Enter your best book designs, covers, jackets, and product catalogs from your 2011-2012 publishing season in our highly acclaimed book show competition.  The entry process has been simplified and all entries will be showcased at our Annual Book Show to be held at Chronicle Books in San Francisco in January.

ELIGIBILITY

Entries may be submitted by any publisher or supplier to the book publishing industry engaged in designing, manufacturing, or publishing books in any of the Western States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming. Entries need not be manufactured exclusively in the Western states, nor is membership in Publishing Professionals Network required. If you submit entries but are not a member of Publishing Professionals Network, be sure to sign up for email announcements on our website (www.bookbuilders.org) in order to keep appraised of the book show and other events.

Books must have a 2011 or later copyright and must have been published by an eligible publisher or manufactured wholly or in part by an eligible supplier.

ENTRY FEES (Publishing Professionals Network Members)

One to five entries: $45.00 per entry
Six or more entries: $40.00 per entry
Cover or jacket entry: $40.00 per entry
e-Book entry: $45.00 per entry

Non-members, please add an additional $10.00 to the per-entry price

SUBMITTING AN ENTRY

There are four easy steps in submitting an entry:

(1)   Carefully fill out an online entry form for each entry.

(2)   Print one copy of the completed form for each entry.

(3)   Send one copy of the book, cover or jacket entry and one copy of the entry form to the address below.  Please do not mount covers or jackets and please consolidate shipments.

(4)   Pay Bookbuilders West the required fee via the online credit card system or by check.

All entries must be received no later than July 20, 2012. Send to:

BBW Book Show Entry
9328 Elk Grove Blvd. Suite #105-250
Elk Grove, CA  95624

Questions?  Please call Lisa @ (916) 320-0638

Important!

• Non-complying entries may be disqualified.
• Entry categories are subject to change at the judge’s discretion.
• Late entries not accepted will be returned along with the entry fee.
• All materials including books, covers, and jackets accepted for competition in the book show will not be returned.

If the same book, cover, or jacket is submitted by more than one entrant, the publisher’s entry will be accepted and any others will be returned with the fees.  If the publisher is not among the entrants, the first entry received for that book, cover, or jacket will be the official entry and all others will be returned with the fees.

For multiple entries from a company or individual, a single payment for the total amount is preferred.  Regardless of the number of entries, all entries from a publisher or an individual must be packaged and sent as a group.

Some entrants may be contacted in mid-August following the judging process and will be instructed to provide downloaded press quality pdf’s of the cover and several representative text pages for use in the book show catalog.

JUDGING CRITERIA

Each entry will be judged on its own merits—regardless of category—and evaluated for its excellence. Entries are judged individually, not against other books. There is only one level of award, but in a typical year 20% of the entries receive awards.

Judges for the categories are selected for their knowledge and experience in those segments. Entrants may receive ballots containing judges’ comments following the Book Show banquet. The judges will examine and evaluate entries with respect to the following classifications:

DESIGN – Is the style and size of type appropriate for the intended market? Is the arrangement of type and graphics effective and functional? Are graphic elements creatively planned, purposeful, and well executed? Is the use of color effective and appropriate? Were budget constraints an issue? Have the inserts, cover, jacket, endpapers, and other components been designed to complement and enrich the book as a whole? Does the design help the reader understand the author’s intent?

PRODUCTION – Does typesetting and page makeup demonstrate high standards and well-recognized practices of the bookmaking craft? Do illustrations and photographic images have good tonal range between shadows and highlights? Is detail held in highlight and shadow areas?

MANUFACTURING – Is the printing well executed with respect to inking, register, and image clarity? Has suitable paper been used? Are margins consistent and page backup accurate? Is the printing of component elements such as cover, jacket, inserts, and endpapers, consistent with the quality of the text printing? Is the book bound according to the best practices of bindery craftsmanship?

CATEGORIES

To ensure that entries are evaluated with the appropriate criteria in mind, eleven main categories (and subcategories) have been established to recognize the intended use of the book, as well as the demands, constraints, challenges, and opportunities that exist in each category.

The categories for submission of covers and jackets are the same as those for books. Covers and jackets may be submitted for consideration without entering the accompanying books.

CHILDREN’S TRADE
This category includes books varying in subject matter and created specifically for the enjoyment and enrichment of a juvenile or young audience.

PROFESSIONAL TRADE
This category includes books designed for business or professional development that are intended for individual use. These books provide general guidance to the working professional or teach specific technical or professional skills by presenting material as commentary and explication (such as computer books or legal guides). Books in this category are often packaged with CDs or other media.

REFERENCE AND SCHOLARLY
This category includes highly specialized texts of primary interest to an academic or research readership, and also reference works for a general audience that are intended to be consulted rather than read continuously. These books can vary from encyclopedic resources, desk references, and dictionaries to collections of professor’s writings and other scholarly works. They are primarily text driven but may contain graphics and illustrations.

SCHOOL PUBLISHING
Books in this category are intended for classroom use at the elementary through post-graduate level, including student and instructor editions and ancillary components physically attached to the principal print product. Also included are books targeted for adult continuing education and vocational training that are intended for a hands-on, classroom-like environment.
The two subcategories include:
• Elementary and High School
• College

SPECIAL TRADE
Books in this category do not fit comfortably into the other trade and reference categories. These can include specialized genres such as novelty books, cookbooks, gift books, health and fitness books, travel books, or field guides that utilize a creative or decorative design, illustrations, photography, and packaging to illustrate the content of the book.

TRADE, IMAGE DRIVEN
This category includes books of general interest that are designed to maximize their illustrative appeal. These books are published primarily for their visual content, which consists of photographs, illustrations, or other graphics. Books in this category include, but are not limited to, photographic essays and fine art editions, museum guides, and historical picture books. There are no subcategories.

TRADE, TEXT DRIVEN
This category includes books of general interest that are published primarily for their text content. Photographs, illustrations, or other graphics serve as an accessory to the text. Books in this category include, but are not limited to, fiction, nonfiction, prose, and poetry. There are no subcategories.

PRODUCT CATALOG
Annual, semi-annual, or quarterly printed catalog used to promote product book product line. The catalog must be bound mechanically (saddle stitch, perfect binding) and be reproduced using standard offset lithography or digital printing (iGen, Indigo, DocuTech) methods. There are no limitations on dimensions or types of materials that can be used.

GREEN PUBLISHING
This category includes books and components that qualify at the highest standards of design, production, and manufacturing with the least impact on the environment. For evaluating the least impact on the environment, entrants should use the Book Industry Environmental Council (BIEC) definition of “Green Publishing” found at  http://www.bookcouncil.org/eco_labeling.html. Entrants should define why their entry meets BIEC guidelines for green publishing.

Some examples of green practices include but are not limited to:

• Content of Book Paper
• Reducing Paper Waste
• Steps to Minimize Climate Impacts
• Toxics and Pollution Prevention
• Corporate Policies and Goals

E-BOOK
Entries in this category can be either educational or trade and can be electronic versions of traditional “print” books or enhanced e-books. Entries will be judged individually on content structure and effectiveness in messaging the content.

This is a new book show category and we encourage your feedback and suggestions for next year’s competition.

e-Book Entry Instructions
For e-books, e-mail your EPUB file without DRM protection to tona@newworldlibrary.com. Please include “PPN e-book Entry” plus publisher name in the subject line. If your e-book entry is web-based, please provide the URL and log-in information. e-Book entries will not be copied, transferred, or shared with any other party.

Submit an Entry

___________

For questions about this event, contact Lisa Thomas, phone: (916) 320-0638, email: operations@bookbuilders.org.

Readership—agents, booksellers, publishers, distributors, librarians, and media—constitute the ideal audience, always on the alert for new talent, worthwhile books, and marketable products, and the PW Select Announcements issue is poised to both take notice in the publication of such books and to select titles for review.

What is PW Select?

PW Select is a quarterly supplement that presents self-published books to PW’s trade audience. Like our announcement issues, these announcements will include author, title, subtitle, price, pagination and format, ISBN, a brief description, and ordering information. Authors are required to pay a processing fee for their listing; for PW subscribers, the listings are a benefit of your subscription. In this fashion Publishers Weekly aims to provide a valuable service to the growing world of self-published authors. Among the submitted listings and accompanying books, we have found works that merit a full review by our stable of PW reviewers. At least 25 of the submitted titles are selected for a published review in each supplement, which is bound into a weekly issue of PW. The supplements also include a general overview of the books received, a commentary on the breadth and scope of the books in that particular period, along with additional features about the self-publishing world’s explosive growth and the important players. A few self-published authors from among the listed titles will be selected for an interview and given an opportunity to pitch their book.

The entire PW editorial staff will participate in the selection of the titles being considered for review. For more information, see PW President George Slowik’s letter announcing PW Select.

PW Select+ and E-books

PW also just announced a parnership with Vook through which authors will be able to purchase all PW Select services as well as gain access to Vook’s new e-book creation platform to design, style and publish their e-books. PW Select will also begin accepting e-books in conjunction with this new offer. Both services will launch in May. If you are interested in the submitting an E-book to PW Select or PW Select + Vook package please email us here and we will let you know when the systems launches.

See the full information here…

Responsibilities include:

• Manage @ 35 book projects per year, including project schedule, from manuscript receipt through final files to printer
• Contract copyediting, proofreading, and indexing services
• Review copyedited manuscript for proper styles and codes
• Review sample page designs and coordinate feedback with author and designer
• Oversee electronic page review, coordinating all corrections during production phase
• Review final book files for the printer and communicating technical output information to manufacturing
• Copyedit and proofread cover copy, and other projects as necessary

Qualifications:

• 2-3 years trade book experience
• Excellent project management and multitasking skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to exercise diplomacy
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite
• FileMaker skills a plus
• Strong familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style
• Working knowledge of layout, typography, and design principles

We are seeking a dynamic, self-directed, detail oriented, flexible person, able to work in a small, fast-paced, deadline-conscious environment. The Production Editor is a team player, collaborating regularly with Editorial, Creative, Manufacturing, Marketing, and Administration personnel.

If interested, please email Dennis Fitzgerald at dfitzgerald@rwwbooks.com<mailto:dfitzgerald@rwwbooks.com>. Attach your resume as a Word or pdf file (be sure to give the file a unique name that identifies it as yours). No phone calls please.

5-07-12

Edwards Brothers Malloy will have three offset facilities—Edwards Brothers’ plants in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Lillington, North Carolina and Malloy’s operation in Ann Arbor—along with eleven digital print plants in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. With Edwards Brothers’ gps Global Print SolutionsTM distributed print partnership, publishers will be able to print and distribute books with one order, one file, and one invoice around the world.

John Edwards, President and CEO of Edwards Brothers, says the merger brings two strong family-owned businesses together with over 170 years of book making experience between them. “I’ve known the Uptons my whole life, and I’ve always respected Malloy as a competitor. They have a great reputation for service and a very strong financial foundation. I’ve been amazed as we put this merger together how similar our companies are. We share a strong commitment to our employees, our customers, and the craft of book making.” Edwards also noted the fact that Malloy has roots in EB. Jim Malloy, who founded Malloy in 1960, was production manager at EB in the 1940s. As Edwards puts it, “In a sense, we’re being reunited.”

Edwards will be the CEO of Edwards Brothers Malloy. Bill Upton, President of Malloy, will become the Vice President of Operations for the new unified company, and Joe Upton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Malloy will take over that same role with Edwards Brothers Malloy. Bill Upton believes the merger will result in additional business and jobs flowing into the current Malloy facility and is excited about the expanded services the new company will be able to offer to Malloy’s current customers: “We can’t wait to introduce the Edwards Brothers global digital printing platform to our customers. Our customers can now turn to us for print-on-demand (POD) service and use gps Global Print SolutionsTM to print closer to their international customers. Edwards Brothers Malloy combines two book manufacturers into one print supply chain solution.”

Read full article here…

Llewellyn Worldwide has launched short, original e-books on topics of interest to their readers that are meant to enhance existing, full-length titles, both new and backlist. Llewellyn’s “eShorts” program will feature nonfiction titles that cover a specific subject in less than 30 pages (10,000 words). The eShort e-books will retail for $1.99 and will be available as of May 12 through online retailers, including the Kindle Store, Kobo, Nook Bookstore, Sony, and iTunes.

“’Shorts’ allow us to offer smaller bites of knowledge on specific things and put it at [people’s] fingertips,” Llewellyn publisher Bill Krause said in a prepared statement. “We do not envision breaking books apart and selling the chapters individually, although portions of some titles may provide the catalyst for the creation of an eShort publication,” Krause added.

Debut titles in Llewellyn’s eShorts program include All About Smudging by Margaret Ann Lembo; True Ghostly Tales by Vivian Campbell; Remembering Past Lives by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke and Joe H. Slate, Ph.D; and Moving Objects With Your Mind by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke and Joe H. Slate, Ph.D.

Future eShorts will include such nonfiction titles as All About Self-Hypnosis by Richard Webster; A Witch’s Dozen by Deborah Blake; and The Magical Life of Scott Cunningham by Donald Michael Kraeg. As many as one eShorts title will be released each month.

Read original article here…

Imagine a Windows-powered Nook tablet that breaks the iOS and Android stranglehold on the mobile device market.

Imagine turning a Power Point slide deck into an enhanced e-book and distributing it to a dozen e-booksellers with the press of a button.

Imagine a book discovery engine built into every version of Internet Explorer and connected to one of the world’s leading e-bookstores.

These are the dreams that book industry players were having last night as the news sunk in of a sweeping new partnership between tech giant Microsoft and the second-leading U.S. e-bookseller, Barnes & Noble. The $605 million deal sent Barnes & Noble stock soaring (up 99% at one point, closing up 50%) and speculation flying about what the new deal could mean for both companies and for the e-book industry as a whole.

With nearly $60 billion in cash reserves, 350 million Windows 7 users and an army of developers and technologists, Microsoft seems an ideal partner for any venture requiring money, distribution and technology.

Enter the second-leading e-bookseller in the U.S., Barnes & Noble. The company has seen success in the e-book business, building a reported 27% market share and a thriving tablet and e-reader business in just a few years. Still, by most accounts, the leading U.S. bricks-and-mortar bookseller has been struggling to compete with Amazon, a $48 billion behemoth with a reported two-thirds market share in e-books and a history of using business tactics that leave consumers happy and competitors beaten.

Industry observers feel that this deal changes the balance of power in the e-book industry overnight.

“The world of e-book publishing and e-book retailing just changed today,” said Mark Coker, founder and CEO of Los Gatos, Calif.-based Smashwords, one of the largest distributors of self-published e-books in the world. “There’s been a lot of speculation about what would happen to Barnes & Noble, and I think that speculation can go to rest now.”

Others echoed this sentiment.

“It changes the landscape completely,” said Mike Shatzkin, a publishing industry consultant (and, full disclosure, partner with Digital Book World on the Digital Book World Conference in January). “If you’re a publisher, getting three or four years of healthy competition to the one account that scares you, that’s a pretty good day.”

Now that the deal is done, what are some of the possibilities for the new partnership?

Search and Discovery Partnerships

One issue confronting e-book publishers in the absence of physical bookshelves and a front-table is, “how do I get my books discovered online?”

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft could take aim at that problem in a number of ways. The new venture already has plans to do so. The only part of its business road-map that the company would discuss was that Windows 8 will have a dedicated Barnes & Noble app.

“Imagine if Microsoft were to add some integration on the Windows browser powered by Barnes & Noble,” said Coker. “Imagine if they partnered in some way with the Microsoft Bing search engine.”

Microsoft also owns a share of the mobile phone operating system market through its partnership with Nokia and about 40 million subscribers for its Xbox live gaming platform.

Forrester books analyst James McQuivey speculated that a Windows-powered iTunes-like store is in the offing.

“Making an iTunes-rival is something Microsoft has to do anyway,” he said. “This is the only move they’ve made that suggests they’re able to do this. They need books, movies, music and apps.”

Read full article here…

APRIL 18, 2012 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA and NEW ORLEANS, LA)––Blurb®, the creative publishing and marketing platform, today announced that it is partnering with Consolidated Graphics (NYSE: CGX), one of the largest commercial printing business in the U.S., to enable businesses to create custom publications from a simple yet powerful design-to-print workflow powered by Blurb.

The new service, named Publish, utilizes a free Adobe InDesign™ plug-in that allows businesses to extend the use of their preferred design software to become an end-to-end print workflow solution for high-quality publications. The plug-in includes templates for four cover formats, five paper types, and eight trim sizes – including Blurb’s all-new 8.5×11 size, which is exclusive to Publish. Publish also enables designers to complete their projects up to 75% faster using Blurb’s custom proofing tools, automated pre-flight checks, and the ability to order via credit card from within the interface.

“It used to be that businesses required a big budget, lots of lead time and a need for thousands of units before they could produce a high end print piece,” said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO of Blurb. “Now, with Publish, creative professionals can design and print rich publications, with amazing production values in runs as small as one unit – and get them turned around in about a week.” Gittins continued, “Although we have been working closely with businesses for years, taking this capability to scale with Consolidated Graphics is a big deal; we believe this new flexibility will result in an explosion of new and remarkably creative print publications.”

By allowing orders of a single unit and higher, Publish provides a cost effective solution for smaller volume projects that require rich production values such as client pitches and presentations, highly customized brochures, commemorative publications, look books, corporate capabilities pieces, portfolios, product or exhibition catalogs and other limited edition corporate collateral. Businesses have a growing need for smaller, custom print runs to service specific needs on more immediate deadlines. Publish serves this need by delivering high-quality publications using the industry’s only digital print-on-demand workflow with independent color management in as little as seven days.

“We’re pleased to join with Blurb to deliver a solution for marketers to deliver key content quickly and efficiently to targeted audiences,” said Aaron Grohs, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Consolidated Graphics. “The combination of our expansive sales force and customer base and Blurb’s leading software and high-quality product selections is a win-win for businesses that need quick turnaround on short- to medium-size print runs, without sacrificing quality. Blurb is the ideal partner to power this new offering.”

Publish powered by Blurb will be available exclusively through Consolidated Graphics in the U.S. as the newest addition to WorkSmart Suite™, a platform of technology solutions for customers to grow sales, reduce costs and give savvy marketers an edge. Other applications include Streamline, ad advanced Web2Preiont solution; Organize, an online library solution to manage digital assets; and Connect, a multi-channel personalized marketing solution.

For more information about Publish, please visit the website here.

About Blurb®

Blurb® is a creative publishing and marketing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb’s platform makes it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality print and ebooks. Blurb’s bookstore and online marketing tools enable customers to market and sell their books, and keep 100% of their profit. Blurb’s social and community features allow customers to create and share Blurb books across social channels with ease.

Eileen Gittins founded Blurb in 2005. In 2011, Blurb shipped nearly 2 million books to 70 countries and territories. Blurb authors used the company’s Set Your Price program to earn more than $1 million in profits on print and ebook sales. Blurb is based in San Francisco with offices in London. For more info, visitwww.blurb.com.

About Consolidated Graphics, Inc.

Consolidated Graphics, Inc. (CGX), headquartered in Houston, TX, is one of North America’s leading general commercial printing companies. With 70 printing businesses strategically located across 27 states, Toronto and Prague, and a presence in Asia, CGX offers an unmatched geographic footprint, unsurpassed capabilities, and unparalleled levels of convenience, efficiency and service. With locations in or near virtually every major U.S. market, CGX provides service and responsiveness of a local printer enhanced by the economic, geographic and technological advantages of a large national organization. Consolidated Graphics’ vast and technologically advanced sheetfed and web printing capabilities are complemented by the world’s largest integrated digital footprint. By coupling North America’s most comprehensive printing capabilities with strategically located fulfillment centers and industry-leading technology, CGX delivers end-to-end print production and management solutions that are based on the needs of our customers to improve their results. WorkSmart Suite is a trademark of Consolidated Graphics, Inc.  For more information, visit www.cgx.com.

Just short of five years after it relocated most of its New York City employees to nearby White Plains, N.Y., Disney Publishing Worldwide is again embarking on another move, transferring over 100 DPW employees to Glendale, Calif., where they will be with Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive and close to Disney headquarters in Burbank. Moving back to New York City will be most of the employees who work for the Disney Book Group. The company expects to complete the transfers by September 30 at which time the White Plains office will be closed.
Positions moving to Glendale include all upper management spots and the digital, content creation, global magazines and licensing units. Transfers are expected to start early this summer. In a statement, Disney said that rapid changes in media and technology make it imperative that “we look at our business holistically through the eyes of the consumer. This shift in focus requires a closer alignment and integration of Disney Publishing with the company’s incredible content and distribution platforms which are based in California.”

About 50 employees, including sales and marketing staffers, of Disney Publishing book imprints – Disney Editions, Disney-Hyperion, Disney-Jump at the Sun, and Disney Press – will move back to New York City, where a number of DPW editors had remained. DPW said it remains committed to its core book business and that the move to Glendale will make it easier to leverage its content throughout the Disney company.

Read original article here…

To understand why selecting environmentally preferable paper is so challenging for publishers and other print buyers, consider these three recent news items:
National Geographic Society worked with Hearst Enterprises and Verso Paper to help mostly small land owners achieve Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification for well over 1 million acres of Maine forests.
NGS conducted and published a thorough Life Cycle Assessment of National Geographic magazine’s carbon footprint, which Magazines Canada cited as an example for other publishers to follow.
Green America’s Better Paper Project has targeted NGS with its “Practice What You Print” protests because National Geographic magazine does not use recycled paper.
So amidst all of the Earth Day hype, Dead Tree Edition asks: So which is it, is National Geographic an environmental hero or an environmental villain? More importantly for those of us who buy paper: What exactly is “green” paper?

Does the use of recycled content, as some claim, trump all other factors – such as forestry practices, carbon footprint, and pollution? After all, there’s no shortage of demand for recycled fiber. If you don’t use it, it’s not going to a landfill; someone else will use it.

Perhaps the real benefit of using recycled fiber is to bid up its value, thereby encouraging more recycling. Or maybe it’s to keep that fiber from being shipped to China.

Paper represents the majority of the carbon footprint and probably a majority of the environmental impact for almost every publisher. But there’s a lot more at stake than how many trees were cut down, or weren’t cut down, to make the paper.

Those trees may have come from a sustainably managed forest, where income from timber ensures that the owner doesn’t convert the forest to farmland. Or the trees could have been cut in the process of destroying a forest to convert it to a more profitable use.

Paper making is one of the most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries. But the carbon footprint varies greatly from mill to mill depending upon whether they rely on coal-fired electricity and oil-fired boilers or are using sources like hydroelectric and biomass.

Paper mills can be nasty polluters, as the people who live near the Pearl River can attest. In fact, part of Green America’s criticism of National Geographic is that its paper comes from a Verso operation in Maine that is “one of the most polluting paper mills in the United States.” (It also notes that the magazine is “perhaps the inspiration for many in the conservation movement.”)

But how do you compare one mill’s pollutants to another’s? I’ve never seen credible, apples-to-apples data for U.S. mills. How do you compare the toxicity of one pollutant to another? And are we talking about air pollution, water pollution, or whether the products contain nasty chemicals, like BPA (as most coated papers do)?

Read More here…

Position Summary:

PPIC’s communications analysts play an essential role in supporting PPIC’s mission by working to develop useful, effective, and influential publications and products that bring our policy research to the widest possible audience.

Responsibilities:

• Translate high-level, sometimes technical social science research into well-constructed, compelling, high-quality reports and products.
• Work with policy research staff to develop and edit publications that highlight key messages and policy recommendations, and are accessible to the intended audience.
• Work effectively in web and print publication formats, across a wide and evolving range of product lengths and types.
• Manage the editorial process—from initial meetings with authors to the development of graphics and collateral materials—collaboratively and efficiently.
• Handle multiple projects and manage competing deadlines.
• Develop and revise briefings and presentations with policy research staff.
• Write, edit, proofread, or contribute to web features and summaries, commentaries or blog posts, grant proposals, corporate publications, invitations, and other items.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in English or related field, or commensurate combination of education and professional experience. Minimum three years of experience with similar responsibilities in a research, government, nonprofit, or corporate setting.
• Excellent writing and editing skills in both web and print formats. Proficiency in all levels of editing, from developmental to proofreading.
• Experience in working with a wide range of policy topics and research fields.
• Strong interpersonal and project management skills.
• Strong skills in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Familiarity with HTML, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator desired.

Location: San Francisco

4-16-12

04-16-12

Amazon.com, the world’s largest Internet retailer, currently collects sales taxes from customers in just five states, including Washington, giving it a price advantage of up to 10 percent in most of the country. But the days of tax-free Internet shopping appear to be coming to an end, something that Amazon itself has conceded in recent months.

When word emerged that Amazon.com was hunting for new warehouse sites, leaders in this business-friendly Southern state rolled out a welcome mat of tax breaks to lure the Internet retailer.

Code-naming their effort “Project ASAP,” South Carolina officials offered up more than $33 million in incentives, including free land, a property-tax cut and payroll-tax credits. They even agreed to loosen the area’s Bible Belt moral code, repealing a decades-old Lexington County “blue law” so Amazon’s warehouse could stay open Sunday mornings.

As they discovered, that wasn’t enough.

Amazon also insisted on an exemption from collecting the state’s 6 percent sales tax on purchases by South Carolinians. When the state Legislature balked, voting down the sales-tax break last spring, Amazon stopped construction on its million-square-foot warehouse and prepared to leave, throwing thousands of jobs into jeopardy.

The threat worked. After an intense fight that pitted Amazon and local economic-development boosters against small businesses and big retailers like Walmart, lawmakers reversed themselves and handed Amazon a five-year sales-tax reprieve.

The South Carolina episode is one of many confrontations Amazon has faced in its national fight to hang on, for as long as possible, to one of its major advantages over brick-and-mortar retailers.

The world’s largest Internet retailer currently collects sales taxes from customers in just five states, including Washington, giving it a price advantage of up to 10 percent in most of the country.

But the days of tax-free Internet shopping appear to be coming to an end, something that Amazon itself has conceded in recent months.

States have lost more than $52 billion during the past six years due to untaxed Internet purchases, according to a University of Tennessee study. Facing massive budget deficits that threaten further cuts to schools and social services, an ever-growing chorus of lawmakers has called for an end to the sales-tax edge long enjoyed by Internet retailers.

The backlash against the tax break — and Amazon’s political tactics — has cut across party lines in many states, uniting tea-party Republicans and liberal Democrats alike.

“The perception of the company has changed 180 degrees. It is viewed as the bully in these situations,” said Michael Mazerov, senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a critic of Amazon’s sales-tax stance.

In Congress, bipartisan legislation to fix the online tax loophole is gaining momentum — and Amazon itself has strongly endorsed the proposals, so long as they also apply to its competitors.

“We have always supported a federal solution,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy.

Not content to wait, at least 23 states already have enacted or proposed legislation to force Internet sales-tax collections.

For years, Amazon has responded to those state moves with bluster, lawsuits, threats to close warehouses and abrupt cuts of ties to thousands of websites in states that forced the tax issue.

“We have vehemently opposed the unconstitutional solutions that the states have taken,” said Misener.

But recently, Amazon has backed down in the face of resolute governors and state legislatures, agreeing to collect sales taxes in several states despite its longstanding protestations that states had no legal right to force the issue.

Mapping out taxes

Taxes were on Jeff Bezos’ mind right from the beginning of Amazon.

He once told an interviewer he’d thought about founding his Internet bookseller startup on a California Indian reservation to escape taxes. When that proved impractical, Bezos settled on Seattle, in part because Washington’s relatively small population effectively would leave more Amazon sales untaxed.

For more than a decade, Amazon has aggressively resisted individual state efforts to require sales-tax collections, citing a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that said businesses with no physical presence, or “nexus,” such as a retail store, in a state cannot be required to collect sales tax.

Read more here…

Publishing Professionals Network (formerly Bookbuilders West) will be holding our annual Crash Course for people just starting out, and in a new twist we’ll hold a concurrent Digital Publishing Roundtable for more experienced folks who are grappling with our rapidly-evolving digital landscape. After the morning session, all attendees will have the opportunity to mingle over lunch–which is included in the registration fee.

PPN Crash Course in Content Production Basics

An introductory overview of the entire book publishing production process will include coverage of all key tasks from both a print- and digital-product perspective. Topics covered will include

• Introduction to Publishing
• Design
• Art preparation and Digital Rights
• Editing and File Preparation
• Printing delivery (offset and digital)
• Technology Solutions and Digital Output

PPN Digital Publishing Roundtable

Come chat with your colleagues about current digital publishing challenges and opportunities for our industry. While much of our work still revolves primarily around converting print book material to standard eBook formats, it’s not just (or shouldn’t be, at least) a matter of running our files blindly through a conversion vendor. And what about our digital-only content?

This is the inaugural event in what will be an ongoing series of roundtables which PPN will hold. Please join us and help us shape our industry and careers.

Attendance will be capped at 25 to ensure that we have an interactive and lively event.

When?

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

• Roundtable starts at 9 and will end at noon
• Crash Course starts at 9:00am and will end at 3:30pm.
• Lunch will be served at 12:30pm

Where?

SF State University Downtown Campus
835 Market Street, in the Westfield Centre building,

Easy Access! Near the 4th and Powell BART stop and around  the corner from the 5th and Mission public parking garage.

Cost?

Crash Course

• $75 Members
• $65 for members with 4 or more attendees
• $95.00 Non-members

Roundtable

• $30 Members
• $40 Non-members

Register today!

Vook, one of the pioneering e-book app developers, is launching a new business today with its Vook e-book creation and publishing platform, a comprehensive, cloud-based tool that allows authors and publishers to turn any document into a professionally styled e-book. Vook’s platform then makes it easy to distribute the finished e-book to Amazon, iBooks and BN.com. The platform also allows users to embed images, videos and other multimedia into e-books to create enhanced e-books. PW has been testing the platform and it could indeed be a game changer, giving small and large publishers fairly inexpensive, one-stop access to e-book publication.

The Vook platform is essentially an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor, like Apple’s iBooks Author app, but not restricted to one e-bookstore. Users create an account at www.vook.com, upload a file (the system accepts .doc, .docx, .epub, .css, .png, .jpg, .mp3 and .mp4 formats for text, images, video and audio) and then begin editing. Vook has created a set of templates, though advanced users can import their own style sheets or create their own templates that can be used for other books.

Vook has created tools for very easy image editing (images can be resized within the e-book editor) and granular style adjustment–fonts, headings, layouts and other elements are easily adjustable.  Vook’s system will be familiar to anyone who has used, for instance, Apple software like iPhoto, iWeb or Pages–it’s all drag-and-drop and easy to use. It’s far simpler to use than professional products like Adobe Photoshop.

Once an e-book is styled and meta data, marketing and pricing information has been entered, the system creates a preview e-book that is e-mailed to a customer’s address and can be opened in e-book software like iBooks. Then, after making any necessary changes, users can either get an ISBN and distribute the e-book through Vook to Amazon, iBooks and BN.com, or download the packaged file and upload it to e-bookstores themselves. Vook then provides a sales-tracking dashboard as well as royalty payments.

Pricing is structured for large and small publishers.  Annual account fees range from $79/ month (or $849 for a year) at the basic level to $299 per month ($3,199 for a year); Vook is also offering custom enterprise accounts. Then, distribution of e-books–sending the finished product to the e-bookstores–requires “distribution credits,” which cost $99 each but can be bought at bulk discount pricing. There is a $59 maintenance fee for authors or publishers who cancel their Vook accounts but still want their e-books to remain on sale. Vook becomes the de-facto vendor for all publishers using their platform, though the word “Vook” does not appear anywhere in the e-book itself.

To promote the platform, Vook has formed a partnership with the Council for Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) to enable their member publishers to use the platform at discounted pricing ranging from $199 for three e-books (without distribution credits) to $1999 for a package that includes roughly 200 standard or 25 enhanced e-books.

Read full article here…

San Diego based professional and textbook publisher with leadership positions in Speech Language Pathology, Audiology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is seeking an experienced Book Acquisitions Editor (Commissioning Editor).   We are a small and dynamic team who are making a difference by publishing books and other materials that are designed to educate and assist Doctors and Allied Health Professionals and that are written and produced by the leading experts in the field.

Job Description

A full time position in San Diego

Salary to commensurate with experience.

The Acquisitions Editor (AE) is responsible for building business relationships with professional associations, educational institutions and consulting advisors in order to identify relevant subject matter and target appropriate authors. He/she will negotiate contracts and manage and assist in the timely delivery of manuscripts. The AE will help create publishing and distribution opportunities and will manage the business relationship and communications between the author and other departments. He/she will attend trade shows and assist in writing promotional copy and provide other marketing assistance as needed.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of 5 years of related publishing experience with medical/scientific a plus
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills
• The ability to think analytically, set priorities and problem solve with creativity and sound judgment
• Capacity to manage multiple, time sensitive projects concurrently in a fast paced environment
• Persuasive with solid negotiating and conflict resolution skills
• Confident, self-motivated, detailed oriented, well organized
• Proficiency with typical workplace software
• Willingness to travel, as necessary
• Experience with digital products a plus

To apply:

Send resume with a cover letter that includes desired salary and salary history to: careers@pluralpublishing.com

(Note: Applications without salary information may not be considered.)

3-26-12

You can view the catalog by clicking the cover below. To download the catalog, right-click the image and follow the relevant instructions.

Many of you were at the bookshow held at Chronicle Books in February. It was an exciting event, not only because we saw the great work done by our colleagues this past year and caught up with friends, but also because we announced the impending name change of our organization.

Since then, we received some feedback that the new name might create some confusion among members of other organizations. As a result, we revisited our decision and made a slight change that we believe reflects our mission even more accurately.

We’re now Publishing Professionals Network, or PPN, and our mission statement is below.

Publishing Professionals Network is a nonprofit association providing educational resources and opportunities for all individuals involved in book and book-related publishing. Founded as Bookbuilders West in 1969, it was rechartered as PPN in 2012 to reflect the changing nature of long-form content publishing and embrace all the partnerships in our industry.

So why did we consider changing our long-cherished identity as Bookbuilders West?

The volatility of our industry is apparent to us all, and as the board discussed how best to move forward and meet the needs of our colleagues, it became clear that it was time to embrace a wider cross-section of the publishing industry. The teamwork required for delivery of our content has become more complex, and it’s important for us all to have a good understanding of the overall business.

PPN means more than coming up with a new acronym and calling it a new organization. Although we will continue to focus on the delivery of long-form content, we will embrace all forms of delivery and all team members, including our marketing, editorial, and sales colleagues. We plan to hold cross-discipline events that will still hold content delivery as the primary focus.

Why the term long-form content? We want to differentiate ourselves from the magazine and journal industry yet welcome our colleagues at companies focused on nonprint delivery. Inkling is a prime example of a company working in the publishing industry to deliver a rich experience of book content digitally. Developing communication between the new folks like Inkling and ourselves will enrich us all.

In the coming months we will be redesigning and rebranding our website to reflect our new identity. More importantly, we will also be planning events, including roundtables where we discuss industry developments such as iBooks2 and iBooks Author and similar tools coming onto the market. There were some other great ideas brought to our attention at the bookshow, and we welcome your input. Please feel free to contact me directly at david_zielonka@mcgraw-hill.com.

In the meantime, please help us by spreading the word regarding our new identity to the other departments in your companies. If you’re interested in playing a part or have contacts that might want to join us, please get in touch with myself or another board member.

Thanks so much for your time. I look forward to all we can accomplish in this coming year!

Best, David Zielonka

President

Responsibilities:

The Inside Sales Manager will manage a team of inside sales representatives calling on college professors by phone and e-mail.  Currently 10 direct reports.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Use of company business management system to analyze sales efforts and ensure accurate data management and sampling
• Occasional travel to attend sales meetings, academic conferences, and make on-campus sales calls in support of sales reps

• Motivate and assist sales representatives in prioritization of prospects and development of product knowledge through on-going individual consultations
• Assist in setting and assigning territories and sales goals
• Manage the activities of sales representatives to achieve sales goals
• Assist sales reps in closing key adoptions as needed
• Prepare and conduct annual sales rep performance reviews
• Provide marketing and editorial groups with market feedback and trends

Qualifications:

• Undergraduate college bachelor’s degree
• 5 years demonstrated sales success within the college publishing industry
• Outstanding written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
• Strong presentation, account development, and leaderships skills
• Highly-motivated, strong work ethic
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to organize large amounts of data in multiple territories and prioritize prospects for approximately 2,500 accounts

Please submit cover letter and resume to Carter Fenton, VP of Sales and Marketing carterf@morton-pub.com

3-09-12

Responsibilities include obtaining text permissions, providing guidance and input on rights acquisition activities for assigned titles.  Communicates with Editorial, Legal and Content Project Managers (CPM)/Content Project Editors (CPE) on project permissions status, rights-related issues, escalations and resolutions.  Assists Rights Acquisition Director in collecting information and generating reports as assigned.
For further information or to apply online: http://tbe.taleo.net/NA1/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=LEARNING&cws=1&rid=6395

03-09-12

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department has warned Apple and Penguin, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books by adopting the agency pricing model. The DoJ has been investigating the issue for months.

According to the Journal report, several of the parties have held talks to settle the antitrust case and head off a court battle, but that no agreements had been reached yet. As outlined by the Journal, the DoJ complaint follows closely to the amended complaint filed in January by Hagens Berman, the law firm heading up the class action against Apple and the five publishers (both actions exclude Random House who did not begin using the agency model for months after the other five adopted the plan). The crux of both complaints is familiar–that the major publishers, worried that Amazon’s $9.99 price for e-books would quickly erode the market for print books–conspired with Apple to introduce the agency model to stabilize pricing.

The Journal said the Justice Department believes that Apple and the publishers did act in concert to raise prices across the industry, and is prepared to sue them for violating federal antitrust laws. According to the Journal, publishers told investigators “that the shift to agency pricing enhanced competition in the industry by allowing more electronic booksellers to thrive.” A representative at one of the Big Six companies noted to PW that the e-book industry has grown rapidly since the agency model was put into place by allowing more e-tailers into the market, but the Journal says lawyers for the Justice Department aren’t persuaded by the argument that the agency model has increased competition since prices went up.

Read original article here…

• Its unique curriculum focuses on the most pressing issues facing the industry today, forward-looking approaches to publishing as a global enterprise, real-world business models and case studies, and in-depth information on the latest advances in technology.
• Its outstanding speakers are carefully selected for their expertise, teaching skills, and demonstrated performance as innovators, include leading publishing executives and industry experts as well as distinguished faculty from the Yale School of Management. This year’s program will include Michael Jacobs – President and CEO, Abrams Books >> David Steinberger – President and CEO, Perseus Book Group >> Lisa McCloy-Kelley – VP & Dir. of Digital Production Operations, Random House, Inc. >> Neil DeYoung- Executive Director, Digital Media Hachette Digital, Inc. >> Patricia Arancibia – Director, Editorial and 
Publishing Relations for Int’l Content, Barnes&Noble >> Tom Turvey – Director of Strategic Partnerships, Google >> and many more.
• Limited to only 80 participants, its collegial and informal atmosphere allows participants to receive personal attention from speakers at meals and receptions as well as in small group discussions and one-on-one counseling sessions.
• It takes place in a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility on the Yale University campus.

This year, Leadership Strategies in Book Publishing will run from July 22 to 27, 2012. To find out more about the program and topics to be covered, visit http://publishing-course.yale.edu/2012ypcbook.

Consumers who read e-books are increasing their purchase of books—both print and e-book formats—online and especially through in-app purchasing, and decreasing their use of brick-and-mortar stores, according to the first installment of Volume Three of the Book Industry Study Group’s “Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading” survey. The newest edition of the survey, conducted by Bowker Market Research, found that more than half of e-book readers increased their use of apps to purchase books and more than one-third increased their use of general retail Web sites such as Amazon.com. The gains for these digital vendors come at the expense of brick and mortar bookstores with more than a third of e-book buyers decreasing their spending at national chains and 29% buying less from their local independent booksellers.

Findings also show that while dedicated e-readers remain the dominant e-reading platform, multi-function tablet devices and smartphones are gaining in popularity. According to the report, almost 17% of respondents indicated that tablets were the devices most used to read e-books—up from 13% in the previous survey, while respondents who preferred smartphones increased from 5.3% to 9.2%. Dedicated e-readers were preferred by 60.9% of all respondents, down from 71.6% in the previous survey.

For more information about the report, contact bisg.org.

“The mortgage-fueled market slide is leading the United States into much more than a recession—it is also ushering in a new economy. The consumer economy that was born in the 1950s is lurching to an end, and a new “creator economy” is emerging. This shift represents the third economic turning in just over a century. A look back at its antecedents reveals much about what to expect.”

http://whatmatters.mckinseydigital.com/internet/get-ready-for-a-new-economic-era

Posted 10.21.2010

1. Lauren Fogel, VP/Director of Media Development at Pearson Science: Lauren has worked for Pearson’s higher education Science division since 1996 in a variety of editorial and media positions. She currently directs media strategy, media content development, and web production.  As part of Lauren’s presentation, Liz Winer, media production manage for Pearson Science, presented examples of the extensive library of graphics and animations that Pearson Science offers instructors as part of the Campbell, Biology text program.

- The Publishing Continuum

2. Scott Gray, Director of School Technology at O’Reilly Media”:Scott who has been with O’Reilly Media for five years, is an educational innovator and the creator and director of the O’Reilly School of Technology. With a mathematics and education background spanning over 25 years, he has spent the last 20 years as an educational technologist in the field of distance and computer-based learning. Scott is responsible for the ongoing development of OST technologies, methodologies, and courses.

- O’Reilly Media

In addition, we had three local, innovative book publishers as panelists who responded to and asked questions of the presenters.  They were:

1. Laura Cerutti, Director of digital content development at the University of California Press.  As a member of the senior management team she has participated in strategic discussions about the future of publishing and higher education.  In 2009, she launched UC Publishing Services, a new program to provide a suite of open access digital and print publishing tools to UC centers, institutes, and departments that produce scholarly books.  A former acquiring editor in the humanities, she remains involved with UC Press’s Mark Twain publishing program.

2. Richard Wilson, VP/director of design and production at Berrett-Kohler Publishers for the past 10 years.  Before that he was a consultant on typesetting technologies to a variety of book and journal publishers and advertising agencies. He started doodling different styles of alphabets on his elementary school notebooks, little realizing this was a sign that he’d still be playing with letterforms decades later.

3. David Zielonka, Director of Editing, Design, and Production at McGraw-Hill’s Technical Publications where his involvement is quickly broadening into E-Books, digital ancillary material for textbooks, and related logistical issues. In his previous publishing lives he has worked for Smithsonian Institution Press, Addison-Wesley, and Sybex.