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Tracking Amazon: Oliver Potzsch Books Skyrocket
Oliver Potzsch's The Beggar King doesn't come out until January 2013, but it's already #8 on the Kindle bestseller list. Potzsch's other Hangman's Daughter e-books, The Hangman's Daughter and The Dark Monk, on sale for $3.99 and $4.99, respectively, have jumped to #2 and #1.
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Agile Publishing Webcast Set for July 31
Bookigee's Kristen McLean will discuss agile methodology and examine their potential benefits in BISG's "Introduction to Agile Publishing" on July 31 from 1:00-2:00 pm ET. To register, please click here.
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News Briefs: Week of July 30, 2012
DoJ Reviews Comments, Will Proceed and more
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Ilex Press Enters U.S. Publishing Market
After packaging for a number of American publishers, among them Focal Press, St. Martin’s, Abrams, and Chronicle, U.K.-based Ilex Press is entering the U.S. with its own line of books that is being distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. Founded in 2000 by U.K. publishing veteran Alastair Campbell, Ilex specializes in books on photography, art, comics, and Web design, and also has a growing gift line.
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Atria Inks Co-Pub Deal with U.K.’s Short Books
Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint has teamed up with British independent publisher Short Books to start a new imprint called Marble Arch Press.
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Podcast: PW's Week Ahead for Friday, July 27
The world’s wealthiest woman is also the world’s most pirated author. And to protect her new adult market novel, J.K. Rowling is trying to put a spell on would-be pirates. Listen here.
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Skyhorse Sexes Up the Classics With New Series
Tapping into the craze for all things erotica, thanks to the sustained popularity of E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, Skyhorse Publishing is launching a line of books it says combines "literary class and erotic steam."
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Tracking Amazon: 'Cloud Atlas' Skyrockets Following Trailer Debut
After the Cloud Atlas trailer premiered yesterday, David Mitchell's novel is up to #6 from #496 on Amazon's bestseller list, and is currently backordered for one to three weeks. The Kindle edition has jumped to #57 from #1,949.
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Barnes & Noble and FastPencil Announce Agreement
FastPencil and Barnes & Noble have announced a deal that will see FastPencil's titles carried in Barnes & Noble bookstores as well as in Nook bookshelf merchandising.
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Sales Soar, Earnings Fall At Amazon
Total sales at Amazon rose 29% in the second quarter ended June 30, rising to $12.83 billion, while operating income fell to $107 million from $201 million in last year’s second quarter.
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O'Reilly Podcast on 'The Value of Free'
As part of O'Reilly's TOC podcast series, Wattpad CEO Allen Lau will speak on how to leverage free content, and whether you can really build a business on "free." More information here.
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New York Review Books Does E Only with NYRB Lit
In September, NYRB Lit, the new e-book series from New York Review Books devoted to publishing contemporary literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, will release its first title, The Water Theatre by Lindsay Clarke.
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Random House Launches TV Division
After several years of working in the film business, with its Random House Films unit, Random House is getting into television. The publisher is partnering with TV production/distribution company FremantleMedia to develop scripted programs based on its books.
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Kickstarter from Words without Borders Launched for 'The Polish Boxer'
Words without Borders has announced a Kickstarter campaign in support of Bellevue Literary Press and Pushkin Press's publication of Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon's The Polish Boxer to bring Halfon to the U.S. to promote the book and speak with high school students.
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Tracking Amazon: Amazon Career Choice Program Gets Front Page Feature
On the morning of July 23 through July 24, the front page of Amazon featured a letter from Jeff Bezos on the Amazon Career Choice Program--a tuition reimbursement program for full-time Amazon associates for other fields.
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Steve Jobs Biographer Resists Subpoena in e-Books Case
Bestselling author Walter Isaacson has eluded an “informal discovery conference,” at least for now, to produce materials regarding e-books from his conversations with Steve Jobs.
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Tracking Amazon: Jennifer Weiner's Endorsement Launches 5 Books
On July 22, Jennifer Weiner, author of The Next Best Thing, gave five book recommendations to read this summer. On July 23, all five books saw significant increases on Amazon in both print and Kindle.
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Self-publishing Goes Big Time
If it wasn’t clear before that self-publishing is transforming the book industry, Pearson’s $116 million acquisition of self-publishing vendor Author Solutions Inc. should wipe away any lingering uncertainty. The purchase of Author Solutions—which has 1,600 employees, has published 150,000 authors, nearly 200,000 titles and reported just under $100 million in revenues last year—and its integration into Penguin operations marks a new era for the self-publishing category going forward.
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Podcast: PW's Week Ahead for Friday, July 20
Just in time for Olympic gymnastics, the BookStats industry tally of 2011 book sales shows a business in the middle of a back-flip. And in reviews, we learn about another difficult trick – how to turn Bluebeard, the notorious wife-murderer, into a romantic hero. Listen here.
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Tracking Amazon: 'Today' Show Catapults 'To Heaven and Back'
On July 19, Mary C. Neal appeared on the Today show for her book To Heaven and Back. Less than 24 hours later, the book is #5 on Amazon's bestseller chart, up from #225. For Kindle, the e-book has jumped to #12 from #347.