May 21 2014
Simon & Schuster is to make its backlist of ebook titles available via Oyster and Scribd. Both services offer flat rate plans allowing subscribers to download an unlimited number of books each month for $9.95 (Oyster) and $8.99 (Scribd). HarperCollins and Wiley already participate in both programs
May 02 2014
News Corp. is buying Harlequin Enterprises from Torstar Corporation for $415 million in cash and will make it a division of HarperCollins. Harlequin's headquarters will remain in Toronto, as will the offices of HarperCollins Canada.
Oct 01 2013
Scribd, a digital distribution, document storage and book discovery platform, is launchng a subscription e-book service that will give users access to an unlimited number of books for $8.99 a month. The all-you-can-read service can be accessed by all smartphone, tablet and laptop device platforms and will offer thousands of backlist books to subscribers—including a majority of the HarperCollins' backlist—as well as the opportunity to buy titles directly.
Sep 09 2013
Oyster, a book subscription service that launched a few days ago, provides an all-you-can-read experience for a monthly fee of $9.95 a month. Currently Oyster offers 100,000 titles including books from from HarperCollins, Workman, Melville House, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Oyster is concentrating on making a seamless app for smartphones and is currently in invitation only mode. Those interested can visit Oyster to add themselves to the invitation wait-list.
May 15 2013
In their filings ahead of the June 3 trial date, the Justice Department and Apple present very different outlines of events that led to the adoption of the agency model for e-books in 2010 by five of the six major U.S. publishers (who have all already settled with the Justice Department).
The Justice Dept's case hinges on an email from Steve Jobs of Apple to James Murdoch of News Corporation, that reads, "Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99."
According to the Justice Dept filing, two days after this email, HarperCollins, the publishing company owned by News Corporation, signed an agreement with Apple to force all sellers of electronic books to adopt the new pricing model.
Feb 22 2013
Three independent bookstores are taking Amazon and the so-called Big Six publishers (Random House, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan) to court in an attempt to level the playing field for book retailers. If successful, the lawsuit could completely change how ebooks are sold.
The class-action complaint, filed in New York on Feb 15., claims that by entering into confidential agreements with the Big Six publishers, who control approximately 60 percent of print book revenue in the U.S., Amazon has created a monopoly in the marketplace that is designed to control prices and destroy independent booksellers.
The complaint centers on digital rights management, or DRM, the technological lock that prevents consumers from transferring any ebook they buy on an Amazon Kindle on to, say, a Nook or Kobo ereader.
Feb 14 2013
The US Department of Justice has approved the Penguin and Random House: The department notified Bertelsmann and Pearson "that it has closed its investigation into the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House, without conditions." according to a statement. The announcement is surprising as it took the DOJ about nine months to approve the much smaller acquisition of Thomas Nelson by HarperCollins.
Nov 21 2012
Having lost out on their prospective bid to buy Penguin (which is to merge with Random House), News Corp, who already own Harper Collins, appears to have its eyes on Simon & Schuster which is currently owned by CBS Corp.
Currently, Random House, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan are considered the "Big Six" publishers. With the likely merger of Penguin and Random House, and the possibility of a merger of Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins, will we be looking at a market dominated by the "Big Two" plus Amazon?
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
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