How to Query Editors in the Digital World of Publishing

Hi Everybody,

Here are a couple of tips for cutting costs on sending your manuscript queries to editors and agents. Do it electronically! JOIN Authorlink as a full member and get seen by the publishing community 24/7. Save stamps, paper, and time. Or, as a Mini Member, earn 40% on downloads of your short stories on Authorlink Storywire. Publishers are moving into the digital world. You have to be there to be seen today!

Google Settlement Has a Few Wrinkles for Authors

Hi Everyone,

If you're an author, please read this article and let us know your comments.

Best,
Doris


Authorlink Analysis

The $125 million settlement between Google and a class-action group headed by the Author’s Guild and Association of American Publishers, at first glance looks like the perfect dream for authors. After a five-year court battle against Google, authors and publishers may at last see some compensation for books initially scanned without permission by the search mogul.

That’s the good news. However, a closer look at the 323-page legal tome gives rise to some questions that publishers, authors and their agents may want to answer before unreservedly embracing the Google Book Search program.

The plan has been eyed cautiously by a few U. S. publishers and booksellers. The most adamant reaction came from the German booksellers and publishers association, The Boersenverein. The group has warned that the agreement is a Trojan Horse which "will enable Google to achieve worldwide control of knowledge and cultural." The Boersenverein Chief Executive Alexander Skipis said the American model in the name of cultural diversity is “out of the question for Europe.” He said the new model contradicts “the European ideal of “diversity through competition.”
The settlement, announced October 28, and now pending the approval of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, would greatly expand the amount of copyrighted material that Google can display online for free. Instead of the brief snippets from in-copyright works currently displayed by Google, the settlement would allow the search giant to make 20 percent of the text of a book available without charge for online viewing.
The plan calls for three different types of transactions: consumer sales, subscription sales(such as universities), and library use. The libraries can offer free access to all digitized books from a single computer within each library location.
In addition to out-of-copyright books, entire in-copyright works whose authors or publishers (rightsholders) opt in to the program, will now be available for sale online. In-copyright books will be available for a fee through subscription-type users such as universities, and will be offered for free through libraries.
All of these plans will be overseen by a newly-established, not-for-profit Book Registry composed of representatives from publishers, authors and libraries. Names of those who will sit on the Registry’s board of directors have not yet been made available. Google is contributing $125 million to the effort, some of which will be used to pay authors for prior unauthorized digitizing (about $60 per author). A whopping $30 million will be paid to lawyers. The remaining funds will be used to establish the Book Registry.
The Book Registry, it seems, will become a sort of super agency for the management of digital rights. So far, its activities are related to Google. However, the Registry is poised and well funded to easily become the overseer of content usage through any digital channel. The existence of the Registry may raise some interesting questions for entities like the Association of Authors Representatives, who heretofore have been overseers of an author’s digital rights.
The Registry will have equal representation of the Author Sub-Class and the Publisher Sub-Class on its Board of Directors, with each act of the Board requiring a majority of the directors, with such majority including at least one director who is a representative of the Author Sub-Class and one director who is a representative of the Publisher Sub-Class.

The Registry also has the right to use any unclaimed funds and public domain funds lying dormant for five years to pay its own Registry operating expenses.
The good news is this: authors and publishers will at last receive a small share of net online sales of their digitized work. They will also receive a share of the advertising revenues generated from the book search pages, in an amount yet determined by Google. Google will provide links to online stores such as Amazon.com where consumer can purchase hard copies of books.
The announced publisher or author share of consumer sales is 63%, while Google retains 37%. Sounds good. But there’s some fine print in the massive legal document that everyone in the industry should study.

According to David Drummond, senior vice president of Google, there will be two kinds of payments. First there are payments for Google search samples (the price for which is purportedly set by the rightsholder), and the other payment is an as-yet-determined percentage of revenues from subscriptions.

The 63%, however is not what the author or publisher will actually take home. First, the rightsholder must pay the Book Registry a $200 “inclusion” fee for the privilege of being listed (or not listed) in the database Google uses for its searches and price setting. Can that be right, or are we misreading something? In addition, the Book Registry plans to take another 10-20% of the 63% to cover its “administrative costs, which whittles the publisher/author’s income down to 43%, less the inclusion fee.

The search giant also gets to charge 10% in operating costs off the top of the selling price before “net purchase revenues” are calculated. See item 1.87 in the agreement. We hope we have correctly interpreted the convoluted legal language here. Google gets to set discounts for advertisers, which in turn affects author compensation.

So, does anyone out there know the actual cost to the author of having two “middle men” (Google and the Book Registry), each taking cuts of revenue?

Google can—with the sanction of the Book Registry—set discounts deeper than the author may intend. For example, a $7.99 book may not net the 63% sum of $5.03 at all (especially after all fees are deducted). If Google decides to deep discount the book, to, say $1.99 that 63% share is whittled down to $1.25. We have seen this sort of deep discounting before--on Amazon.

The point is this: We need to thoroughly understand what the publishing industry is signing authors up for—as good as it may sound. Yes, the author or publisher can set a retail price through the Book Registry. Certainly $1.25 would be more than an author might get paid before the settlement was reached. But who really is in control?

The settlement grants Google the nonexclusive right to digitize all books and inserts (such as a book introduction) obtained by Google “from any source (whether obtained before or after the Effective date).

Under the agreement, there’s a question about who determines in-print and out-of-print status of a book? The agent? The publisher? Actually, Google determines the classification. And if the rightsholder doesn’t agree, he or she must go through the Book Registry to lodge a complaint. The Registry oversees all rightsholder requests and complaints, including any disputes about blocking the book for display on Google.

Particularly interesting is this clause: (iii) Limitations on right to Remove . Here’s how we read this one. If a person wants to remove his/her book under Section 3.5(a)(i)(Right to Remove), the person has 27 months from the Notice Commencement Date (whatever that means). Thereafter, requests will be honored only if the book has not yet been digitized. If the book has been digitized, the rightsholder can request exclusion from Display Uses, under Section 3.5(a)(i) (Right to Remove). We also see that the “Exclusion from Library Digital Copy” provision means the rightsholder cannot exclude the book or insert, such as a book introduction. We assume that this means certain indexing and snippets will still be available in libraries no matter whether the rightholder has requested removal or not. Perhaps the lawyers can explain.

If a book has an “insert,” such as an introduction, the rightsholder for that insert can exclude the insert from Display, in the same way the author or publisher can exclude the work.

Interestingly, even books that have been “removed” or “excluded” by the rightsholder can still be displayed and sold by Google to institutional subscribers for a period of ten months.

Authors and publishers who do not set the retail price of their books will have the prices set for them by Google algorithms.

Authors who are part of the Google lawsuit settlement will have their books placed in a “Controlled Pricing Bin” that will determine what percentage the rightsholder receives.

Here are the percentages to be paid by Google to rightholders based on Settlement Controlled Prices of the books.

Consumer Purchase in the Pricing Bins will be: 5% ($1.99), 10% ($2.99), 13% ($3.99), 13% ($4.99), 10% ($5.99), 8% ($6.99), 6% ($7.99), 5% ($8.99), 11% ($9.99), 8% ($14.99), 6% ($19.99) and 5% ($29.99).

The Guild and AAP have estimated that authors who are part of the class action suit will get up to about $60 each.

Finally, Google’s right to have access to data about a book or insert will not expire with the term of the U.S. Copyright to the material.

In making the historic announcement last week, Richard Sarnoff, chairman of the Association of American Publishers said “This historic settlement is a win for everyone. From our perspective, the agreement creates an innovative framework for the use of copyrighted material in a rapidly digitizing world, serves readers by enabling broader access to a huge trove of hard-to-find books, and benefits the publishing community by establishing an attractive commercial model that offers both control and choice to the rightsholder.”

Holders worldwide of U.S. copyrights can register their works with the Book Rights Registry and receive compensation from institutional subscriptions, book sales, ad revenues and other possible revenue models, as well as a cash payment if their works have already been digitized.

We hope that when the plan is further refined, it will deliver what it promises, without creating a mud hole for authors and publishers underneath a huge new profit center for Google.

The reader of this article can search within the actual agreement for phrases we’ve included in this article to determine the facts for himself/herself. Authorlink welcomes comments and corrections to dbooth@authorlink.com .

About the Authors Guild

The Authors Guild, representing more than 8,000 authors. For more information, visit www.authorsguild.org.

About the Association of American Publishers

The AAP is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. For further information, see www.publishers.org.

About Google Inc. and Google Book Search

Google’s search technologies connect millions of people around the world within formation every day. Google Book Search was launched in 2004, and today enables the full text searching of more than a million books online. More than 20,000 publishers and 29 libraries around the world currently work with Google to market their books through the service. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com and http://books.google.com.

Landmark Landmark Agreement With Google Benefits Authors, Publishers

AGA, AAP Reach
Landmark Copyright
Settlement With Google

New York, NY, (Authorink News, Oct. 28, 2008) – The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and Google today announced a groundbreaking settlement agreement on behalf of a broad class of authors and publishers worldwide that would expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of a number of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search. The agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate lawsuit filed by five large publishers as representatives of the AAP’s membership. The class action is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The agreement promises to benefit readers and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to distribute their content in digital form, by significantly expanding online access to works through Google Book Search, an ambitious effort to make millions of books searchable via the Web. The agreement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright owners, provides an efficient means for them to control how their intellectual property is accessed online and enables them to receive compensation for online access to their works.

If approved by the court, the agreement would provide:

• More Access to Out-of-Print Books -- Generating greater
exposure for millions of in-copyright works, including hard-to-find out-of-print books, by enabling readers in the U.S. to search these works and preview them online;

• Additional Ways to Purchase Copyrighted Books -- Building off
publishers’ and authors’ current efforts and further expanding the electronic market for copyrighted books in the U.S., by offering users the ability to purchase online access to many in-copyright books;

• Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online --
Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of the world’s most renowned libraries;

• Free Access From U.S. Libraries -- Providing free, full-text,
online viewing of millions of out-of-print books at designated computers in U.S. public and university libraries; and

• Compensation to Authors and Publishers and Control Over Access
to Their Works -- Distributing payments earned from online access provided by Google and, prospectively, from similar programs that may be established by other providers, through a newly created independent, not-for-profit Book Rights Registry that will also locate rightsholders, collect and maintain accurate rightsholder information, and provide a way for rightsholders to request inclusion in or exclusion from the project.



Under the agreement, Google will make payments totaling $125 million.
The money will be used to establish the Book Rights Registry, to resolve existing claims by authors and publishers and to cover legal fees. The settlement agreement resolves Authors Guild v. Google, a class-action suit filed on September 20, 2005 by the Authors Guild and certain authors, and a suit filed on October 19, 2005 by five major publisher-members of the Association of American Publishers: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MHP); Pearson Education, Inc. and Penguin Group (USA) Inc., both part of Pearson (LSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO); John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa and JWb); and Simon & Schuster, Inc.
part of CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS). These lawsuits challenged Google’s plan to digitize, search and show snippets of in-copyright books and to share digital copies with libraries without the explicit permission of the copyright owner.

Holders worldwide of U.S. copyrights can register their works with the Book Rights Registry and receive compensation from institutional subscriptions, book sales, ad revenues and other possible revenue models, as well as a cash payment if their works have already been digitized.

Libraries at the Universities of California, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Stanford have provided input into the settlement and expect to participate in the project, including by making their collections available. Along with a number of other U.S. libraries that currently work with Google, their significant efforts to preserve, maintain and provide access to books have played a critical role in achieving this agreement and, through their anticipated participation, they are furthering such efforts while making books even more accessible to students, researchers and readers in the U.S. It is expected that additional libraries in the U.S. will participate in this project in the future.

Google Book Search users in the United States will be able to enjoy and purchase the products and services offered under the project. Outside the United States, the users’ experience with Google Book Search will be unchanged, unless the offering of such products and services is authorized by the rightsholder of a book.

“It’s hard work writing a book, and even harder work getting paid for it,” said Roy Blount Jr., President of the Authors Guild. “As a reader and researcher, I’ll be delighted to stop by my local library to browse the stacks of some of the world’s great libraries. As an author, well, we appreciate payment when people use our work. This deal makes good sense.”

“This historic settlement is a win for everyone,” said Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Association of American Publishers. “From our perspective, the agreement creates an innovative framework for the use of copyrighted material in a rapidly digitizing world, serves readers by enabling broader access to a huge trove of hard-to-find books, and benefits the publishing community by establishing an attractive commercial model that offers both control and choice to the rightsholder.”

“Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Today, together with the authors, publishers, and libraries, we have been able to make a great leap in this endeavor,” said Sergey Brin, co-founder & president of technology at Google. “While this agreement is a real win-win for all of us, the real victors are all the readers. The tremendous wealth of knowledge that lies within the books of the world will now be at their fingertips.”

For more information about this agreement, including information about whether you may be a class member, please visit
http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders. Class members include
authors (the Author Sub-Class) and publishers (the Publisher Sub-Class), and their heirs and successors, of books and other written works protected by U.S. copyright law.

A teleconference for the media will be held today, Tuesday, October 28, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. To participate, reporters in the U.S.
should dial 877-340-7913, and reporters internationally should dial 719-325-4845. Please tell the operator you would like to join the “Authors, Publishers and Google” call.

About the Authors Guild

The Authors Guild, representing more than 8,000 authors, is the nation's largest and oldest society of published authors and the leading writers'
advocate for fair compensation, effective copyright protection, and free expression. For more information, visit www.authorsguild.org.

About the Association of American Publishers

The AAP is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities. For further information, see www.publishers.org .


About Google Inc. and Google Book Search

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google Book Search was launched in 2004, and today enables the full text searching of more than a million books online. More than 20,000 publishers and 29 libraries around the world currently work with Google to market their books through the service. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information,
visit www.google.com and
http://books.google.com .

National Book Award Finalists Named

Hi Everybody,

The National Book Award finalists have been named for 2008. If you haven't read these writers already, it's a good idea to be familiar with their work. Reading the top authors can give you a better understanding of the craft of writing.


October 16 - 23, 2008 Edition
National Book
Award Finalists
Named for 2008

Chicago, Illinois (Authorlink, October 15, 2008) -The 20 Finalists for the 2008 National Book Awards, announced today, represent an extraordinary range of background and writing styles. Judges recognized both long-established writers, including two previous National Book Award winners, as well as three debut novelists.

Among the Fiction Finalists are Peter Matthiessen, a National Book Award winner in 1979 for a work of nonfiction, for his epic novel Shadow Country, and Marilynne Robinson, a Finalist in 1983 and in 1989, for her novel Home. Two of the Fiction Finalists are first novelists: Rachel Kushner for Telex from Cuba and Salvatore Scibona for The End. The third writer nominated for a debut novel is Kathi Appelt in the Young People's Literature category. Journalist Jane Mayer, poets Frank Bidart, Mark Doty, and Richard Howard as well as young adult fiction writer Laurie Halse Anderson have all been Finalists in previous years and are up for the award again this year. In the nonfiction category, American history and the war on terror are major themes.

The announcement was made by bestselling author Scott Turow at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and transmitted by videolink (go to www.nationalbook.org to view).

The Winner in each of the four categories - Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and Young People's Literature - will be announced at the 59th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Wednesday, November 19. Writer and actor Eric Bogosian will emcee the event. Each Winner receives $10,000 plus a bronze statue; each Finalist receives a bronze medal and a $1,000 cash award. The dinner and ceremony are chaired this year by Morgan Entrekin, Sonny Mehta, Lynn Nesbit and Holly Peterson.

The Finalists were selected by four distinguished panels of judges who were given the charge of selecting what they deem to be the best books of the year. Their decisions are made independent of the National Book Foundation and their deliberations are strictly confidential. To be eligible for a 2008 National Book Award, a book must have been published in the United States between December 1, 2007 and November 30, 2008 and must have been written by a United States citizen.

"One interesting aspect of this year's Finalists is the range of experience," said Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, "from first books by young writers to well-known and highly respected authors who have been writing and publishing for decades. And several Finalists books come from small presses."

Also on the evening of November 19, the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation will bestow its 2008 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on writer Maxine Hong Kingston and the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Barney Rosset, the legendary publisher.

In addition to the invitation-only gala awards ceremony, National Book Awards Week includes the following events: 5 Under 35, the Foundation's evening of emerging fiction writers, on November 17; The National Book Awards Teen Press Conference featuring all of the Finalists in the Young People's Literature Category on the morning of November 18 at The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture; and the Finalists Reading at The New School on the evening of November 18.

Following is the list of the 2008 National Book Award Finalists in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. For more information about the Finalists as well as National Book Awards Week events, visit www.nationalbook.org or call Camille McDuffie at Goldberg McDuffie Communications at (212)446-5106.

The Judges for the 2008 National Book Awards:

Fiction panel: Gail Godwin (chair), Rebecca Goldstein, Elinor Lipman, Reginald McKnight, Jess Walter

Nonfiction panel: Marie Arana (chair), Farah Jasmine Griffin, Russell Jacoby, Megan Marshall, Kevin Starr

Poetry panel: Robert Pinsky (chair), Mary Jo Bang, Kimiko Hahn, Tony Hoagland, Marilyn Nelson

Young People's Literature panel: Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler, Cynthia Voigt

2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTS

Fiction

Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project (Riverhead)
Rachel Kushner, Telex from Cuba (Scribner)
Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library)
Marilynne Robinson, Home (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Salvatore Scibona, The End (Graywolf Press)

Nonfiction

Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf)
Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton & Company)
Jane Mayer, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals (Doubleday)

Jim Sheeler, Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives (Penguin)
Joan Wickersham, The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order (Harcourt)

Poetry

Frank Bidart, Watching the Spring Festival (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Mark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems (HarperCollins)
Reginald Gibbons, Creatures of a Day (Louisiana State University Press)
Richard Howard, Without Saying (Turtle Point Press)
Patricia Smith, Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press)

Young People's Literature

Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)

Book Sales Up for August; Down for Year

Hi Everyone,

First, just a reminder that New York Editor Stacey Barney and bestselling author Bonnie Hearn Hill are each teaching a one-hour FREE class on Saturday October 25, with lots of hands-on critique. To sign up for the free classes go to www.authorlink.com/classroom/classroom.php. Also check out their full courses.

And now:

Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of August increased by a small 0.6 percent at $1.5 billion but were down by 1.4 percent for the year. Of course, that's to be expected with the economy the way it is.

Here's an interesting note, the outgoing president of the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, Carol Besse, is asking writers to ban Amazon.com. Read the story on our site at www.authorlink.com. We tried to get her to comment in more detail, but at press time we had not heard from her. We'll let you know if we learn more. Read all the news about publishing at www.authorlink.com.

Here are our headlines for October 9, 2008

Booksellers Asked to Encourage Authors to Ban Amazon.com

Nobel Literature Prize to be Announced by Webcast Oct. 9

New Sony Device Gives Readers "Feel" for Literature

Borders Extends E-Books Commitment, Carries Sony Reader

Publisher Atlas Postpones Spring List Due to Finances

What Is Random House Digital?

Hi Everyone,

You may want to catch the video interview with Matt, vice president of Random House Digital, which we just posted in our October 1 issue. Matt talks about what RHD does, and how it sees the digital future of books. Also in the new Fall edition, see interviews with Brett Battles, Lee Child, Tasha Alexander and more. Also our columnists have some exciting interviews with authors such as Jenny Meyerhoff, Laura Shapiro and Julia Glass. Be sure to visit the full site for all sorts of articles and reviews.

What is Random House Digital?
The Vice President Explains

In this exclusive Authorlink VIDEO interview, Matt Shatz explains the Random House Digital initiatiave, his vision for the group, and the challenges ahead for publishers in the fast-changing digital world. Video: 11 minutes.
(October 2008 Feature).
See all of our video/audio interviews here

---

Other Featured Columns This Month
Audio/Video/Text

Rising author Brett Battles is hard at work on the third book in his new thriller series for Dell

Brett Battles, author of The Cleaner and The Deceived (Dell 2008), recently talked to in New York about the tough road to getting published, and how he landed a three-book deal with Dell/Random House. Video: 18 minutes.(October 2008 Feature).

Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling
author talks about his latest book

At a recent conference in New York, Lee Child talks with Authorlink about how he developed his highly successful career as a novelist, and gives insights into his newest release, Nothing to Lose. Video interview. (October 2008 feature)

Lady Ashton Soon to Return in Tasha
Alexander's Next Historical Suspense

The author of A FATAL WALTZ (William Morrow, 2008), talks to Authorlink about her third book in the Lady Ashton historical suspense series, and of what's to come of her in the fourth series book. Video interview: about 7 minutes.

Blame It On Shel Silverstein

An exclusive Authorlink interview with author Jenny Meyerhoff
(Third Grade Baby,Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008)

by Columnist Susan VanHecke
(October 2008)

Historian Shapiro Tells
Engaging Story of Julia Child

An exclusive Authorlink interview with Laura Shapiro, author of
Julia Child (Penguin Lives, 2008)

by Columnist Ellen Birkett Morris
(October2008)

Between The Lines

An exclusive Authorlink interview with Julia Glass, author of I See You Everywhere (Pantheon, October 2008).Glass talks about the importance of good editors and agents, her writing life, the process of writing her newest book, and more.

by Columnist Karen Heise
(October 2008)

The End for Books? No Way

Hi Everyone,

Last week an article appeared in New York magazine titled, "The End" for book publishing. What a "woe is we" attitude. Sure, the books of today and the future are changing form, but human stories will never change. Read our take on the article below, then go to the full item. Lots of interesting stuff also going on with Google's new Book Preview, and Borders Backlot, too.

News Headlines
Thursday September 25, 2008
(updated each Thursday)

• Google Launches New Book Preview
• Magazine Article Predicting The End Has Publishers Buzzing
  Publish Post
• Harlequin Launches New Nonfiction Imprint
• Borders Backlot Offers Film Clips
• Barton Heads eSpecials; Penguin Seeks Author Entries
• BISG Brings XML Workflow to Publishing
• Newly Discovered Agatha Christie Tapes May Be Published

Debut Novelists Shortlisted for Booker Prize

Hi Everyone,

For all you writers out there, it's a good idea to pick up the novels on the short list for the Man Booker Prize and study them for structure. UK writers are particularly good storytellers.

Debut Novelists Shortlisted
For Man Booker Prize

LONDON/9/9/2008--The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlist was announced Tuesday September 9.Two first-time novelists, Aravind Adiga and Steve Toltz, survived the cull of the longlist from thirteen novels to just six. Previous winners of the Booker Prize, John Berger and Salman Rushdie, failed to make this year's shortlist and Sebastian Barry is the only novelist shortlisted for this year's prize to have been previously shortlisted (in 2005).

Linda Grant, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000 and longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002, is the only female author to make the shortlist of six. She is joined by Philip Hensher, longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002 and a Booker judge in 2001, and the widely-acclaimed Indian writer Amitav Ghosh.

The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlisted novels are:

Aravind Adiga The White Tiger (Atlantic)
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

This year's judging panel is chaired by Michael Portillo former MP and Cabinet Minister. He is joined by Alex Clark, editor of Granta; Louise Doughty, novelist; James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops and Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV and radio broadcaster.

Michael Portillo, Chair of judges, commented today: "The judges commend the six titles to readers with great enthusiasm. These novels are intensely readable, each of them an extraordinary example of imagination and narrative. These fine page-turning stories nonetheless raise highly thought-provoking ideas and issues. These books are in every case both ambitious and approachable."

The judging panel had to read over 112 entries before whittling down the list to the Man Booker Dozen (13 titles) and then again to just six titles. They will meet to decide on the winning novel on Tuesday 14 October, and the author will be award the £50,000 prize money at an awards ceremony later on that evening at Guildhall, London.

See more at Mann Booker Prize

Meet the New Senior Editor at Perigee Books

Hi Everyone,

Those you who are writing in the areas of craft, creativity and popular reference, will be interested to know that Meg Leder has been promoted to senior editor at Perigee Books. That probably means she'll have the clout to acquire more titles there.

Meg Leder Promoted
to Senior Editor, Perigee Books

Meg Leder has been promoted to Senior Editor, Perigee Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), it was announced today by John Duff, Publisher of Perigee Books. Ms. Leder has previously held editorial positions at Chamberlain Bros, McGraw-Hill, and F+W Publications. “Since joining Perigee in 2005,” said Duff, “ Meg has added a whole new dimension to Perigee’s publishing program with her acquisitions, particularly in the categories of craft, creativity, and popular reference. Her current successes include Wreck This Journal , a unique work that has become an underground phenomenon with more than 150,000 copies in print and is selling more briskly now than when it was first published a year ago. Her diligence in tracking down projects is unparalleled as witnessed by the six-month-long negotiation to secure world English-language rights to Sock and Glove, the utterly charming and bestselling craft book for which she also appeared on the Martha Stewart television show. Meg has also contributed to solid prescriptive nonfiction books that form the backbone of Perigee’s list and guided major revisions and repackaging of backlist titles into production and to successful re-launch.”

Random House COO Departs

HI Everyone,

We have just learned that Ed Volini, deputy chairman and chief operating officer of Random House North America, is leaving the company September 30. It is the first big change since Markus Dohle became CEO earlier this year, saying that there would be no significant changes. Volini has been with the Random House since 1997, most recently as chief financial officer of Ballantine, an RH division, before taking on his current role in January 2003. His job has been to oversee acquisitions, finances, human resources, legal and administrative operations. Those who reported to him will now report directly to Dohle.