Audible Lowering Royalty on Self-Published Audiobooks

Amazon-owned audiobook retailer Audible is lowering the royalty rates it pays authors who self-publish and sell their audiobooks through the Web site using the ACX platform. Up until now, Amazon was offering an escalating rate of 50%–90% on ACX titles sold exclusively; now it is dropping the rate to a non-escalating 40%.

Hillary Clinton To Deliver AAP Keynote

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will give the keynote speech at the 2014 Association of American Publishers annual meeting, set for March 19 in New York City. The theme of this year’s event is “The Next Chapter in Protecting IP.”

Quarto 2013 Revenues Dipped

U.K.-based book publisher the Quarto Group reported revenue of $176.3 million for 2013, a slight decline from the $180.9 million reported in 2012. Profits before taxes increased slightly to $11.5 million and its debt decreased to $71 million from the $81 million reported in 2012.

Apple Wants to Move E-book Damages Trial

Apple is looking to escape from New York. In a filing, Apple argue that Judge Denise Cote does not have jurisdiction to oversee its upcoming damages trial and wants the state and class action hearings moved from the Southern District of New York to courts in Western Texas and Northern California, respectively.

Sterling to Close Lark Offices

In the latest round of consolidations at Sterling Publishing, a spokesperson for parent company Barnes & Noble confirmed that the Asheville, N.C., offices of its Lark imprint will close this spring. All Lark operations will move into Sterling’s New York offices.

Vook Acquires Booklr

Vook, a digital publishing and distribution platform, has acquired Booklr, a real-time data and analytics service for authors and publishers. The deal will combine Vook’s e-book, app development, and distribution platform with Booklr’s ability to deliver real-time data on sales, retailer performance and customer behavior.

Berchenko Up At ‘PW’

Daniel Berchenko has been promoted at PW, named managing editor of the publication. Berchenko has been working in the publishing industry for 15 years. Before joining PW as copy chief in 2012, he was a copy editor at Photon International magazine. Prior to that, he worked for Barnes & Noble.com as a product manager and merchandising manager. He’s also worked as a consultant for Strand Bookstore, creating an SEO strategy for the company’s Web site.