13.04.16
www.thebookseller.com
Haank: sharing is caring for STM NEWS
BY KATHERINE COWDREY
The STM industry has “wasted” two years as a result of its reluctance to share research, according to Derk Haank, c.e.o. of Springer Nature. During his keynote speech at the
“Research & Scholarly Publishing Forum” yesterday (12th April), Haank said he was concerned about publishers’ progress on the “big issue” of sharing. He said: “It is too little too late. We have wasted at least one or two years. The Springer initiative is nice and the Elsevier initiative is nice, but it only works if we have an industry-wide initiative.” His comments refer to both publishers’ recent trials, which enabled researchers to freely share peer-reviewed content among themselves, media entities and the public. While conceding that sharing could result in only “one customer, and the rest of the world shares [the
Haank
product]”, Haank said it would be a “very good development” if it led to more users, which would grant STM firms “a licence to operate”. Haank warned that if the industry
didn’t “get our act together” in a “legitimate foolproof manner”, consumers would source the content they sought illegally. He also defended publishers on the thorny issue of “double-dipping”— the practice of publishers of hybrid Open Access (OA) journals being paid twice for content—once
by subscribers and once by its author—and criticised institutions that had a “vendetta” against hybrid journals and encouraged academics to use pure OA models. He said: “It doesn’t make sense, because you are excluding a whole set of journals that may be better suited to publishing that article, and you are limiting choice. In whose interest is that? It is only because people have this idea that hybrid journals are ‘double-dipping’ for publishers—that is just not true.” Haank said publishers were guilty of not making pricing options clearer and said they should strive to accommodate customers who wanted to move to pure OA. “It depends on the individual . . . but the principle is that we, as publishers, can’t hang on to all the subscription revenue we used to and then take OA as something extra. That’s also not fair.”
BICKFORD-SMITH BAGS DESIGN JOB Waterstones Book of the Year winner Coralie Bickford-Smith has designed this
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year’s Books Are My Bag limited edition tote, unveiled by the The Bookseller Daily today
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Bickford-Smith hopes to “encourage people to discover new delights of the pri printed word” through the bag, which will be handed out at independent bookshops around Super Thursday, which falls on 6th October this year. Bickford-Smith’s bag design features an intricate leaf design on the front, while the children’s tote bag, produced by Egmont Publishing, features Winnie-the-Pooh to mark the character’s 90th anniversary this year. Bickford-Smith, who won the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2015 for her children’s début The Fox and the Star (Particular Books), said: “I hope my design encourages people to step into a bookshop more often.”
Hachette secures Pietsch-perfect manga partner
Hachette Book Group (HBG) and Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corporation (KC) have partnered to create a new joint manga imprint. Yen Press LLC will be formed by the coming
together of HBG’s Yen Press imprint, one of the US’ leading publishers of Japanese manga and light novels, and Kadokawa, a “major” Japanese publisher. KC will hold a majority stake, with 51% of Yen Press LLC to be acquired by its US investment company; HBG will hold the remaining 49%. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Michael Pietsch pictured, c.e.o. of HBG, said:
“This new partnership with Kadokawa is an exciting opportunity for HBG. The venture will further strengthen our Yen Press brand and enable us to leverage Kadokawa’s superb reputation in both manga and light novel genres, as well as its digital distribution and anime platforms.” He added: “Combining Kadokawa’s expertise in these categories and HBG’s excellent sales, distribution and publishing
support services, Yen Press will be well positioned to continue its remarkable growth.” Former Borders Group buyer Kurt Hassler will be publisher of the new imprint.
NEWS NEWS / IN BRIEF NEWS IN BRIEF
05
TETRIS SLOTS INTO SMH
UK indie graphic novel specialist SelfMadeHero has snapped up a title on Tetris by New York Times- bestselling author/illustrator Box Brown. M.d. Emma Hayley bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Tetris: The Games People Play from US publisher First Second. The graphic non-fiction title tells of Tetris’ origins in Russia in the 1980s, through to its global ubiquity. SelfMadeHero will publish the title in October 2016.
PROWSE DESERTS ZEUS
Amanda Prowse, whose A Mother’s Story was named Sainsbury’s Entertainment E-Book of the Year 2015, has signed a three-book deal with Amazon Publishing imprint Lake Union Publishing. Prowse was previously published by Head of Zeus. Editor Sammia Hamer acquired world English-language rights from Caroline Michel at PFD. The first title, Food of Love, offers an insight into a family that is “torn apart” when anorexia takes hold of their youngest child; it will be published in December 2016.
HQ PILGRIM PROGRESSES
The non-fiction arm of Harlequin’s HQ imprint will launch in September with an “action-packed” memoir of a special forces veteran. In The Pilgrim, Colin Maclachlan tells of his time in the SAS, including his role in Operation Certain Death in Sierra Leone. The author starred in the Channel 4 series “SAS: Who Dares Wins”. Harlequin executive publisher Lisa Milton bought world rights from Luigi Bonomi at LBA Literary Agency.
ILEX JOINS THE DOTS
Ilex Press, part of Octopus, will publish Superstars of YouTube: The 100% Unofficial Dot-to-Dot Book by Abi Daker in October 2016, featuring famous vloggers such as Zoella, Alfie Deyes and Dan and Phil. World rights are available. Zara Larcombe of Ilex said: “The popularity of YouTubers has taken the publishing world by storm and dot-to-dot is a way of reaching the young adult audience with a fun and original idea.”
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