Random Expands E-book Offerings
Random House plans to add 6,000 backlist titles to its current e-book library. With these additions, Random will have nearly 15,000 titles available in the digital format. Random will also, for the first time, make its entire catalogue of both new and existing titles available in the e-Pub format.
Random Out of BEC
Random House of Canada has decided not to attend BookExpo Canada in June 2009. According to RH, the publisher decided to exit BEC because it believes the show is no longer effective in helping sell books through booksellers.
Dayus Leaving CBA
Susan Dayus is retiring from her role as executive director of the Canadian Booksellers Association. Dayus will officially end her 12-year run at the association on March 31, 2009. A search committee has been established to find a replacement.
Broccoli Books Closing
Manga publisher Broccoli Books, the U.S. branch of Broccoli International, a Japanese international producer of anime, manga, games and pop culture merchandise, will close at the end of this year. Licenses will revert to Japanese publishers at the end of 2008; Broccoli is also working to transfer some popular licenses to other U.S. publishers. Launched in 2003 in Los Angeles, Broccoli Books published about 10 books a year, in addition to importing a wide variety of anime- and manga-related fan merchandise produced by Broccoli Japan.
Levy Cancels Sales Conference
Levy Home Entertainment has canceled its 2009 sales conference. Executive v-p and chief marketing officer Adam Zoldan sent a letter to the distributor's publishing clients last week, citing the downturn in the economy and publishers' plans to limit travel as the chief reasons for the decision. The sales conference would have taken place in the spring or early summer and Zoldan said that information normally shared at the event will be published on Levy's Insight Publisher Portal.
