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Publishers Find More Uses for QR Codes
Quick Response, or QR, codes, those black-and-white pixel squares that function as super charged consumer bar codes, are on advertisements, Web sites, and anything else at which you can point a QR reader. While publishers have been putting QR codes on jacket covers for several years, they have been slow to integrate them into the text, but that is starting to change.
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Survey Says Library Users Are Your Best Customers
This month Library Journal released the first issue of a quarterly publication called Patron Profiles. Based on surveys and data collected from library users across the country, the first issue—on libraries and e-book usage—indicates that libraries are a powerful economic engine for the book business.
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The Case of 'The Graveyard Book'
It is only exaggerating a little to say that many authors would kill to see the shiny gold Newbery medallion on the cover of one of their books. Which is why it is surprising that the latest edition of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book not only forgoes the medal, but the claim as well: his 2009 Newbery win isn't mentioned on the jacket – back or front at all.
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'PW' Tops 200,000 Twitter Followers
Publishers Weekly now has more than 200,000 Twitter followers, passing that mark last week and as of today has more that 203,000 following the magazine via @PublishersWkly. Eileen Gardner, a self-professed pop culture junkie and aspiring author, was the 200,000th PW follower.
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Michael Grant’s 'BZRK' Goes Transmedia
"What if you're writing a book and the audience already had a relationship with the content when the book came out," said Alex LeMay, CEO of the Shadow Gang, a firm that creates on- and offline social communities. LeMay and Shadow Gang have partnered with YA novelist Michael Grant to create an immersive transmedia project called GoBZRK, around Grant's next novel that does just that.
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Perseus Assuming International Distribution for HBRP
The Perseus Books Group is expanding its distribution agreement with Harvard Business Review Press to include international distribution of both its print and e-books.
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Ingram, SBS Worldwide Team Up
U.K.-based logistical company SBS Worldwide is teaming with Ingram to offer a new service that will enable Ingram’s publishers to better track their books across the world.
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Print Catalogues Give Way to Digital
With Random House’s announcement last week that it is officially dropping its print catalogues in favor of digital, the country’s biggest publisher joins the growing ranks of houses that have done away with the traditional catalogue.
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Random House Moving to Digital Catalogues in 2012
Random House is the latest publisher to replace paper catalogues with digital editions. Random will begin the transition with its Random House Children's Books division's summer 2012 list which reps will start selling in January.
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Kump Files Suit Against Kampmann Over Midpoint Trade
Gail Kump, a former executive and director of Midpoint Trade Books, filed a lawsuit last week against Eric Kampmann, the majority owner of the distributor, and minority owner Christopher Bell.
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Booktour.com Closing September 1
Booktour.com, a Web site used by authors and publishers to publicize book signings, readings and other live events since 2007, is closing on September 1.
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WaPo Reorgs Book Reviews...Again
Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers will now be report to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books.
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Tyrese Tweets Onto the Bestseller List
Tyrese Gibson's bestselling self-help memoir How to Get Out of Your Own Way (Grand Central) may be his first book, but thanks to more than 1.8 million Twitter followers (@Tyrese), the author is an old hand at connecting with fans through social media.
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Publishing Vet Opens Oakland-based Speakers Bureau
Oakland-based book publicist Lorna Garano has opened an eponymous speakers bureau with business partner Peter Handel, who also has a track record in public relations for Bay Area authors and publishers.
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Beyond 'Event' Book Marketing
How do you promote a book effectively at a time when e-books may stay in print indefinitely, but not have a physical presence in a store? Internet book marketer FSB Associates has just launched Amplify, a marketing strategy that brings together a list of related titles and creates a Web community and author discussion platform around them that lasts for six months.
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Vintage Launches Crime Fan Site, 'The Weekly Lizard'
Under the auspices of its Vintage Crime/Black Lizard imprint, Vintage Books is launching the Weekly Lizard, a mobile-optimized online site devoted to news and feature content about crime and mystery writing. While the Weekly Lizard is designed to attract readers interested in crime, mystery and thrillers from many publishers, the site’s focus is on Vintage Books' and other Random House authors and titles, which can also be purchased through a link to the Random House Web site.
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Distribution: WS Publishing Moves to Perseus
WS Publishing Group, formerly known as Wedding Solutions Publishing, is moving to Perseus Distribution for sales and distribution in the U.S. and Canada as of July 1. Best known for its wedding planning and wedding related books, WS Publishing also publishes in the categories of baby and pregnancy, children’s, diet and fitness, home and finance, and self-help.
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Open Road Expands Marketing Team
Open Road Integrated Media is expanding its marketing team, adding new members and promoting those within the department. Rachel Chou, chief marketing officer at Open Road, annouced the changes, crediting the growth to the rapidly expanding market for e-books. Lauren Naefe has been hired as senior digital marketing manager; she was most recently at the National School Climate Council.
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Unbridled in 25 Cent E-book Promotion with ABA
Unbridled Books is partnering with the American Booksellers Association to promote the organization’s IndieCommerce program. For three days Unbridled is offering 25 of its titles in e-book format for 25 cents exclusively through the approximately 250 independent bookstores that are set up to sell Google e-books through the ABA’s platform.
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2011: Where the Imprints Rank on Twitter
It's been two years since PW took the first snapshot of the publishing world on Twitter. In May 2009 we looked at the followings 16 imprints and publishers had on the social networking site. At the time, a lot of imprints weren't even on Twitter, and we thought the word "twittering" was an acceptable verb. Since then the imprints followed by PW have shown explosive growth and continue to add followers at impressive rates. Between May 2009 and 2010, the imprints added 105,152 followers. In the next year, the number of new followers more than doubled, with 233,020 added in the May 2010–May 2011 period.
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