http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:32:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en HarperCollins has filed a lawsuit against digital publisher Open Road over the e-book version of Jean Craighead George's Newbery Award-winning children's classic Julie of the Wolves. Originally published in 1972 by HarperCollins, Open Road arranged to publish an electronic version directly with the book's author. In a statement, HarperCollins spokesperson Erin Crum told Publishers Weekly that “HarperCollins Publishers believes in protecting its exclusive rights. Our contract with Jean Craighead George, the author of Julie of the Wolves, grants us the exclusive digital rights to the book, and Open Road’s e-book edition violates our rights. We intend to take all appropriate steps to protect our exclusive rights under copyright against infringement, in this case and in any instances that might occur in the future.” The e-book still appears to be for sale online. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/thrown-to-the-wolves-harpercollins-sues-over-julie-of-the-wolves-e-book-rights/ The scene at a union rally today in front of book publisher HarperCollins was sodden but cheerful, as HarperCollins employees donned blue ponchos with the gold UAW logo and gathered to protest stalled contract negotiations with their employer. Carrying signs that read “Thousands of Children’s Books Can’t Be Wrong: Learn to Share” and “What Stinks Worse, Dirty Diapers or Reducing Maternity Leave?” HarperCollins employees expressed love for their jobs but dismay at the prospect of no more guaranteed raises, reduced seniority protections, restrictions on vacation time, higher health care costs and shortened maternity leave. These concerns have resulted in a standoff between HarperCollins’s management and UAW Local 2110 that is now almost a year old. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/harpercollins-union-rally-rain-speeches-and-pizza-at-bookish-protest/ A tipster has forwarded us an e-mail that HarperCollins's union, Local 2110 of the UAW, has been sending to writers who have published books with the company, asking the writers to sign an open letter of support. As we reported earlier, a protest at HarperCollins has been announced for next Wednesday. The e-mail, which we publish below the jump, requests support from authors in ongoing contract negotiations. Our tipster called the experience "slightly awkward."

The contract dispute at the company predates Occupy Wall Street, but appears to be benefiting from its energy. "Essentially we have been in negotiations with them for over a year," Eden Schulz, recording secretary at the union, told The Observer. She added that HarperCollins has been unwilling to cooperate with the union despite healthy profits. "They're really lowballing us on wages, asking for increases in healthcare costs and trying to gut our seniority protection for our employees." Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/occupy-harpercollins-seeking-support-from-authors/ There's a flier going around at Occupy Wall Street events in recent days. "UNION RALLY," it reads. "HARPERCOLLINS BOOK PUBLISHERS." Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/occupy-book-publishing-harpercollins-this-means-you/ HarperCollins has purchased most of the titles and the name of Newmarket Press, the 29-year-old independent publisher that brought you the What's Happening to my Body? series, The Dorm Room Diet and other self-help and entertainment titles. Esther Margolis, the founder and publisher of Newmarket Press, will join the HarperCollins imprint It Books as an Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/10/harpercollins-acquires-newmarket-press/ Dennis Lehane is the latest HarperCollins writer who will be producing an eponymous line of books for the publisher.  The announcement today comes shortly after the news that Anthony Bourdain would be lending his name to a line of carefully selected food books for Ecco. Mr. Lehane, the author of Mystic River, "will help identify and acquire literary fiction with a dark urban edge," according to a press release. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/10/dennis-lehane-to-curate-eponymous-line-of-books-for-harpercollins/ When Charlie Redmayne came to HarperCollins in 2008 to oversee the book publisher's digital transformation, the move was greeted with fanfare, a sign that the industry was taking a proactive approach to the possibilities offered by new technology for interactive books. Today the news broke that Mr. Redmayne, who was named chief digital officer of HarperCollins in 2009, has left the company for Pottermore, J.K. Rowling's interactive web site. Pottermore will also be the exclusive retailer for the digital editions of the Harry Potter series, which are not yet available in e-book format. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/10/charlie-redmayne-leaving-harpercollins-to-head-pottermore/ This morning, The Awl noticed a small publishing disaster: HarperCollins imprint William Morrow has removed the electronic version of Neal Stephenson's new book Reamde from Amazon after complaints about the quality of the file. The book is currently #46 in hardcover, so it's a pretty serious move, but apparently the book was peppered with small hyphens, paragraph fragments and other encumbrances. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/neal-stephensons-reamde-e-book-not-held-for-ransom-by-hackers-and-will-return-to-amazon-soon/ Nasty Nas is writing a memoir, It Ain't to Hard to Tell with the assistance of Touré, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone (who also has a book, Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?, coming out today on Free Press). Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/nas-to-co-write-memoir-with-toure-cause-mass-hysteria/ Bad boy chef, author of Kitchen Confidential and the host of the food television show "No Reservations," Anthony Bourdain has a new feather in his chef's hat: book editor at Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins. Mr. Bourdain will join the growing ranks of New York publishing's celebrity editor/consultants, which include everyone from former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham to former Bush White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/anthony-bourdain-the-latest-to-join-ranks-of-new-yorks-celebrity-book-editors/ In today's personnel move at HarperCollins, Mauro DiPreta is departing HarperCollins imprint It Books for Crown, a division of Random House, Inc. Mr. DiPreta will become editor-in-chief at Crown Archetype, the imprint launched by Crown last year to "bring together authors who lead the way in the health and wellness, personal finance/career, celebrity, and pop Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/08/mauro-dipreta-leaves-harpercollins-for-crown-archetype/ Two stories from New York have been optioned through the recent arrangement signed between the ICM agency and the magazine. ICM already represented The New York Times in Hollywood when it added New York as a client in June to better facilitate the transition from non-fiction article to screenplay (and to ensure magazine gets a Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/07/new-york-magazine-germinates-stories-for-hollywood-harvest/ Cal Morgan has been named publisher of HarperCollins imprint It Books, following the announcement of Carrie Kania's depature for London. He will also assume Ms. Kania's role overseeing Harper Design, and will continue to hold his current position as editorial director of Harper Perennial. According to Publisher's Weekly, "His books for It have included Neil Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/07/cal-morgan-named-publisher-of-it-books/ Last week, New York’s most notorious literary agent, Andrew Wylie, almost certainly by design—and certainly not for the first time—caused a fuss. Being interviewed on a BBC Radio 4 news show on July 18, Mr. Wylie invited a comparison that nobody had yet bothered to make, likely because it seemed ludicrous to compare the mundane Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/07/harper-and-a-row/ Carrie Kania, senior vice president and publisher of It Books and Harper Perennial at HarperCollins, is departing HarperCollins to work as an agent at Conville & Walsh Literary Agency in London. Reached by phone in Wisconsin, where she was visiting family, Ms. Kania said that her departure from HarperCollins was amicable, and her move was Read More

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