Schuster

No doubt you’ve heard that Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group have agreed to create a shared website, to be called Bookish.com. They will provide start-up financing, but … at least 14 publishers will participate. … My first reaction was that this really speaks to that whiff of desperation in the air for publishers.

While her business card officially lists her as “Author/CEO,” Vickie Stringer has earned many other titles, both formal and informal, in the book publishing world—from founder of Columbus, Ohio-based Triple Crown Publications and Queen of Hip-Hop Literature to literary agent and marketing guru. Her publishing odyssey began in an unlikely setting: in a federal prison, while serving a seven-year sentence for drug trafficking. It was there that Stringer wrote her first novel, a semi-autobiographical account about a young, female hustler, called “Let That Be the Reason.” Once she was released from prison, she began to shop her manuscript to a variety of publishers.

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

By Donna Loyle Some of the country's largest book publishing companies recently unveiled major new electronic-book initiatives, bringing renewed energy into the e-book arena. Time Warner's iPublish.com at Time Warner Books, New York City, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2001, will offer fiction and non-fiction content created specifically for the Internet, according to company officials. Meanwhile, Random House and Simon & Schuster, along with Microsoft, gave away copies of Michael Crichton's new novel Timeline, as well as some "Star Trek" series novels, all downloadable onto Microsoft's new e-book Reader software. In June, CBS News and Simon & Schuster, both owned by Viacom, co-published an exclusive

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