Random House Inc.

The inaugural “SustainPrint.com Leadership Awards” will be presented on Monday, March 5, at the 2007 Book Business Conference and Expo in New York. The Leadership Awards recognize book and magazine publishing companies for their achievements in environmental sustainability and are presented by SustainPrint.com—a Web site developed by Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines to provide a central location for information and resources on environmental sustainability in printing and publishing. “We believe it is extremely important to recognize publishing companies that have made significant efforts to improve their environmental impact,” says Noelle Skodzinski, Book Business’ editor in chief, who also directs the editorial

With the launch of Bowker’s Pubnet Instant Response this week, book retailers can reorder books more quickly from several of the industry’s largest publishers. General Manager Charles Halpin chats with Book Business EXTRA! about the benefits of this new ordering program. Book Business EXTRA: How is Instant Response different from what was available before for ordering? Halpin: Pubnet Instant Response is a new service for book retailers that is offered with participating publishers—today, Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Holtzbrinck. Instant Response is different because it is lightning-fast. Instant Response is available to any publisher that utilizes both Pubnet and PubEasy, Bowker’s supply

If you like books, attending the Frankfurt Book Fair is like being a kid in an unimaginably enormous candy store. It is the publishing industry’s largest annual book fair—and this year’s event, held Oct. 4-8 in Frankfurt, Germany, showcased 382,000 titles, including 112,000 new publications. And even if you’re used to walking, wearing comfortable shoes is a must. Aisle after aisle filled 13 exhibition halls, showing the products of more than 7,200 exhibitors. Fair organizers say the event, which is in its 58th year, attracted the largest number of exhibitors ever. Fortunately, shuttle buses that ran from hall to hall helped ease the burden

Mills have traditionally heavily promoted their high-quality papers made from virgin fiber stocks. But technological changes in recent years have made available other types of stocks—in particular: recycled, synthetic and groundwood substrates. Each of these papers offer characteristics that are different from papers made from virgin fibers. Here are a few important considerations for each of these paper stock “alternatives.” Recycled Content Many publishers are feeling pressure from environmental groups to use recycled papers, which often are sold at a premium, while the post-consumer content still hovers at around 10 percent. However, characteristics for papers used by magazines, catalogs, newspapers and flyers have improved to a

Another chapter in the battle for book search dominance was written last week as Google issued additional subpoenas to other major book search players in a bid for information the company believes could be used in its future legal battles. According to published reports this week by Bloomberg, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company filed paper on Oct. 5 in U.S. District Court to seek information from Amazon.com, Microsoft and Yahoo about each of the rival book searches for future use in several lawsuits Google faces. The world’s largest online retailer (Amazon), largest software producer (Microsoft) and most-popular U.S. Web site (Yahoo) have all announced or

Environmental advocacy groups were likely breaking out the champagne as Random House Inc. (www.RandomHouse.com)—the world’s largest English-language trade book publisher and the U.S. division of Random House, the largest trade book publisher in the world—­announced its plans for a tenfold increase in its use of recycled paper. The company says that within four years a minimum of 30 percent of the uncoated paper it uses to print the majority of its U.S. titles will be derived from recycled fibers (as opposed to its current 3 percent). The announcement marks the most substantial environmental initiative in the company’s history, and considering the fact that

First Installation of Wireless RFID System in U.S. Library Deployed The first-known totally wireless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system in a U.S. library has been successfully deployed at the Prairie Trails Public Library (www.PrairieTrailsLibrary.org), located in Burbank, Ill. The wireless system provides the library with the flexibility of moving its self-check units to the most convenient areas of the library, even if those locations change over time. The decision to go wireless was made during the planning stages of the RFID installation, when Checkpoint Systems Inc., the Thorofare, N.J.-based company that planned the installation of its Intelligent Library System (ILS), realized that the

New York--Random House Inc., the world's largest trade book publisher, announced today its intent to work with online booksellers, search engines, entertainment portals and other appropriate vendors to offer the contents of its books to consumers for online viewing on a pay-per-page-view basis. Random House recognizes that digital search, display, and distribution will be increasingly important for books over time, and that while readers will want digital access in various formats, publishers and authors must be properly compensated and protected as such markets develop. Random House, Inc. will negotiate separate agreements with vendors in this arena, but has outlined some key components for each

Publishers, distributors and e-retailers expect the advent and growth of smart phones and multifunctional personal digital assistants (PDAs) to stimulate the growth of the young e-book market. Yet, no matter how young or how small the market is, publishers have made a commitment to e-books and are anticipating the market will take off. The size of the e-book market in terms of revenue is based on the number of available titles, publishers' revenues or the revenues generated by e-retailers. For example, the New York-based International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), formerly the Open eBook Forum, reported in its "eBook Statistics" for the fourth quarter

Book editors, publicists, and marketers sent a collective "thank you" to media queen Oprah Winfrey, when the Association of American Publishers presented her with its AAP Honors award. The reason for the award: Oprah's Book Club, a wildly popular segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show. The segment routinely turned titles into bestsellers. But while publishers love the show's impact on revenues, dealing with massive, often unexpected surges in demand can vex even the most efficient supply chain. The format of Oprah's Book Club was simple and effective. Winfrey chose a novel, then broadcast a reader discussion and author interview. The first book featured: The