Books In The News

By Barara Danza
Epoch Times Staff

Amazon Expands on Publishing Pursuits

Amazon is bringing 450 children’s titles under its umbrella with the acquisition of Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, The New York Times reports. “This is our first attempt to get organized around a children’s books strategy,” Jeff Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing, told the newspaper. “This is a case where there’s a great list of books that have not been digitized,” he added, alluding to the company’s plan to feature the catalog of mostly picture books on Amazon’s newest color tablet, the Kindle Fire.

Publishers Weekly Names Person of the Year

David Shanks, CEO of Penguin Group (USA), has been named Publishers Weekly’s Person of the Year, the trade publication has announced.

Penguin Group Chairman John Makinson told PW, “David is the most restless publisher I have ever known. He is constantly challenging every assumption in our industry through the filter of his extraordinary experience, knowledge, and judgment. He is also an exemplary colleague and boss, tough but always fair-minded and compassionate. These qualities have delivered an outstanding record of growth and profitability at Penguin USA, year after year.”

Jim Milliot, co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly explained in a statement, “PW has been choosing a Person of the Year for seven years, looking to identify someone who has led his or her company to standout from the industry crowd. Penguin’s strong operating performance, innovation in digital delivery and strong publishing program led us to select David in 2011, joining such recent honorees as Len Riggio, Richard Sarnoff and Jeff Bezos.”

McGraw Hill Downsizes

The education division of the McGraw Hill Company will cut 10 percent of its workforce and 20 percent of its executive positions, as its parent corporation plans to divide into two publicly traded companies, according to Reuters. Its textbook business will be managed by the new entity, McGraw-Hill Education and its financial business, including S&P ratings, will fall under McGraw-Hill Financial. The downsizing is to be completed before the New Year, according to Publishers Weekly. In a statement, the company said, “Going forward, the company anticipates additional realignment to prepare for separation.”

Steve Jobs Bio Best-Selling Book of 2011

Amazon announced on Monday its best-selling books of 2011. Despite a late release date in October, the authorized biography of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson handily won the top spot.

Chris Schluep, senior editor of books at Amazon.com said in a statement, “After the year of recommending books to our customers, it’s always fun to see what books really resonated with them. We chose ‘Steve Jobs’ as one of the Top 10 best books of the year, and even though it was published in October, the sales have been phenomenal in both formats. (Those formats, of course, were print and digital.)