discussing its second quarter results Friday, The Princeton Review noted that its newest publishing agreement with Random House will guarantee the company at least $33 million in royalties through 2018. The recently inked deal also expands The Princeton Review brand into digital media.
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Melville House Launches HybridBook Project
For all the attention paid to enhanced e-books, Brooklyn-based independent publisher Melville House this week announced the impending launch of the HybridBook project, an initiative to bring “enhanced” features to print books.
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Scholastic Reveals 'Hugo' Companion Book Cover
Scholastic has revealed the cover of The Hugo Movie Companion Book, which releases on November 1 to coincide with the film's theatrical release on November 23. The book will have a first printing of 100,000.
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Key Curriculum Press Sells Textbooks to Focus on “Technology Products”
Key Curriculum Press's decision to sell six high school mathematics textbook programs to Kendall Hunt Publishing may seem like a relatively minor deal. But the sale, Key Curriculum officials say, is part of a larger reorganization that will transform the business from textbooks to “technology products.”
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Wolf Named Publisher for Cool Springs Press
Quayside Publishing Group, the Minneapolis division of Quarto Group, named Ray Wolf publisher of their 12th imprint, Cool Springs Press; he will assume his new responsibilities on August 1.
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Books Down at Donnelley
In its report for the second quarter ended June 30, printing giant R.R. Donnelley said that gains from its acquisition of Bowne and volume increases in commercial, logistics and financial print were partially offset by volume declines in books and directories and continued pricing pressure across the segment. Revenue in the U.S. Print and Related Services segment rose 6.2% in the quarter, to $1.9 billion.
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Distribution: S&S Signs Avatar Press
Simon & Schuster will take over trade sales and distribution for the graphic novel titles of Avatar Press. The agreement covers distribution in the U.S. and export markets.
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Cirque Founder Juggles 3 Editions of First Book
Assouline just released a bilingual (French and English) collection of photographs of the earth, Gaia, “curated” by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté in three editions, including one that retails for $7,000.
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Author Solutions Starts Million Dollar Film Fund
Author Solutions, which has over 145,000 self-published titles in its library, has started a film development fund with $1 million of seed money to acquire the film rights to titles by its authors.
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News Briefs: Week of August 1, 2011
Sales Soar at Amazon and more.
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Harlequin Results Fall in Second Quarter
In Harlequin's second quarter, sales fell 6.4%, to C$110.3 million ($115 million), while operating profit dropped to C$16.3 million ($17 million) from C$20.6 million.
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Penguin Satisfied with Competitive First Half
Sales at the Penguin Group fell 7% in the first six months of 2011, dropping to 457 million pounds ($751 million), while operating profit fell from 44 million pounds to 42 million pounds ($69 million).
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Monacelli Buys Back Namesake Press
The Monacelli Press, a division of Random House that specializes in art and design books, has been reacquired by its publisher and founder, Gianfranco Monacelli.
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Macmillan Launches The Daily Reader
Macmillan has launched The Daily Reader, a blog and social media project designed to link books with breaking news and current events and to inspire book discussions.
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AudioGO Merges with Audio Bookshelf
AudioGO has announced a merger with independent audio publisher Audio Bookshelf. Under the deal, all Audio Bookshelf children’s and young adult titles will be recorded, packaged, and distributed by AudioGO — formerly BBCAudiobooks America – under the company’s AudioGO Children’s imprint.
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Lady Gaga and Grand Central Partner for Photo Book
Grand Central Publishing has acquired Lady Gaga, a book of never-before-seen photographs of the star, and boundary-pushing fashionista, taken by photographer Terry Richardson.
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Scholastic Offering Buyout Package
Scholastic is in the final days of offering a buyout package to all employees who have been with the publisher for at least 10 years regardless of age. The offer for all but book fair employees expired July 18; due to pre-scheduled meetings, fair staff has until next Thursday to decide on the package.
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After 20 Years, Out-of-Print Literary Darling Gets Second Chance
Good books don't die, they just go out of print. That’s a very 20th-century adage, but it applies to Austin Wright, whose 1994 novel, Tony & Susan, is being reissued by Grand Central this summer after being unavailable for nearly 20 years.
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Author Protected by First Amendment
The Dallas appellate court has reversed the trial court’s judgment and held that Dallas developer H. Walker Royall failed to produce evidence that anything in Bulldozed: “Kelo,” Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land by Carla Main, published by Encounter Books in 2007, defames him in any way. The opinion reaffirms that criticism of public projects is protected by the First Amendment, and that developers who are involved in those projects cannot hide behind defamation law to escape criticism over their role.
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