News coverage of international bookselling & publishing news and events. en-us http://www.publishersweekly.com/community/International/47150.html?nid=3327 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its http://www.publishersweekly.com/info/337409.html Terms of Use. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:21:36 MST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702621.html?nid=3327 The 2009 edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair concluded with a slight dip in overall attendance, tough the number of visitors to the rights center was up. There was lots of discussion about all things digital, though the Europeans and Americans seemed to differ on where things are headed. A few rights also were sold. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:23:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702263.html?nid=3327 In an e-mail sent to publishers in an undisclosed number of European countries right before the Frankfurt Book Fair, Trident chairman Robert Gottlieb charged that publishers have been colluding to keep advances down. European executives dismissed the charging, saying Gottlieb has "gone mad." Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:51:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702374.html?nid=3327 There’s been a simmering anti-Google sentiment at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, no doubt connected to European objections to the Google Book Search Settlement. And on Friday that simmer reached a boil, as the deal faced harsh—at times, puzzling—criticism at a registration-required panel on “European and American Positions Towards the Google Settlement.” Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:03:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702317.html?nid=3327 Baker & Taylor announced a partnership with acclaimed scientist, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, CEO of Kurzweil Technologies, to supply digital content for K-NFB Reading Technology, a newly developed e-book reading software created by Kurzweil in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:37:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702018.html?nid=3327 From the Frankfurt Book Fair where she is promoting her new company, former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman has added a few more details about her new operation, Open Road Integrated Media. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:16:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6702008.html?nid=3327 A Michael Jackson graphic novel project is one of the books that generated interest as Day 1 of the Frankfurt Book Fair comes to a close. Attendance was off modestly Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:05:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701891.html?nid=3327 To ensure that it is properly positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities in digital and emerging markets, Penguin Group has made some changes to its global management structure and publishing strategy. The new alignment puts the CEOs of four of Penguin’s major subsidiaries in charge of different regions to help promote what Penguin chairman John Makinson calls a local market focus combined with a global publishing approach. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701903.html?nid=3327 With China as the featured country at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, Penguin and John Wiley used the occasion to announce new China initiatives. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:32:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701893.html?nid=3327 The first major deal out of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair involves an international laydown of Ken Follett’s next novel, Fall of Giants, which will be the first title in Follett’s New Century Trilogy. The simultaneous six-country release—set for September 28, 2010—will coincide with the airing of an eight-hour Pillars of the Earth TV miniseries next fall. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:44:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701784.html?nid=3327 International supply chain manager SBS Worldwide Publishers has unveiled “a faster, cheaper and easier way to ship books from printers to customers.” “We have taken our logistics expertise and combined it with our extensive knowledge of the publishing industry to develop eDC (electronic Distribution Centre) specifically for this market,” explained SBS chairman Steve Walker. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:02:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701782.html?nid=3327 At last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, many international visitors were preoccupied with the financial meltdown that was occurring on a daily basis, particularly in the U.S. While the downturn began before last year’s Fair, most industry members, having made arrangements far in advance, decided to make the trip. Although the economy may actually be in better shape this fall than in 2008, many American publishers, though not all, have scaled back. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:59:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701767.html?nid=3327 At the Magellan Media Partners’ ToC session, Brian O’Leary told the attendees he’s looking to earn their trust, since he’s hoping they’d either join the research project he’s conducting on the effects of piracy on the book publishing business, or measure it on their own. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:09:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701670.html?nid=3327 As has been widely predicted since Anthony Cheetham came aboard, Toby Mundy, chairman and publisher of Grove Atlantic London (GAL) has announced a restructure designed to "provide the company with the resources and the strategy to take its place amongst the leaders in the UK's independent publishing sector." Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:50:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701666.html?nid=3327 Most seats were taken at the opening keynote for the first Tools of Change conference in Europe, taking place on Tuesday, one day before this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Sara Lloyd of Pan Macmillan kicked off the event, continuing a speech she gave at the TOC in New York in February and formally dubbed in Frankfurt “Revisiting a Publishing Manifesto: What Does the Future Look Like for Publishers?” Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:43:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6701023.html?nid=3327 Closing a five-way auction just before the Frankfurt Book Fair, Brian DeFiore sold North American rights to 26-year-old Benjamin Hale's debut to Cary Goldstein at Twelve. Another Iowa graduate, Anna Keesey, just sold her debut novel, Little Century, at auction, to Courtney Hodell at FSG. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:42:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6700696.html?nid=3327 Amazon announced last night that it will begin shipping a new device with U.S. and international wireless access October 19. The new Kindle, priced at $279, will be available in more than 100 countries, Amazon said, and will have more than 200,000 English-language books. Amazon also said it is lowering the price of its U.S.-only Kindle from $299 to $259. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:33:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6699117.html?nid=3327 Just over 72% of publishers taking part in a survey on the impact of digitization on book publishing said the development of new business models, new multimedia products and effective marketing strategies are the biggest challenges facing publishers as they make the transition from print to digital. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:46:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6699042.html?nid=3327 Ann Brasheres grows up, Bret Easton Ellis heads back to his L.A. roots, Julia Childs's grand-nephew talks H2O, Julie Powell hits the butcher block, Eoin Colfer does his best Douglas Adams impression and George Romero lays down the rules of zombie-dom—that and more in PW's roundup of the big books up for grabs at this year's fair. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6697887.html?nid=3327 The Bologna Children's Book Fair has yielded to protests and reinstated the fourth day of the event. The 2010 fair will now take place from Tuesday to Friday, March 23-26. A group of U.K. publishers petitioned Bologna after they had learned that the 2010 fair had been scheduled to take place over three days rather than the usual four. Gloria Bailey, manager of international book fairs at the Publishers Association, met Bologna Fair director Roberta Chinni... Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:59:00 EST http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6696082.html?nid=3327 The Frankfurt Book Fair is conducting a survey of what the world’s publishers believe will be the business models of the future. Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:48:00 EST