PublishAmerica in Lawsuit
PublishAmerica, the Maryland publishing operation that has come under fire from authors, is now facing a lawsuit. Earlier this month, Encyclopaedia Britannica filed suit in Illinois District Court over a PublishAmerica imprint called PublishBritannica. The reference outfit alleges trademark infringement and seeks profits and damages, saying the name and symbol could lead to marketplace confusion.
By press time, PublishAmerica's PublishBritannica.com site indicated that references (but not the URL) had been changed to PublishBritannia. But a lawyer for Britannica said that was not sufficient. The company also said several cease-and-desist letters have gone unanswered. "We don't frequently have publishers infringing on our trademark," said a Britannica attorney.
Kepler's Closes
Kepler's Books and Magazines, a bookselling institution in Menlo Park, Calif., for 50 years, closed unexpectedly last week. Founded by the late Ray Kepler, the store had recently been run by his son Clark. A note in the window blamed financial circumstances and said, "As much as we love what we do and would like to continue another 50 years, we simply cannot."
Rautenstrauch Joins Blackwell's
Gary Rautenstrauch, former president and CEO of Baker & Taylor, has been named CEO of Blackwell's Book Services. Dan Halloran, who had been the head man at Blackwell's, will remain with the company as president. Rautenstrauch will be based in Blackwell's headquarters in Lake Oswego, Ore., and will report to the Blackwell board in Oxford, England.
New Publisher for Transworld
Patrick Janson-Smith, longtime publisher of Random House UK division Transworld, will leave at the end of September to join the Christopher Little Literary Agency. Transworld has promoted Bill Scott-Kerr to take Janson-Smith's place. During his tenure, Janson-Smith founded Black Swan in 1983 and brought to the company such authors as Bill Bryson, John Irving and Carl Hiaasen.
O'Neill to Head HC Wellness
Mary Ellen O'Neill has been appointed v-p, publisher, for the Collins wellness and lifestyle unit. O'Neill, who will join HC September 26, has been an executive editor at Hyperion Books since 1998, publishing primarily wellness, business and lifestyle books. She will direct HC's wellness and lifestyle division, which plans to publish 75 books annually.
Japanese Dist. Buys Stone Bridge
Stone Bridge Press, the Berkeley, Calif.—based publisher specializing in books about Japan and its pop culture, was acquired by Yohan Inc., a major distributor of foreign-language books and magazines in Asia. Peter Goodman, who founded Stone Bridge in 1989, will remain as publisher and editor-in-chief. Stone Bridge has a backlist of about 85 titles and sales of just under $1 million.
NBN Adds Seven Pubs
National Book Network has added seven new clients. Beginning in September, NBN will take over distribution for Public Square Books, Advantage Books, Fitway Publishing, Writer's Institute Publications and Pinkham Publishing. In December, NBN will add Karen Brown's Guides and AEI Press.
Google Pushes Overseas
Google has broadened the international reach of its Google Print program through two initiatives. One effort moves Google Print into foreign languages, with the programming being launched in France, Italy, Germany, Holland and Spain. Google's Tom Turvey said the company has already reached agreements with a number of publishers in the different countries in a range of categories, including trade and educational publishers.
Google has also expanded the book-only option of its Google Print program internationally. With this feature, only book results are shown when a search term is entered. Google introduced the option in the U.S. earlier this year, and is now making it available in 14 English-speaking countries, including the U.K., Australia, Canada and India.
'Eldest' Hot
With sales of 425,000 in its first week on sale, Christopher Paolini's Eldest has become the fastest-selling book in the history of the Random House Children's Book group. After an initial printing of 1.3 million, Random went back for a second printing of 500,000 last week, bringing total books in print up to 1.8 million.
