Industry News

By Megan DiMaria

Welcome to May and the latest publishing industry news. Let’s get to it!

• HarperCollins to buy Harlequin for $455 million. For more info . . . 
• Happy news—independent bookstores in California had a successful “California Bookstore Day.” For more info . . . 
• YA sales jumped 43% in January. For more info . . . 
• According to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program, total book sales rose 1.0% in 2013 over 2012. For more info . . . 
• State’s attorneys to Apple (in the ongoing Apple E-book price-fixing case): stop stonewalling! For more info . . . 
• Who’s book (rights) is it anyway? MP publishing gained control of e-book rights from the now-defunct MacAdam Cage, and the Author’s Guild is offering assistant toMacAdam Cage authors who want to challenge their claim to his or her titles. For more info . . . 
• Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announces the winners for the 2014 Christian Book Award program. For more info . . .
• POD self-publishing platform, Blurb, is expanding the services by offering distribution through Amazon. For more info . . . 
• Marcher Lord Press to rebrand with a new name. For more info. . . 
• Not exactly a shocker—net income at Amazon rises 32% in the first quarter. For more info . . .
• Baker Publishing to purchase Regal Books. For more info . .. 
• A new brick-and-mortar bookstore is always good news! Washington D.C. restaurateur to open Upshur Books, an 800 sq. ft. general bookstore, next to his six-month old Petworth Citizen bar and restaurant. For more info . . . 
• The 2014 Women's National Book Association's Pannell Awards, which recognize independent bookstores that "enhance their communities by bringing exceptional creativity to foster a love of reading in their young patrons," has been announced. For more info . . . 
• Books-A-Million reports that sales of books and magazines fell about 9% in the year ended February 1, 2014. For more info . . . 
• And another one bites the dust. Left Bank Books to close its downtown St. Louis store. For more info . . . 
• Interesting news for those who love Barnes & Noble (and who doesn’t?). Although he still remains the largest shareholder, Len Riggio, founder and chairman, sold 3.7 million shares of B&N stock. However, it’s speculated now that Riggio will not lead an effort to take the chain private. For more info . . . 
• The National Endowment for the Arts plans to give $1.42 million grant awards to 56 U.S. literature nonprofits. For more info . . . 
• Independent bookstores pursue new marketing tactic to sell fiction. For more info . . . 
• Salem's Family Fiction magazine has been re-branded as Karen Kingsbury's Family Fiction.  
• The Authors Guild filed its appeal in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Google for scanning books without permission of authors as part of its Library Project. The appeal contends the Library Project was a commercial initiative, not a charitable plan to create a digital archive of literature. For more info . . . 
• Christian Retailing has released their Best of 2014finalists. 
• In the it’s-always-good-to-know category, publishing industry veterans dole out advice. For more info . . . 
• Penguin Random House U.K. launches My Independent Bookshop, a reader recommendation platform to allow book-lovers to set up a virtual bookshop, share their favorite reads and discover, recommend and review books online. For more info . . . 
• The 2014 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction finalists have been announced. For more info . . . 

Megan DiMaria is Novel Rocket’s industry news columnist. An author and speaker, she enjoys cheering on writers and loves to encourage others as they journey through life’s demands and delights. Megan is the author of two women’s fiction novels, Searching for Spice and Out of Her Hands.