PW Select Live
The PW Select Web site is live and accepting registrations from self-published authors who want to be in the December self-publishing supplement. Cost for the listing is $149. PW subscribers who are self-published authors get one listing for free. The PW Select supplement will appear quarterly in 2011 and will offer a listing of new self-pubbed titles, 25 reviews, news, and author interviews.
Flatworld Inks Digital Textbook Deal
Flatworld Knowledge announced an innovative digital licensing agreement with Virginia State University that will give students in business courses access to digital textbook content for a flat $20 student fee. VSU president Keith T. Miller called the deal “a model” for offering affordable textbooks.
GABBS Shows Off Bargain Books
Attendance was down 10% from last year’s 268 buyers at the Great American Bargain Book Show, which returned to Boston for a second year on August 19 and 20. This year’s show offered more programming aimed specifically at helping online and brick-and-mortar retailers dip their toes into bargain books.
Free Books From Kaplan
Test prep publisher Kaplan Publishing is giving away free downloads of 98 of its titles through the iBookstore and the free iBooks app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Small Gains at Bloomsbury USA
North American sales at Bloomsbury rose 2.3% in the first half of 2010. Revenue rose to £8.9 million ($13.9 million). Operating income increased to £600,000 from just over breakeven in the first six months of 2009. Bloomsbury said the U.S. operation benefited from rights sales and good reorders for backlist titles.
ATT Debuts Serendipity
Above the Treeline launched Serendipity, an interactive Web-based digital catalogue for small presses. The service costs $20 per month for the first title and $10 per month for each additional title.
'PW' Likes the Kindle 3
PW’s review of Amazon’s Kindle 3 called it “arguably, the best e-reading device currently available. It’s been thoughtfully redesigned with small but meaningful updates on the design and functionality of the Kindle 2. The Kindle 3 is easier and more fun to use.”
Adams Media Debuts Kidz Bop Books
F+W Media’s Adams Media will debut a new line of print and e-books with Kidz Bop, the kids’ music brand, which has sold more than 11 million CDs of kids singing popular songs. The Kidz Bop series will be introduced in May 2011, and the books will come packaged with a code redeemable for a free music download. Kidz Bop users can vote on story lines, upload user content, and more.
Tyrus Books Buys Busted Flush Press
One-year-old crime fiction publisher Tyrus Books has acquired Busted Flush Press LLC, which publishes previously out-of-print thrillers and hard-boiled crime fiction. Busted Flush publisher David Thompson will continue in that position and put out about 20 titles a year. Tyrus and Busted Flush will have about 45 books in print this year, with another 20 titles scheduled for next spring. Distribution is by Consortium.
