PW: News Shorts

NYT, Holtzbrinck Ink Publishing Pact
The New York Times Co. and Holtzbrinck Publishers have reached a multiyear agreement that will relaunch the Times Books imprint as well as expand other aspects of NYT's book publishing program. Under the agreement, Times Books will be published as an imprint of Henry Holt, while other NYT-branded books will be published under the St. Martin's/ New York Times banner.

John Sterling, president and publisher of Holt, said he expects to release 20 to 25 Times Books titles annually in the first few years of the deal. Subjects will include current events, history, science, technology, business and health. The first titles to be released under the revived imprint will be published next spring include How Race Is Lived in America and The New York Times Guide to Alternative Medicine.

Books to be published with St. Martin's will cover a variety of subjects, such as reference, cooking and travel. St. Martin's will also become the publisher of the New York Times crossword puzzle books in 2001; those titles are currently published by Random House. NYT and Random ended their 15-year licensing deal at the end of 1999 and the newspaper company has been evaluating its book publishing options since that time (News, Jan. 31). "There was nothing wrong with our deal with Random House, but we were looking for more of a partnership arrangement and we have found that with Holtzbrinck," said Mitchel Levitas, director of the the NYT's book development program.

NYT, which has worked with a number of publishers in the past, has a first-look agreement with Holtzbrinck, and Levitas expects that the majority of NYT's books will be published through one of the Holtzbrinck divisions. NYT will also continue to self-publish a selected number of titles annually, which will be distributed by Publishers Group West through 2001; after that, Holtzbrinck will assume distribution.
--J.M.

Continuum Buys Two U.K. Religion Houses
The Continuum International Publishing Group has acquired two U.K.-based religion publishing houses, each much more than a century old, for an undisclosed sum. They are T.&T. Clark, founded in Edinburgh in 1821, noted for its Protestant scholarly titles, and Burns & Oates, established in London in 1847 and currently publisher to the Holy See.

In each case, the existing staff will remain: Geoffrey Green, publishing director at Clark, and Paul Burns, in his editorial consulting role at Burns & Oates, will both report to Robin Baird-Smith, Continuum's publishing director in London.

Clark's authors have included Karl Barth, Martin Buber, Robin Gill, Rowan Williams and Aidan Nichols; it has well over 1,000 titles in print. Burns & Oates has published Cardinal Newman, Abbot Chapman and, more recently, Hans Kung, Frederick Copleston, Thomas Merton and Karl Rahner; it has more than 200 titles.

Announcing the acquisitions, Continuum vice-chairman and publisher-at-large Werner Mark Linz said he was thrilled at the rapid and ecumenical expansion of the group in religion and scholarly publishing, and added that he hoped to announce further such acquisitions in the near future.
--Staff

Borders Sale Off; Exploring Options
Unable to reach a purchase agreement with an unidentified buyer, Borders Group has taken the sale of the company "off the table," a spokesperson for the chain told PW. The company announced earlier this month that discussions with a potential buyer--believed to be three buyout firms--had been terminated and that it was pursuing other options. The alternative management appears to be favoring at the moment is a stock repurchase program, although analysts speculated that if Borders receives a sweetened offer, the chain could still be sold. The spokesperson said a management buyout has been ruled out.

Borders has been looking for a way to boost its stock price since March, and the announcement that negotiations for the sale of the company had been called off continued to put a drag on Borders's stock price, which closed at $14.25 per share on July 12; its stock had been trading at about $16 when it announced it was exploring strategic alternatives on March 3. "We believe Borders is undervalued in the market, and we are focused on changing that," said Gregory Josefowicz, president and CEO of Borders.
--Staff

New Imprint from Sterling
Starting in September, Sterling Publishing will begin distribution of Ph nix Press, a new imprint developed by the U.K. publisher Weidenfeld and Nicolson for which Sterling serves as its American distributor. The imprint will be devoted to bringing back into print books of the last 50 years in such areas as history, biography, travel and science, as well as publishing new titles dealing with historical subjects.

Approximately 60 trade paperbacks are expected to be released annually under the imprint. The first books to be published under Ph nix will be in the History of Civilization series. Other series to be launched this year include Age of Dictators, Women in History and The Great Diarists. The Making of America series will kick off the 2001 list, and Ph nix has plans to publish books in other areas including the Crusades, Medieval Warfare, and Romantics and Revolutionaries. Among the titles to be reissued are James Pope-Hennessy's Queen Mary, Diana Souhami's Gertrude and Alice, Rudolph Hess's autobiography,as well as the secret diaries of Albert Speer.
--Staff

Warner Launches New Imprint
Rolf Zettersten, former publisher of Thomas Nelson, has been named to head a new and as yet unnamed Christian imprint at Warner Books. Maureen Mahon Egen, president of Time Warner Trade Publishing, said that the imprint will be based in Nashville, Tenn., and maintain an office in New York City.

Egen said that Warner Books is "delighted to be entering this market and Rolf is a natural leader for our new imprint." The imprint will specialize in fiction, Christian living and business/motivation. A spokesperson for Warner Books said the name of the imprint, the number of titles and other details are being discussed.

Zettersten said Warner "will be able to provide broader distribution to the inspirational books I care so deeply about." Before joining Nelson in 1994, Zettersten was executive v-p of Focus on the Family. Among the bestselling Christian Booksellers Association authors he has worked with are John and Patsy Ramsey and John C. Maxwell. In addition Zettersten is author of three bestselling titles in the CBA market.
--Staff

NetLibrary Opens NYC Office
NetLibrary Inc. has opened a new publisher relations and acquisitions office in New York City, to be directed by Linda C. Howey, v-p of publishing. Howey was previously v-p, director of national accounts, for the trade division of Simon & Schuster, and prior to that managed national accounts for Random House. Other members of the staff are Miriam Gilbert, senior director of publisher relations; Linda Vendryes, senior director of acquisitions; and Herb Hilderley, v-p, textbooks.

In other netLibrary news, its handheld e-book division, peanutpress.com, has added a selection of old and new Star Trek novels to its collection of securely downloadable e-books. The old ones are the first five Star Trek novels, which have been out of print for years. Four novels from a new series, Star Trek: The New Earth, are available now, with two more coming in August.
--Staff

Corrections
Cool Springs Press has not acquired Epic Sports, as reported in an April 24 story. Cool Springs has reached an agreement with Epic owner Mike Bynum to develop a line of sports books. Epic remains an independent company.

The June 19 story about the debut of NetRead misstated the name of its free promotional engine, EventCaster. EventCaster sends literary event listings to local newspapers and Web sites. It d s not, however, send listings to NuvoMedia, audible.com or PrintBid, as we reported.

In our July 10 romance feature, "Fanning the Flames of Love," the publisher of Dorothy Garlock's April 2001 hardcover debut, The Edge of Town, was incorrectly identified. It will be published by Warner Books. Also, Garlock's longtime editor, Fredda Isaacson, has retired from active duty at Warner, not Bantam.

The story about the New York Times's new children's best seller list (News, July 10) incorrectly stated that its Advice and How-to bestseller lists will be replaced. Those lists are being moved to another page.

In our June 26 story on the copublishing deal between Sierra Club Books and Gibbs, Smith, the correct name for Sierra's children's line should have been Sierra Club Books for Children.
--Staff
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