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News Briefs: Week of 3/28/11
Weak Quarter For Scholastic and More.
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Politics Reaches Into Wisconsin's Book World
Even though the national media has moved on from its daily front-page coverage of events unfolding in Wisconsin, the impact of the political battles between Governor Scott Walker and public employees continues to reverberate in many ways for the regional book industry.
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Citing First Amendment, Publishers Fight Hawaii 'Duty to Warn' Bill
The Media Coalition this week submitted testimony opposing a bill in Hawaii, House Bill 548 HD 3, that would impose civil liability on writers and publishers of travel guides if a reader “suffers an injury or dies” after engaging in an activity or trespassing to reach a site "depicted or described" in the publication. In addition, the bill also imposes on guidebooks and websites "a duty to warn" readers of any dangerous conditions that may be "typical" to an attraction or activity. If enacted, the legislation would apply to traditional print media like books and magazines as well as to websites and advertisements.
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Tantor Rolls Out Tantor Studios
Looking to leverage its production and distribution capabilities, audiobook publisher Tantor Media has officially launched Tantor Studios. The new division, which has been in a “soft launch” phase since the fall, will offer full audio production and distribution services for publishers and authors
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In Paperbacks, Big Names on Top: Facts & Figures 2010
It's the Stieg Larsson show in 2010 paperback bestsellers. The first two books of his enormously successful trilogy racked up sales of more than 10,942,000 in their mass market and paperback editions. That's more than the combined sales of two other stellar sellers—James Patterson and Nora Roberts. Their combined sales total for 15 titles in mass and trade amounted to a bit more than 7,734,200.
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The Winning Game: 2010 Hardcovers: Facts & Figures 2011
What's new in the hardcover fiction bestsellers of 2010? Very little. Almost every author in the fiction top 30 has been on these charts in previous years—most several times. The sole exception is the #1 fiction bestseller, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, with sales of 1.9 million.
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Storey Publishing Broadens Its Appeal
After testing a separate children's line in 2002, Storey Publishing is making a new push into children's with activity-oriented books on sewing, nature, and papermaking for adults and children to use together.
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News Briefs: Week of 3/21/11
Borders to Close 28 More Stores and More.
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Ooligan Press Jeopardized by State Budget Crisis
Ooligan Press, the successful student-run publishing division at Portland State University, is being challenged by the fiscal crisis in Oregon and its retiring director might not be replaced at the end of the year.
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Berrett-Koehler Partners with Author Solutions for Self-Publishing Arm
Self-publishing vendor Author Solutions continues to partner with traditional houses. This week, it announced an arrangement with Berrett-Koehler Publishers. The joint venture, Open Book Editions, is aimed at aspiring authors “who can’t be sustainably published through [Berrett-Koehler’s] traditional publication program.”
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Two Colorado Libraries Partner with CIPA to Carry E-books
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Pegasus Books Creates Crime Imprint
Pegasus Books has a new fiction imprint, Pegasus Crime. The line will publish crime fiction, mystery novels, police procedurals, espionage thrillers, and paranormal suspense. Pegasus Crime’s first title, out in April, will be The Preacher, a follow-up to Camilla Lackberg’s international bestseller, The Ice Princess.
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'The Pale King' by David Foster Wallace: The 'PW' Review
A pile of sketches, minor developments, preludes to events that never happen, this isn't the era-defining monumental work we've all been waiting for since Infinite Jest altered the landscape of American fiction.
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Publishers High on Marijuana Books
Former actresses are doing it. New York Times journalists are doing it. Screenwriters are doing it. Writing about marijuana, that is. With the changing legal times, and the jaw-dropping reality that pot has become a $35 billion legal industry in the U.S., the subject is drawing a motley crew of authors.
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Lagardere Publishing Has Post-Meyer Declines
The U.S. and Canada accounted for 23% of Lagardère Publishing's total revenue of 2.16 billion euros in 2010—498 million euros—compared to 25% in 2009—568 million euros, according to parent company Lagardère.
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News Briefs: Week of 3/14/11
Borders Chapter 11 Updates and more.
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Embracing Change, Committed to Mission
Change was in the air at the March 9 annual meeting of the Association of American Publishers. In his final act as AAP chair, Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson North America Education, started the meeting by calling 2010 a "tipping point" for the industry, citing the surge in digital sales, new distribution channels, and greater federal government involvement in funding and legislating education.
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Jordan Fenn Joins McClelland & Stewart, Creates New Imprint
Part of the Canadian distribution company H.B. Fenn and Company, which began bankruptcy proceedings last month, will have new life as an imprint with McClelland & Stewart. Jordan Fenn, former publisher of Toronto-based Key Porter Books, has joined the publisher and is starting a new imprint that will focus on hockey titles.
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Kodansha International to Close
In the wake of Japanese publisher Kodansha and Dai Nippon Printing’s acquisition of New York/Tokyo independent publisher Vertical Inc., Kodansha is closing Kodansha International, an English-language imprint of the giant Japanese publishing house.
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Avon Launches Digital Publishing Imprint
HarperCollins's Avon Books has launched Avon Impulse, an imprint dedicated to digital titles. Avon Impulse will focus largely on e-books; it will also publish POD novels/novellas by Avon writers and new authors.
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