Product Launches

When your stock-in-trade is information that drives innovation, people expect you to be on the leading edge. And so it is with the scientific, medical and technical (STM) publishing sector. While the STM market faces similar challenges to the rest of the publishing industry, its willingness to embrace electronic platforms and develop innovative revenue streams has positioned it well in the face of new competition brought about by the expansion of digital media. “The biggest challenge has been mastered, and that is the transition from paper to electronic for STM content,” notes Derk Haank, CEO of Springer Science + Business Media, the world’s

1. Random House Inc. 2. Business 21 Publishing LLC 3. Rodale Inc. 4. Meredith Corp. 5. State University of New York Press 6. Consumers Union 7. Oxford University Press USA 8. BowTie Inc./BowTie Press 9. Pearson/Pearson Education 10. Columbia University Press 11. Lerner Publishing Group 12. Prestwick House Inc. 13. The University of Chicago Press 14. John Wiley & Sons Inc. 15. The Jewish Publication Society 16. Reed Business Information 17. Scholastic

Depending on which study results you stumble upon, somewhere between 60 percent and almost 90 percent of Americans don’t like their jobs. And somewhere between 1 million and 1.4 million people call in sick every day. Sure, a percentage of those people probably have the flu, migraines or other ailments, but many of them likely have a serious case of Ihatemyjobitis. Book Business’ first annual study on the “20 Best Book Publishing Companies to Work For” explores which companies in the industry rank highest among their employees for overall job satisfaction. Each company that was nominated by its employees was rated based on

Ever since the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) hit upon the theme of “Making Information Pay” for its annual spring event several years ago, it has been filling the room with industry analysts and marketing and business development executives eager for new insights into the mysteries of our industry’s operation, well-being and future. The attendees are generally more interested, I think, in road signs pointing to where we’re going than in measures of where we are—more acutely aware that, in some ways, the information camera may not focus as well on today’s industry snapshots. Useful and reliable industry information always has been hard to

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll recently revealed that three in four adults (73 percent) read at least one book last year. The study consisted of phone interviews with more than 1,000 adults across the United States over a three-day period in August. Of those who did engage with the written word in 2006, 41 percent read about one to five books, while 27 percent reported reading 15 or more. Religious texts and popular fiction were the most popular choices among the readers. The poll results also noted other prevailing characteristics of those who had read last year, such as age, gender, location and political affiliation. For instance,

Borders Group Inc. announced a writing contest offering all of its 30,000 employees a chance to become a published author under the company’s proprietary publishing program. Employees from Borders and Waldenbooks stores, distribution centers and the corporate office can submit manuscripts under any fiction categorys. A panel of judges will award the winning author a book deal and a listing in Borders’ “Shortlist,” an e-mail promotion that now reaches more than 19.5 million e-mail addresses. “Our employees are talented and creative individuals who have tremendous passion for books, and we believe that there are many who also have undiscovered writing talent,” says Rob Gruen,

ou may be sitting at your desk wondering if the stressful job that is giving you gray hair and ulcers is worth it. Or, you may be perfectly content in your current position, but just a little bit curious as to whether your salary is competitive. You also may be wondering whether you are paying your staff enough to keep them from exploring other opportunities. Now, using Book Business’ first “Book Industry Salary Guide,” you can see how your salary and your staff’s salaries compare to others in similar positions at other book publishing companies. The guide is based on data compiled from

The New York Times is reporting that Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the “Harry Potter” series, has sued an online bookseller and its distributor earlier this week for “flagrant violations of their strict contractual obligations” by shipping copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” before the time and date set by the publisher. A breach of contract suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois, in which Scholastic accused Infinity Resources, which owns the online retailer DeepDiscounts.com, of shipping books to some customers up to a week before the on-sale date, according to The Times. Levy Home Entertainment, a

Publishing executives will soon have a new resource at their fingertips for finding the best places to work in the book publishing industry. Book Business magazine has announced that it is launching the first-ever major study to determine the “Best Publishing Companies to Work For.” The study, being conducted by independent research organization Accelara Publishing Research, will rate publishing companies annually based on their scores in six to 10 major categories. The research also will examine what makes a high-performance working environment, what contributes to a great publishing workplace, and how publishers generate high loyalty and staff support. An invitation to participate in the

The first novel published by Borders Group Inc. under the company’s new exclusive book publishing program, “Slip & Fall,” by Nick Santora, hit shelves this week. The novel is Santora’s first and was selected by Borders’ merchandising team to be the first of many titles published and sold exclusively in its more than 1,000 Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide. “By publishing ‘Slip & Fall,’ Borders marks the launch of a new concept for our company that will differentiate us from other retailers and build customer loyalty,” said George Jones, Borders chief executive officer. “We are now working directly with the major talent and literary