Macmillan Books Reappearing on Amazon Kindle

Macmillan Books Reappearing on Amazon Kindle

It appears that Amazon.com has reinstated Macmillan Publishing's titles on Kindle after price wars led to Amazon's blackout of all Macmillan titles. More to come on this soon.

Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader in Stock

nook eBook Readers In Stock This Week in Barnes & Noble Stores

New York, New York - February 8, 2010 - Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced that its popular nook eBook reader is in stock online at nook.com and will be rolling out in the majority of Barnes & Noble stores beginning mid-week.

Barnes & Noble quickly sold out of nook stock online over the holidays. Since then the company has ramped up production and is shipping stock to the majority of its stores, beginning this week. Customers can visit the Barnes & Noble nook In-Store Locator at www.bn.com/nook/instore, updated daily beginning February 10, to find local stores with devices in-stock.

Enhanced in-store connectivity allows nook customers to seamlessly access fast, free Wi-Fi in Barnes & Noble stores. There, they can browse the extensive library of more than a million eBooks, magazines and newspapers.

". . .Demand for nook continues to be very high, and we're pleased our customers will be able to try and buy nook in our stores and online and enjoy it in time for Valentine's Day," said William J. Lynch, President of Barnes & Noble.com.

New Barnes & Noble in-store content will be updated weekly and available for a four-week period. nook users can stay apprised of upcoming exclusive More In Store content at www.bn.com/nook/moreinstore.

Barnes & Noble has continued to optimize nook software for an improved reading experience with the newly updated nook v1.2. Automatic over the air (OTA) updates, which do not require any action from nook customers, are underway and will be conducted seamlessly through this week. nook customers currently using the previous version can also immediately download v1.2 at www.nook.com/support, where additional update and technical support information is available.

nook marries innovative technology and minimalist design with access to the Barnes & Noble's digital store of over one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines. It offers both 3G wireless and Wi-Fi access and is the first to offer digital lending for a wide selection of eBooks through its LendMe(TM) technology.

To learn more about the free Barnes & Noble eReader software and Barnes & Noble eBookstore apps, visit www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks.

Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 775 bookstores in 50 states.

Hachette Joins Macmillan in Pricing Battle

Hachette Joins Macmillan in Pricing Battle

NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/February 5, 2010--In a letter to literary agents yesterday, David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said the publisher, like Macmillan, will transition to a new "agency pricing model" for their e-books. The announcement added clout for publishers in pricing wars against Amazon.com.

In the letter Young said Hachette has been considering the model for some time and has now decided to implement the strategy, thus becoming the second major publisher to move to the new model. Macmillan's titles were removed from Amazon.com last week as a protest against that publisher's demand for better pricing.

The agency model lets publishers set their own pricing and provides a commission (reportedly about 30%)to the retailer rather than the old wholesale discount model that applies to print titles. Until now, retailers have given publishers little control over pricing, but publishers are now fighting back.

Young noted in his letter: "There are many advantages to the agency model, for our authors, retailers, consumers, and publishers. It allows Hachette to make pricing decisions that are rational and reflect the value of our authors’ works. In the long run this will enable Hachette to continue to invest in and nurture authors’ careers – from major blockbusters to new voices. Without this investment in our authors, the diversity of books available to consumers will contract, as will the diversity of retailers, and our literary culture will suffer."

He added that "the agency relationship will allow us to make more titles available to more consumers on more platforms. This expands the author’s reach and readership, which is at the heart of what we do as a publisher. Ultimately, these new terms open doors to all online e-book service providers and create more avenues for delivering e-books to readers."

Hachette intends to release HBG e-books simultaneously with the hardcover (or first format print edition).

"It’s important to note that we are not looking to the agency model as a way to make more money on e-books. In fact, we make less on each e-book sale under the new model; the author will continue to be fairly compensated and our e-book agents will make money on every digital sale. We’re willing to accept lower return for e-book sales as we control the value of our product – books, and content in general. We’re taking the long view on e-book pricing, and this new model helps protect the long term viability of the book marketplace."

He said this new model is preferable to withholding books, and is in authors’ and HBG’s best interest.

Amazon.com Yields to Macmillan Price Demands

Amazon.com Yields to Macmillan Price Demands

February 1, 2010--Amazon.com this past weekend capitulated to Macmillan publishing in a battle over pricing.

Amazon on Saturday apparently pulled all Macmillan titles from its site to protest Macmillan's demands for higher prices. However, on its web site Sunday, Amazon indicated it would meet Macmillan's price demands.

Macmillan CEO John Sargent told the media Sunday that the publisher is in negotiations with Amazon in trying to resolve differences, but he declined further comment.

The New York Times dramatizes the face-off on the front-page of its business section: “After a weekend of brinksmanship, Amazon.com on Sunday surrendered to a publisher and agreed to raise prices on some electronic books.”

Amazon wants to keep prices for e-books at $9.99, including bestsellers. Under Macmillan's model, to become effective in March, e-books will be priced from $12.99 to $14.99 upon release and prices will change over time.

Amazon.com indicated over the weekend that it will yield to publishing giant's demands and agree to sell electronic versions of its books even at prices it considers too high.

"We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books," Amazon said in a web site posting.

Amazon wants to hold down prices as competitors such as Barnes & Noble, Sony and Apple, cut into its dominant position in the marketplace.

Macmillan and other publishers have criticized Amazon for charging just $9.99 for best-selling e-books on its Kindle e-reader, saying the low prices could hurt hardcover sales.

Macmillan is one of the world's largest English-language publishers with divisions including St. Martin's Press, Henry Holt & Co. and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

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Putnam's Names New Editorial Director

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS APPOINTS
MARYSUE RUCCI EDITORIAL DIRECTOR


NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLIN NEWS/January 29, 2010--Marysue Rucci has been named Vice President, Editorial Director for G. P. Putnam’s Sons, it was announced today by Ivan Held, President of G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Ms. Rucci comes from Simon & Schuster, where she built a strong list of commercial and literary writers and was most recently Vice President, Executive Editor. At Putnam, her primary responsibilities will be to build her own roster of authors and to help the Putnam imprint acquire and develop new bestselling franchises both in fiction and nonfiction.

Ms. Rucci will report to Mr. Held and her appointment is effective March 15, 2010.

Mr. Held said, “Marysue’s reputation precedes her. She is a terrific editor and will be a great addition to the talented Putnam team. We are looking forward to having her apply her instincts and editorial acumen to help further build our list of bestselling authors.”

Ms. Rucci said, “I am excited to work with the terrific team assembled at Putnam. I’ve long admired Putnam’s commitment to its authors as well as its innovative and aggressive publishing campaigns.”

Ms. Rucci has built a reputation for having an acute eye for great writing talent as well as being a hardworking editor able to help her authors immeasurably on the page. New York Times-bestselling authors she has worked with include Jeffrey Deaver, Lauren Weisberger, A.J. Jacobs, Sandra Brown, Jan Burke, and Lisa Lutz. She also edited the critically acclaimed New York Times-bestselling and Costa-nominated Little Bee by Chris Cleave, the Costa Award-winning The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney, the New York Times-bestselling memoir If I Am Missing or Dead by Janine Latus, and Helene Cooper’s New York Times-bestselling House at Sugar Beach, which was a Starbucks pick and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.

During her 13-year tenure at Simon & Schuster, she also edited such bestselling authors as Hunter S. Thompson and Gigi Levangie Grazer.

Ms. Rucci is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied English and Creative Writing, and she attended the Radcliffe Publishing Course.

The Amy Einhorn Books and Marian Wood Books imprints--which reside at Putnam--will remain separate and continue to report directly to Mr. Held, as will Putnam’s publisher and editor in chief Neil Nyren.

G. P. Putnam’s Sons is the industry’s #1 New York Times bestselling hardcover imprint, a position it has held for more than two decades. In 2009, Putnam achieved 34 New York Times hardcover bestsellers for the year.

Putnam's is a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., the U.S. member of the internationally Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.

J.D. Salinger Dead at 91

J. D. Salinger, who at one time was hailed as the most important American writer to emerge since World War II, has died at age 91 in Cornish, N.H., where he lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. The New York Times report said Salinger's son had informed the media of his death.

Salinger, author of "Catcher in the Rye," "Franny and Zooey," Raise High the Roof Beam, and other works, had always spurred his fame and success.

Borders Head Departs Amid Rumblings of Debt Problems

BORDERS HEAD DEPARTS AMID RUMBLINGS OF DEBT PROBLEM

ANN ARBOR, Mich./Authorlink News/January 26, 2010--Borders Group Board Chairman Mick McGuire today announced that Ron Marshall has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the company, effective immediately. Marshall has accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer with another publicly held retailer, but will assist Borders in the process of transitioning to new leadership.

Only a week ago, Borders issued a statement debunking a debtwire.com article that claimed Borders has extended the length of time it takes to pay its small publisher vendors by 40%. Borders stated the article was inaccurate and that the company continues to pay vendors in a timely manner. Borders also said detwire's assertion that the bookseller had hired the bankruptcy group of Lowenstein Sandler as legal counsel is incorrect.

This week, the company has named Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Michael J. Edwards Interim Chief Executive Officer. Edwards, 49, is a 26-year retail veteran with CEO experience who joined Borders in September 2009 and has been leading the merchandising and marketing teams. As Interim Chief Executive Officer, Edwards will report to McGuire. In addition, the company’s Board of Directors has retained Korn/Ferry International to lead the search for a permanent CEO.

“Borders appreciates Ron’s contributions during his tenure with the company,” said McGuire. “In 2009, he and Chief Financial Officer Mark Bierley helped Borders make substantial operational and financial improvements that are driving increased cash flow, reducing debt and positioning Borders to pursue new growth opportunities, including recently announced partnerships to provide high-quality digital content for the industry’s next generation of e-Reading devices. Mike Edwards is the right person to take on this responsibility at this time given his experiences as a CEO and proven track record of successfully repositioning and growing specialty retail businesses. Since joining Borders, he has distinguished himself as a collaborative leader with a strong commitment to revitalizing the Borders brand and a focus on driving traffic and profitable sales. We are pleased to have Mike in place along with Mark Bierley and his finance team, who continue to lead the effort of reducing expenses, improving margins and focusing on prudent capital allocation to drive cash flow.”

“We have a clear commitment to drive the top line at Borders Group and there will be no interruption of our strategic plans and efforts to focus with great energy and determination on this goal during the transition,” said Edwards. “Along with Mark Bierley and the rest of the leadership team, I look forward to continuing momentum in this direction while we remain disciplined on the bottom line, where we have made significant progress over the past several months. I am confident this will be a smooth transition and appreciate the continued support of all of our partners and associates.”

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 25,000 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders(R) and Waldenbooks(R) stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com.

HarperCollins Expands Digital Strategy With Inkpop

NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/January 25, 2010--HarperCollins Publishers has broadened its digital publishing initiative with the launch this week of inkpop (www.inkpop.com). The company calls it the first interactive writing platform for teens to be backed by a major U.S. publisher. Inkpop, created by HarperTeen to attract young readers and writers, combines community publishing, user-generated content, and social networking to connect rising stars in teen literature with talent-spotting readers and publishing professionals.

The launch of inkpop is the next step in the company's overall digital strategy designed to build and expand its direct-to-consumer business. Inkpop will be the anchor of HarperCollins's ongoing teen strategy, enabling the company to have a continuous dialogue directly with its audience to determine what the community cares about, as well as an unfiltered look at what's in and what's out.

"As with all of our online consumer programs, the concept of community-building is aligned with our ongoing corporate digital marketing efforts to cultivate a two-way dialogue with our readers," says Susan Katz, President and Publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. "Inkpop provides us with an interactive platform to engage directly with our audience, encourage a passion for writing, and discover new trends and opportunities in this growing and important community."

Katz adds, "Teens are a key consumer group with significant financial impact. Teen fiction is one of the most robust and fastest-growing categories in publishing today."

"Across our business we are looking to build consumer reach and engagement," says Charlie Redmayne, HarperCollins Chief Digital Officer. "Inkpop is the latest iteration of these direct-to- consumer efforts this time for the teen market."

Since its soft launch in 4th quarter 2009, inkpop already has more than 10,000 members and nearly 11,000 submissions, including novels, poems, essays, and short stories. The visitors are teens ages 13 and older, from 109 different countries and territories. Additionally, it has engaged a select group of international HarperCollins editors and authors to review the site's top five monthly selections, providing invaluable feedback and mentorship opportunities to the young authors, while also considering their work for publication.

"What sets inkpop apart from other writing communities is the Editorial Board," says Kat Musallam, an inkpop user. "Other communities only have that writer-reader interaction, but to have a panel evaluate your work is something that we writers—especially those who aren't so familiar with the publishing world—can only dream of."

Carolyn Mackler, author of Tangled and the Printz-Honor book, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things says, "I would have loved to have a community like inkpop when I was a teenager. I desperately wanted to connect with people who liked reading and writing, to compare notes on a character or maybe even not feel so alone with all my words and thoughts. So as an author, it was a huge treat to be able to chat with my teen readers during an inkpop forum event. The inkpoppers came out in droves, with major enthusiasm and loads of questions."

HarperCollins will announce partnerships throughout the year that will further enrich the inkpop community experience for teen members. As inkpop evolves in the months ahead, this exciting community will continue to expand and encompass other formats such as photography, video and artwork sharing in order to enhance inkpop projects and promote additional forms of creativity.

HarperCollins has launched several successful digital initiatives designed to engage consumers globally including Book Army, Authonomy, Browse Inside and Full Access. The company was also the first publisher to digitize its content to create a global digital warehouse across all divisions with capabilities to distribute digital content to retail partners, search partners, online partners and consumers, making the company uniquely positioned to create and sustain this type of community.


HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation ( NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world including the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins India.

Borders Debunks Media Reports of Debt Woes

ANN ARBOR, MICH./AUTHORLINK NEWS/January 22, 2010—In response to an article that originally appeared January 15 on debtwire.com, Borders Group today released the following:

“The debtwire.com article includes inaccurate information. Specifically, it claimed Borders has extended the length of time it takes to pay its small publisher vendors by 40%. This is inaccurate. In fact, Borders has continued to pay its vendors in a timely manner, has not lengthened its days to pay, and has not been contacted by a group of publishers as alleged. Product is flowing to our stores for sale to customers. In fact, we have significantly increased book inventory in the fourth quarter compared to last year, a sign that we have continued to receive support from the vendor community. It is also important to note that we have not been contacted by any law firms allegedly retained to represent a small group of publishers. Today it was reported that the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler issued the following regarding the debtwire.com article: ‘The statement in the article that a group of smaller publishers had hired the bankruptcy group of Lowenstein Sandler as legal counsel is incorrect.’

“Overall, Borders Group continues to focus on running our business, including recently announced digital book partnerships with Kobo and Spring Design that position the company to be a high quality content provider of eBooks. We also continue to focus on reducing expenses and improving working capital to drive improved cash flow and debt reduction as we address the clear priority to drive profitable sales.”

About Borders Group
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 25,000 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders® and Waldenbooks® stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com. Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook.com/borders, twitter.com/borders and youtube.com/bordersmedia. For more information about the company, visit borders.com/media.

Amazon Ups Author Royalties on Some Kindle Books

NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/January 20, 2010—Amazon.com announced this week that it will increase royalties for authors and publishers for books sold on the Kindle e-book reader. Effective June 30, authors and publishers will earn 70 percent of a book’s list price, less delivery costs. The new royalty rate is limited to e-books priced between $2.99 and $9.99 and to those titles whose list price is 20 percent below the lowest price for the physical book.
The popular Kindle reader faces increasing competition from Barnes & Noble’s and Sony’s e-reader devices.
Authors usually earn about 25 percent of net revenues from digital sales and about 7 to 15 percent of the suggested retail price of a printed book. Amazon did not reveal its current royalty rates for books considered for its new program, but the new rate appears to be well above current royalty earnings, and more attractive than most other online retailers offer.