ePublishing Week in Brief – July 1st to 5th, 2013
ePublishing Week in Brief – July 1st to 5th, 2013
Bad week for women in publishing as two giants step down
Loss of Gail Rebuck from Random House and Victoria Barnsley from HarperCollins leaves all big four headed by men
Victoria Barnsley has left HarperCollins UK after 13 years as chief executive. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian
A bad week for women and a good one for geeks, sighed an industry insider after a couple of days that saw one of British publishing’s two queens abdicating, and the other resigning herself to a less regal role.
On Monday, the completion of the merger of Penguin and Random House was accompanied by the announcement that Gail Rebuck, chairman and chief executive of Random House UK since 1991, would step down from the day-to-day running of the UK arm of the business to take the strategic role of chairman.
The following day, the news broke that Victoria Barnsley was leaving HarperCollins UK after 13 years as chief executive.
Barnsley’s resignation occurred on the eve of her annual summer authors’ party at the Orangery in Kensington Gardens (a pleasure house bequeathed by an earlier beleaguered monarch, Queen Anne) which, as she noted on the night, “has become my leaving do”. She cited the irony of HarperCollins winning a publisher of the year award under her leadership just a year ago (an award Rebuck’s Random House took for 2012 two months ago).
Many a loyalist tear was shed as Barnsley joked: “As my colleagues have told me my one great weakness is I’m not really good at managing up, and I think the last few days I have really realised that.”
Though her speech was light on bitterness, it tellingly lacked the usual “you’ll be in good hands” tribute to her replacement, Charlie Redmayne, from JK Rowling’s website, Pottermore.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jul/05/women-publishing-gail-rebuck-victoria-barnsley
Ten Best Media and Publishing PR Agencies Named by topPRagencies.com for July 2013
The independent authority on public relations, topPRagencies.com, has named the ten best media and publishing PR agencies for July 2013.
The independent authority on public relations, topPRagencies.com, has released their list of the ten best media and publishing PR agencies for the month of July 2013. The rankings are released at the beginning of each month in order to account for the latest developments and achievements of the top performing public relations agencies. The rankings are separated based on the specific type of service being provided or the specific industry which the company has experience in assisting.
The Ten Best Media and Publishing Public Relations Companies for July 2013 are:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10903587.htm
Merger creates world’s biggest publishing firm
The book companies behind Fifty Shades Of Grey and Jamie Oliver‘s 30 Minute Meals have joined forces to create the world’s biggest consumer publisher.
Penguin owner Pearson completed a joint venture with Random Houseowner Bertelsmann to create Penguin Random House. The merger combines two of the “big six” publishers in a venture behind 15,000 new titles a year. It bolsters the companies in the face of a changing market – driven by the rise of the ebook from the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google
Following Amazon: Seattle-Based Small Publisher Moves to Monthly Royalty Payments
Bucking decades of convention, Amazon began offering its authors monthly royalty payments as opposed to twice annually as has been the tradition in the publishing industry.
Now, a small Seattle publisher, Booktrope, is following Amazon’s lead. Will other publishers do the same?
Seattle Publisher Booktrope to Fast-Track Royalty Payments to Authors
In a move previously only offered by Amazon Publishing, Booktrope announced today that beginning in July they will pay all team members, including authors, their royalties on a monthly basis. The norm for decades in publishing has been bi-annual payments, with some smaller or university press operations paying only annually. The shift to paying more often stems from the change in book returns to publishers like Booktrope. While bookstores have the right to process returns for many months following purchase, and do so, consumers themselves take such action far more infrequently. As a result, the change to the more consumer direct model afforded by sites such as Amazon, iTunes and BarnesandNoble.com allows Booktrope more flexibility on how they in turn distribute the profits. Their new payment schedule will begin distributing monthly payments starting in July of this year, with a 60 day delay built in (in order to match the payment schedule of the primary vendors).
Digital Won’t Kill the Book-Publishing Star
It’s been tough times for publishers of every ilk, but what of those in the book-publishing sphere? Amazon now sells more e-books than hardcovers; what are traditional publishers doing to keep up? “At Random House we’re constantly thinking about ways we can use technology to connect our authors with readers,” said Milena Schmidt, digital communications manager for Random House Digital.
There’s no question that books have gone digital. Sure, there are still paper books aplenty in a smattering of brick-and-mortar bookstores — and available online as well — but there’s no escaping the proverbial writing on the wall that book-selling behemoth Amazon now sells more electronic books than hardcovers.
Newspaper publishers’ efforts to stay afloat in the digital era have been widely publicized and discussed, but what about those who publish books? Are book publishers adapting to and leveraging this sea-changing digital trend, or are they just wailing about the death of print and waiting on the inevitable?
“‘Old fashioned’ publishers are very proactive online,” Lynette Kittle, senior publicist at Random House’s WaterBrook Multnomah division, told the E-Commerce Times. “We are not resisting digital trends at all but flowing in all that’s available.”
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Digital-Wont-Kill-the-Book-Publishing-Star-78406.html
Six digital publishing startups to watch
Here are six startups that offer new options to creators. Three of them — Periodical, 29th Street Publishing and Creatavist — let you create and sell mobile-friendly magazines, ebooks and newsletters; the other three — Postach.io, Ghost and Glipho — aim to let you blog in a new way.
All of the companies featured here launched in the past few months (or, in Ghost’s case, will launch later this summer), so they’re still working out some quirks and rolling out new features. What they have in common, though, is that they’re all trying to make writing and publishing easier and better. Check them out and let us know what you think (and which startups we should add to our list).
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/07/04/digital-publishing-startups/2482879/
Evening iPad editions: Eight tablet publishing tips
A detailed look at why and how three news outlets in Italy, Brazil and the US launched evening iPad editions, and what the future holds
This has been the message for some time, and armed with this, a number of newspapers have launched evening editions onto the iPad over the past few years. The models vary to some degree, but all focus on offering original content, with a more magazine-style approach. In this feature we take a look in detail at O Globo a Mais in Brazil, AZ Today from the Arizona Republic and La Repubblica Sera in Italy.