The New York Times

New York, NY (July 1, 2013) — Fans of Harry Potter today revealed the new cover for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – the fifth of seven new trade paperback editions illustrated by New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Kazu Kibuishi.  After discovering the image on the Scholastic website, the fans quickly shared the news and the stunning image on fan sites, Twitter and other social media sites. The cover of the first five books in the new trade paperback format can be found at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/harrypotter .

When the subject of e­books versus print — EVP, if you will — is discussed, one sees passionate loyalty on both sides. This is good news for the art, science and business of publishing. Such passion shows that this long established format of encoding and exchanging knowledge has captured the hearts of millions who view books as essential to their lives. What it also does, unfortunately, is cloud the real issues. Partisan loyalty to old or new book formats can blind us to what makes a book valuable in the first place.

After a 20-year stint in newspaper and magazine journalism, Susan Bolotin became the editor-in-chief of Workman Publishing in 2000; she is now also the acting publisher. She began her career at Random House, and then moved to Simon & Schuster, where she was the editor-in-chief of Touchstone Books. While there, she published The Road Less Traveled, which holds the distinction of being on The New York Times best seller list longer than any other book. She eagerly awaits the day — not many months away — when Workman's What to Expect When You're Expecting takes over that special spot in bookselling history.

Slicebooks today announces that it has secured funding from Ingram. See Publishing Wire below for details, and read our interview with  Slicebooks co-founder Jill Tomich here.

June 28, 2013 — Disney and Hachette Book Group (HBG) announced today Hachette’s agreement to purchase Disney’s adult trade publishing imprint, Hyperion. When the acquisition is completed, HBG will become the publisher of more than 1,000 books published by the Hyperion adult trade book division since its inception in 1991, as well as approximately 25 books scheduled for future publication. Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), the world’s largest publisher and licensor of children’s books, will retain all of its Disney and Disney-Hyperion branded children’s and young adult book titles, and will publish franchise-based titles from Disney/ABC Television Group upon completion of the transaction.

SEATTLE—(NASDAQ: AMZN)—June 27, 2013—The Kindle Worlds Store and Self-Service Submission Platform are now open. Customers can enjoy works from dozens of authors including Barbara Freethy (writing in Pretty Little Liars), Charles Sasser (Foreworld Saga) and Anita Clenney (The Vampire Diaries). Kindle World’s Self-Service Submission Platform enables any writer to publish fan fiction based on a range of original stories and characters and earn royalties for doing so. To browse the store and learn more about Kindle Worlds, visit www.amazon.com/kindleworlds.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47.

Flynn was supporting himself by bartending when he self-published his first novel, "Term Limits," in 1997 after getting more than 60 rejection letters.

The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, are reaching out to fans and fantasy writers to enter The Dark Crystal Author Quest, an online contest that will award one winner with a $10,000 contract to write the first book in a new young adult series based on the world of the classic fantasy film. Beginning today, entrants can visit www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest to read contest rules and guidelines and review all the background materials, descriptions, and history needed to create a submission. Entries will be accepted beginning October 1, 2013, and must be received no later than January 1, 2014. The site is a preview of the upcoming official Dark Crystal website, www.darkcrystal.com, that will be the online destination for all things Dark Crystal.

Quirk Books has announced its "Looking for Love" fiction contest and invites writers to submit unpublished novel-length manuscripts containing a love story. The prize is publication by Quirk Books and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

New York, NY, June 11, 2013– Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing has partnered with Shindig to offer YA readers and fans an exciting new program to regularly engage with authors through their patented large scale video chat event service. Simon & Schuster will debut the program for fans of YA literature beginning every Tuesday at 7PM EST starting on June 11th, 2013 and will continue throughout the month of July. Fans that RSVP for the events can participate for free and have the opportunity to purchase their favorite authors’ books directly from the chat room site.