BTW News Briefs

DRM Lawsuit Conference Set

On Tuesday, Publishers Weekly reported that a scheduling conference has been set for March 11 in federal court in New York City in the lawsuit brought by three independent booksellers against Amazon.com and the big six publishers.

The lawsuit, which was filed on February 15 by the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, New York; Posman Books of New York City; and Fiction Addiction of Greenville, South Carolina, alleges that they and other small bookstores were being deliberately forced out of the digital market as a result of the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) to code e-books so they could only be read on an Amazon Kindle device or a device with a Kindle app,  the New York Times reported. The booksellers are pushing for open-source coding that would allow readers to buy e-books from any source and download them on any device, according to the Times.

The publishers named in the suit are Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster.

Candlewick to Launch Big Picture Press

Big Picture Press, a new list of highly illustrated books will launch in fall 2013 as an imprint of Candlewick Press in the U.S. and the Templar Company Ltd. in the U.K. The imprint’s boutique-size list was conceived as an alternative to digital publishing.

“It is very rare to see a new list spring into life with so much coherence, vitality, and sheer reason for being,” said Karen Lotz, president and publisher of Candlewick Press and managing director of the Walker Books Group. “Candlewick Press is thrilled to announce our distribution partnership with Big Picture Press, and we look forward to bringing these exceptionally beautiful books, full of tactile surprises and visual inspiration, to U.S. art and illustration lovers of all ages.”

Lambda Literary Names Schools Program Coordinator

The Lambda Literary Foundation has named writer, educator, and activist Monica Carter as the organization’s LGBT Writers in Schools Program Coordinator. Carter will be responsible for organizing author visits to high school and university literature classes, facilitating the My Story Book Club for young adults, and leading the development of the program.

Carter has worked in the Los Angeles literary community for 10 years, managing independent bookstores, organizing and marketing LGBT literary events, and promoting translated literature. As a book reviewer, she has been a judge for the Best Translated Book Award for the past five years and curates her own website, Salonica World Lit.

World Book Night to Host April Celebration in NYC

World Book Night U.S. is hosting a celebration for everyone in the publishing, bookselling, and library worlds, to be held on Tuesday, April 9, from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the offices of the Association of American Publishers in New York City. The event will feature the presentation of awards, the new WBN books, and other announcements, according to WBN U.S. Executive Director Carl Lennertz. Special guests will include WBN’s book printing vendors and Hillary Jordan, author of the2013 WBN pick Mudbound.

AAP’s offices are located on the second floor of 71 Fifth Avenue. Wine and snacks will be served.