University of Chicago Press

The University of Chicago Press announced an agreement with Amazon Digital Services Inc. that will enable more than eighty academic and scholarly presses that are clients of the Chicago Distribution Center (CDC) to publish electronic books for sale in the Kindle Store.

Scribd, a San Francisco-based social publishing Web site, has announced a partnership with John Wiley and Sons Inc. to market and sell thousands of e-books through its Scribd Store, which was launched earlier this year to offer professional publishers and independent writers and artists an option for selling their works. Scribd, which currently is partnered with more than 150 professional publishers, also recently signed agreements with Sterling Publishing, Chronicle Books and University of Chicago Press.

From multimillion-dollar acquisitions to multimillion-dollar best-sellers, powerful women stand at every pivotal, decision-making point in the book publishing process. Book Business’ first annual “50 Top Women in Book Publishing” feature recognizes and honors some of these industry leaders who affect and transform how publishing companies do business, and what—and how—consumers read.

The University of Chicago Press (UCP) has never had to regard itself as an afterthought. Founded in 1891 as one of the three original divisions of the university, the press has, from the beginning, been squarely in the center of the school’s mission to educate, advocate and innovate—a charge that continues to this day. In addition, it’s of more than passing interest to the press’s leadership that it is entirely self-supporting, even funding a few research grants at the school. “I’m unabashedly proud of the fact that our books are aimed at a shrinking audience and that we make money off them,” says Garrett

Book Business magazine is presenting a free, live webinar on “Developing a Digital Distribution Strategy,” presented by Andrew Brenneman, manager, digital media group, University of Chicago Press, Books Division, on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m. (11 a.m. PST). The webinar will provide you with a useful, strategic framework for navigating the exciting and rapidly changing waters of digital distribution. Even if you can’t make it on Feb. 12, you can view the archived webinar for 90 days after the live event. Register now at www.BookBusinessMag.com/docs/webinars.bsp

Chris Anderson’s ironic farewell to the retail bookshelf is a harbinger of how direct distribution in the supply chain is bypassing the traditional foundations of bookselling—as well as library patronage­—and is also flowing into nonprint formats. But while that transformation is nibbling around the edges of distribution, the fact remains that the book publishing industry’s supply chain model has as its primary target a physical book on a physical bookshelf. In this special two-part series, I want to discuss how digital data management drives workflow through the operations, acquisitions, development, production and distribution supply chain; in particular, how use of the Online Information Exchange

With no holiday-season movie equivalent of the “Chronicles of Narnia” versus “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” slugfest of 2005—and about six months away from the next film in the “Chronicles” series and nearly a year away from the scheduled release of the next “Potter” adaptation—it almost seemed as though 2007’s year-end book-to-movie offerings were designed to boost the fortunes of lesser-known titles rather than break box-office records. With the exception of “The Kite Runner,” director Marc Forster’s ambitious take on Khaled Hosseini’s international best-seller, and “P.S. I Love You,” a romantic drama adapted from the 2004 novel by Cecelia Ahern, high-profile

The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States, according to the press’s director, Paula Barker Duffy. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest, continuously operating university presses in the United States. Book Business Extra spoke with Duffy about the University of Chicago Press’ areas of expertise, being a self-sustaining press, its biggest challenges and more. EXTRA: The University of Chicago Press claims to be largest university press in the U.S. How is this defined, what makes you the largest? DUFFY: The University of Chicago Press publishes both books (approximately 280 titles in 2007) and journals

If distribution means getting books into the hands of sellers, circulators or readers, then a true profile of the distribution business would cast a wide net, beginning at the binding line and continuing through to the ‘long tail’ of online portals, used bookstores and curbside pushcarts. However, if distribution, from the publisher’s view, means getting books to generate sales revenue, we can overlook all of the aftermarket, recirculation and reselling channels and focus solely on reaching stores, libraries, online and catalog warehouses and—increasingly, thanks to the Internet—direct marketing from the publisher to the consumer. In the article “Deconstructing Distribution,” in Book Business’

It’s more important than ever to get books to the market fast. More days in production can mean fewer days on the market and fewer sales. For many publishers, especially those producing many titles simultaneously, good production scheduling tools are essential in keeping projects easily trackable, on schedule and problem-free. Here, Book Business takes a look at some of the industry’s leading software providers and the software on the market to help you with the complex task of production scheduling. AEC Software Product: FastTrack Schedule 9 Description: Colorful timelines and calendars are designed to illustrate project deadlines, status and goals. Production details are centralized, aiming to control your