Macmillan Publishing Solutions

Although much of BookExpo America's discourse seemed colored by the ongoing Amazon-Hachette dispute, there were a number of events that exuded optimism and excitement for the future. Among these was the Startup Challenge, a competition that highlighted the innovation of 18 startups hoping to make their mark on the publishing industry.

The Competition Bureau says it has struck a deal with four publishers that should lower the price of e-books for Canadian consumers.

The federal agency has struck a deal with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster that will "allow retailers to discount e-books published by four of Canada's largest e-book publishers," it said in an email in response to queries by CBC News.

The publishers will also eliminate what is known as "most-favoured-nation" clauses in their agreements, which links the price, cost or commission of e-books sold at one retailer

The book world is once again in a state of high dudgeon over the "thuggish" behavior of Amazon, which has begun slow-walking customer orders for books published by Hachette (James Patterson, Malcolm Gladwell, a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) in an effort to win more favorable terms in its next contract with the publisher. In a series of breathless commentaries, Amazon has been likened to Vladimir Putin, Tony Soprano and Darth Vader, and accused of pursuing a "scorched-earth capitalism" designed to drive all publishers and competing booksellers out of business

Macmillan Publishers, in collaboration with Next Big Sound, announced today the development of an innovative business intelligence dashboard called Next Big Book, signifying a monumental step forward for book marketers in the digital era.

RAN welcomes the release of new responsible paper procurement policies by two major publishing companies, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Macmillan. The companies' new public commitments establish them as leaders among their peers.

Very few publishing brands, in fact, mean much to consumers because publishers traditionally promote their authors, not themselves, as brands. But that approach and perspective needs to change. When a publisher's brand is indistinct, it diminishes the value that publisher brings to the books it publishes.

Customers who bought agency-priced ebooks between 2010 and 2012 are receiving credits for those books as a result of the publishers' settlements with the states. Kindle customers appear to be the first to get those credits.

Book publishers, as part of a price-fixing settlement with state governments, agreed to pay small credits to consumers who bought eligible ebooks between 2010 and 2013. Those credits started showing up in Kindle customers’ accounts Tuesday. Barnes & Noble also says credits will start showing up for Nook customers today.

Macmillan has acquired cookbook and recipe Web site Cookstr. Founded in 2008 by Katie Workman and Will Schwalbe, Cookstr has reached as many as eight million unique visitors a month via its own consumer-facing recipe web site, as well as powering recipe searches in partnership with other organizations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schwalbe, formerly senior v-p and editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books, and at William Morrow and Company, will stay on to lead Cookstr, as well as assuming the additional role of v-p of editorial development and content innovation for Macmillan.

Amazon, aptly named The Everything Store by Bezos biographer Brad Stone, is ready to embark into original programing with two new series hitting the internet this November.

Inspired by the recent flux in authors sidestepping the traditional route, Feiwel and her team last month launched Swoon Reads, a crowdsourcing publishing platform for authors of young adult fiction.

In short, it's a network where aspiring authors like Hoover can submit their manuscripts and have them critiqued by both Macmillan's staff and users of the site. Once enough submissions are collected and reviewed, Macmillan will publish the top-rated stories.