Venture is latest stage in online retailer’s growing expansion into publishing its own titles Amazon.com has announced plans to move further into publishing with the launch of a new romance imprint, Montlake Romance, “bringing readers the freshest, most innovative and compelling love stories possible”. Montlake, named after a neighbourhood in central Seattle, is the online retailer’s fourth imprint, following its flagship venture Amazon Encore, literature in translation imprint Amazon Crossing and bestselling author Seth Godin’s The Domino Project, “a series of manifestos by thought leaders”. Launching in November with the award-winning writer Connie Brockway’s The Other Guy’s Bride – in which a budding archaeologist in turn-of-the-century Egypt poses as another man’s fiancée – Montlake will publish across the romantic fiction spectrum, from romantic suspense to paranormal romance and fantasy. The “broad range” of new titles will be available to readers in North America in print, Kindle and audio formats from Amazon’s website and from bookshops in the US. “Romance is one of our biggest and fastest-growing categories, particularly among Kindle customers, so we can’t wait to make The Other Guy’s Bride and other compelling titles available to romance fans around the world,” said Amazon Publishing vice president Jeff Belle, announcing the news. Brockway said the new imprint was giving her “the opportunity to write romances that capture the imagination as well as the heart and I’m thrilled to invite readers to join me on this exhilarating journey. There are so many stories I’ve been dying to tell you, and people you simply have to meet.” Amazon.com is also looking into launching imprints focusing on other fiction genres, including mystery, science fiction and thrillers, according to US books magazine Publishers Weekly , and is recruiting staff to increase its publishing presence. “We also know our customers enjoy genre fiction of all kinds, so we are busy building publishing businesses that will focus on additional genres as well,” said Belle. The Bookseller’s news editor Graeme Neill said that Amazon was “definitely becoming more aggressive in its publishing business”, pointing to the news last month that the online retailer “came close to winning a multi-million dollar auction for self-published author Amanda Hocking , the first time it has bid on a frontlist title”, and to its new hiring strategy. “If you go onto Amazon’s website, they are currently hiring acquisition editors, publicists, marketing staff. This is something they weren’t looking at several years ago,” he said. The move into romance is a good one for Amazon, he added, particularly digitally, as “romance and crime readers were the first to really buy into ebooks, so Amazon having its own romance imprint makes a lot of sense as it will only sell its romance ebooks through its own Kindle e-reader”. Publishers, however, will be eyeing the retailer’s increased publishing presence uneasily. “Publishers will be concerned Amazon is increasingly encroaching on what they see as ‘their’ business,” said Neill. Publishing Amazon.com Internet E-commerce Alison Flood guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Venture is latest stage in online retailer’s growing expansion into publishing its own titles Amazon.com has announced plans to move further into publishing with the launch of a new romance imprint, Montlake Romance, “bringing readers the freshest, most innovative and compelling love stories possible”. Montlake, named after a neighbourhood in central Seattle, is the online retailer’s fourth imprint, following its flagship venture Amazon Encore, literature in translation imprint Amazon Crossing and bestselling author Seth Godin’s The Domino Project, “a series of manifestos by thought leaders”. Launching in November with the award-winning writer Connie Brockway’s The Other Guy’s Bride – in which a budding archaeologist in turn-of-the-century Egypt poses as another man’s fiancée – Montlake will publish across the romantic fiction spectrum, from romantic suspense to paranormal romance and fantasy. The “broad range” of new titles will be available to readers in North America in print, Kindle and audio formats from Amazon’s website and from bookshops in the US. “Romance is one of our biggest and fastest-growing categories, particularly among Kindle customers, so we can’t wait to make The Other Guy’s Bride and other compelling titles available to romance fans around the world,” said Amazon Publishing vice president Jeff Belle, announcing the news. Brockway said the new imprint was giving her “the opportunity to write romances that capture the imagination as well as the heart and I’m thrilled to invite readers to join me on this exhilarating journey. There are so many stories I’ve been dying to tell you, and people you simply have to meet.” Amazon.com is also looking into launching imprints focusing on other fiction genres, including mystery, science fiction and thrillers, according to US books magazine Publishers Weekly , and is recruiting staff to increase its publishing presence. “We also know our customers enjoy genre fiction of all kinds, so we are busy building publishing businesses that will focus on additional genres as well,” said Belle. The Bookseller’s news editor Graeme Neill said that Amazon was “definitely becoming more aggressive in its publishing business”, pointing to the news last month that the online retailer “came close to winning a multi-million dollar auction for self-published author Amanda Hocking , the first time it has bid on a frontlist title”, and to its new hiring strategy. “If you go onto Amazon’s website, they are currently hiring acquisition editors, publicists, marketing staff. This is something they weren’t looking at several years ago,” he said. The move into romance is a good one for Amazon, he added, particularly digitally, as “romance and crime readers were the first to really buy into ebooks, so Amazon having its own romance imprint makes a lot of sense as it will only sell its romance ebooks through its own Kindle e-reader”. Publishers, however, will be eyeing the retailer’s increased publishing presence uneasily. “Publishers will be concerned Amazon is increasingly encroaching on what they see as ‘their’ business,” said Neill. Publishing Amazon.com Internet E-commerce Alison Flood guardian.co.uk
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Internet phone service in negotiations over link-ups that could delay Wall Street flotation, according to reports The internet phone service Skype is entertaining partnership talks with both Facebook and Google – delaying its $100m (£60m) Wall Street flotation – according to reports . A deal to buy Skype outright is not thought to be in the pipeline, although one source “with direct knowledge of the discussion” told Reuters that billionaire Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had “been involved in internal discussions” about snapping up the video chat service. Such a deal could be worth between $3bn and $4bn, according to the Reuters source – which, if plausible, is illuminating about how much cash the social network has in the bank. More likely is a joint venture between Skype and Facebook/Google. The Luxembourg-based company has longstanding partnerships with TV manufacturers including LG, Panasonic and Samsung to embed Skype into their products. It is not hard to imagine Skype calling integrated into Facebook, for when the likes, wall posts and private messages just won’t do. Both firms, too, have sizeable communities of engaged users: Facebook has more than 600 million registered accounts; Skype has 560 million, of whom about 124 million make calls in the average month. Most troubling for Skype is its low conversion rate – only about 6% of its users actually pay for the service, something the company explicitly vowed to boost in its initial public offering prospectus last year. However, we shouldn’t expect tie-ups with Facebook and Google to involve paid-for premium services – that’s not how those companies operate. A tie-up with Google is slightly less obvious. The Mountain View company already has GChat video-and-voice calling embedded into Gmail, though the feature is a little hidden behind regular instant messaging. Then again, Skype would slot nicely into the so-far-underwhelming Google TV and already has a place on Android smartphones . Skype declared its intention to go public way back in August last year , since when a slew of new generation internet firms – including Facebook, Zynga, and Twitter – have worked up investor appetite for social media firms. China’s answer to Facebook, Renren, yesterday raised $743m with its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange, with shares immediately rocketing in the loss-making social network. Unlike Renren, which has the added allure of a booming Chinese internet market, Skype is hoping to raise $100m with its initial public offering in the second half of this year. The IPO will value the eight-year-old firm at $1bn, according to reports . The Canadian pension fund, Silver Lake and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz own a 56% stake in Skype, with 14% belonging to its original inventors, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Still in Skype’s rear-view mirror is its fruitless $3.1bn acquisition by eBay in 2005 – and sale in 2009 – which will make the internet telephony firm wary of a wholesale buyout. eBay maintains a 30% stake in Skype. Digital media Skype Facebook Google Internet Telecoms Social networking Technology sector Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Internet phone service in negotiations over link-ups that could delay Wall Street flotation, according to reports The internet phone service Skype is entertaining partnership talks with both Facebook and Google – delaying its $100m (£60m) Wall Street flotation – according to reports . A deal to buy Skype outright is not thought to be in the pipeline, although one source “with direct knowledge of the discussion” told Reuters that billionaire Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had “been involved in internal discussions” about snapping up the video chat service. Such a deal could be worth between $3bn and $4bn, according to the Reuters source – which, if plausible, is illuminating about how much cash the social network has in the bank. More likely is a joint venture between Skype and Facebook/Google. The Luxembourg-based company has longstanding partnerships with TV manufacturers including LG, Panasonic and Samsung to embed Skype into their products. It is not hard to imagine Skype calling integrated into Facebook, for when the likes, wall posts and private messages just won’t do. Both firms, too, have sizeable communities of engaged users: Facebook has more than 600 million registered accounts; Skype has 560 million, of whom about 124 million make calls in the average month. Most troubling for Skype is its low conversion rate – only about 6% of its users actually pay for the service, something the company explicitly vowed to boost in its initial public offering prospectus last year. However, we shouldn’t expect tie-ups with Facebook and Google to involve paid-for premium services – that’s not how those companies operate. A tie-up with Google is slightly less obvious. The Mountain View company already has GChat video-and-voice calling embedded into Gmail, though the feature is a little hidden behind regular instant messaging. Then again, Skype would slot nicely into the so-far-underwhelming Google TV and already has a place on Android smartphones . Skype declared its intention to go public way back in August last year , since when a slew of new generation internet firms – including Facebook, Zynga, and Twitter – have worked up investor appetite for social media firms. China’s answer to Facebook, Renren, yesterday raised $743m with its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange, with shares immediately rocketing in the loss-making social network. Unlike Renren, which has the added allure of a booming Chinese internet market, Skype is hoping to raise $100m with its initial public offering in the second half of this year. The IPO will value the eight-year-old firm at $1bn, according to reports . The Canadian pension fund, Silver Lake and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz own a 56% stake in Skype, with 14% belonging to its original inventors, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Still in Skype’s rear-view mirror is its fruitless $3.1bn acquisition by eBay in 2005 – and sale in 2009 – which will make the internet telephony firm wary of a wholesale buyout. eBay maintains a 30% stake in Skype. Digital media Skype Facebook Google Internet Telecoms Social networking Technology sector Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
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Frontman Gerard Way responds to conservative broadcaster’s claim that song used in Glee episode is propaganda My Chemical Romance have waded into a spat with conservative US pundit Glenn Beck. The Fox News talkshow host chose the New Jersey band as his latest target on his programme last week. Claiming that “our whole culture right now is set up for you and the values that we grew up on to lose”, he discussed the hit TV series Glee – and, in particular, the use of My Chemical Romance’s Sing on an episode that aired in the US in February. Beck accused the band of propaganda, urging parents to remain vigilant against the song, which has just been re-released as a charity single for Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief: “Pay attention to the lyrics,” Beck said. “It’s an anthem saying ‘Join us’. How can you and I possibly win against that?” The track features the lyrics: “Cleaned-up corporation progress/ Dying in the process/ Children that can talk about it/ Living on the railways/ People moving sideways/ Sell it till your last days.” Beck appeared to take lyrics from the song, which is set in a post-apocalyptic California, literally. My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has responded to Beck’s comments via a blog on the band’s website . “I think the word Glenn Beck was looking for was ‘subversion’ not ‘propaganda’, because I don’t know what it would be considered propaganda for – Truth? Sentiment? And I can’t tell what he’s angrier about – the fact that it’s how I feel about the persistent sterilisation of our culture or the fact that it’s on network television for everyone to hear. And railways? Is it 1863? Seen any children living on these lately instead of the internet? “I’m actually shocked that no fact-checking was done on the lyrics,” Way wrote. “I mean Fox is a major news channel, covering factual topics in an unbiased and intelligent – oh wait – to quote the man himself – ‘You don’t have to live by the standards that society has set’. I couldn’t agree more.” The band has had previous run-ins with the rightwing media. In 2006, they were forced to respond to an article in the Daily Mail by Sarah Sands that portrayed them as part of a “cult of suicide” . My Chemical Romance headline the Reading and Leeds festivals in August. My Chemical Romance Pop and rock Glenn Beck US politics United States Glee US television Dan Martin guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Frontman Gerard Way responds to conservative broadcaster’s claim that song used in Glee episode is propaganda My Chemical Romance have waded into a spat with conservative US pundit Glenn Beck. The Fox News talkshow host chose the New Jersey band as his latest target on his programme last week. Claiming that “our whole culture right now is set up for you and the values that we grew up on to lose”, he discussed the hit TV series Glee – and, in particular, the use of My Chemical Romance’s Sing on an episode that aired in the US in February. Beck accused the band of propaganda, urging parents to remain vigilant against the song, which has just been re-released as a charity single for Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief: “Pay attention to the lyrics,” Beck said. “It’s an anthem saying ‘Join us’. How can you and I possibly win against that?” The track features the lyrics: “Cleaned-up corporation progress/ Dying in the process/ Children that can talk about it/ Living on the railways/ People moving sideways/ Sell it till your last days.” Beck appeared to take lyrics from the song, which is set in a post-apocalyptic California, literally. My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has responded to Beck’s comments via a blog on the band’s website . “I think the word Glenn Beck was looking for was ‘subversion’ not ‘propaganda’, because I don’t know what it would be considered propaganda for – Truth? Sentiment? And I can’t tell what he’s angrier about – the fact that it’s how I feel about the persistent sterilisation of our culture or the fact that it’s on network television for everyone to hear. And railways? Is it 1863? Seen any children living on these lately instead of the internet? “I’m actually shocked that no fact-checking was done on the lyrics,” Way wrote. “I mean Fox is a major news channel, covering factual topics in an unbiased and intelligent – oh wait – to quote the man himself – ‘You don’t have to live by the standards that society has set’. I couldn’t agree more.” The band has had previous run-ins with the rightwing media. In 2006, they were forced to respond to an article in the Daily Mail by Sarah Sands that portrayed them as part of a “cult of suicide” . My Chemical Romance headline the Reading and Leeds festivals in August. My Chemical Romance Pop and rock Glenn Beck US politics United States Glee US television Dan Martin guardian.co.uk
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Job losses part of a five-year plan unconnected to Mark Thompson’s ‘Delivering Quality First’ initiative BBC News is to axe a further 45 jobs in the final stage of a five-year plan that will see the loss of more than 450 posts. The latest job cuts are unconnected to BBC director general Mark Thompson’s latest cost-saving initiative, “Delivering Quality First”, but the conclusion of another three-word initiative launched by Thompson in 2006, “Delivering Creative Future” . BBC News has already closed 420 posts in the first four years of the Creative Future plan. By the end of year five, with another 45 jobs to go, BBC News will have saved £161m, of which the corporation said £63.4m has been reinvested into journalism. Further cuts are expected in the news division as a result of Delivering Quality First, the review which is examining how to make 20% of budget cuts as a result of last year’s flat licence fee settlement. Ideas already been put forward include merging some local radio output, axing overnight programming on BBC1 and BBC2, a “slimmed-down” news channel and scaling back the Parliament Channel. Major savings are also expected in newsgathering when the separate operations of the BBC News and the World Service are brought together at the redeveloped Broadcasting House in central London. A final list of proposals is due to be prepared in June and the report will be presented to the BBC Trust in July . A BBC spokeswoman said the 45 posts would close by April next year. She said compulsory redundancies would be avoided “wherever possible”. “The closure of 45 posts proposed today are part of the BBC’s Delivering Creative Future project – a five-year plan to achieve savings. This is year five,” said the BBC spokeswoman. “In years one to four network news has radically changed the way it works and the way it is organised. 420 posts have closed and we will have saved News £161m by the end of Year five, of which about £63.4m has been reinvested in BBC journalism. “At the beginning of the five-year plan it was said that this would be a continuous process and so today in the final year it is proposed to close around 45 posts by no later than April 2012. “News has a very good record on redeploying people and the BBC remains committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible. Volunteers for redundancy will be considered.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . BBC BBC Trust BBC licence fee Television industry Radio industry Mark Thompson John Plunkett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Job losses part of a five-year plan unconnected to Mark Thompson’s ‘Delivering Quality First’ initiative BBC News is to axe a further 45 jobs in the final stage of a five-year plan that will see the loss of more than 450 posts. The latest job cuts are unconnected to BBC director general Mark Thompson’s latest cost-saving initiative, “Delivering Quality First”, but the conclusion of another three-word initiative launched by Thompson in 2006, “Delivering Creative Future” . BBC News has already closed 420 posts in the first four years of the Creative Future plan. By the end of year five, with another 45 jobs to go, BBC News will have saved £161m, of which the corporation said £63.4m has been reinvested into journalism. Further cuts are expected in the news division as a result of Delivering Quality First, the review which is examining how to make 20% of budget cuts as a result of last year’s flat licence fee settlement. Ideas already been put forward include merging some local radio output, axing overnight programming on BBC1 and BBC2, a “slimmed-down” news channel and scaling back the Parliament Channel. Major savings are also expected in newsgathering when the separate operations of the BBC News and the World Service are brought together at the redeveloped Broadcasting House in central London. A final list of proposals is due to be prepared in June and the report will be presented to the BBC Trust in July . A BBC spokeswoman said the 45 posts would close by April next year. She said compulsory redundancies would be avoided “wherever possible”. “The closure of 45 posts proposed today are part of the BBC’s Delivering Creative Future project – a five-year plan to achieve savings. This is year five,” said the BBC spokeswoman. “In years one to four network news has radically changed the way it works and the way it is organised. 420 posts have closed and we will have saved News £161m by the end of Year five, of which about £63.4m has been reinvested in BBC journalism. “At the beginning of the five-year plan it was said that this would be a continuous process and so today in the final year it is proposed to close around 45 posts by no later than April 2012. “News has a very good record on redeploying people and the BBC remains committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible. Volunteers for redundancy will be considered.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . BBC BBC Trust BBC licence fee Television industry Radio industry Mark Thompson John Plunkett guardian.co.uk
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City economists had widely expected a ‘no change’ from the MPC, with some predicing that rates will not rise until this autumn Andrew Sentance and his fellow hawks have again failed to push through a rise in UK interest rates, with the Bank of England leaving the cost of borrowing unchanged again on Thursday. The Bank’s monetary policy committee voted to leave interest rates at the current record low of 0.5%, and also made no change to its £200bn quantitative easing programme. The decision means Sentance will end his stint on the MPC at the end of May without seeing the rate rise which he has consistently voted for since last June . Although inflation is double the official target of 2% , the latest economic data has suggested that the UK economy is too fragile to support a rate rise at this stage. The monthly Services PMI survey showed that growth in this dominant sector slowed sharply in April , echoing similar findings for manufacturing and construction – although all three sectors did register growth last month. City economists had widely expected a “no change” from the MPC, with some predicing that rates will not rise until this autumn. The minutes from today’s meeting will be released in two weeks time, showing how the MPC members voted. More details soon Interest rates Economics Bank of England Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Growth in construction and manufacturing have also slowed markedly , according to the latest CIPS surveys Growth in Britain’s services sector slowed in April according to a key survey, providing fresh evidence that economic growth is weakening, as the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee prepares to set interest rates. The closely watched Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s purchasing managers’ index, produced with Markit, declined from 57.1 to 54.3 – still pointing to growth, but at a considerably slower pace than in the first three months of the year. Growth in construction and manufacturing have also slowed markedly , according to the latest CIPS surveys, released earlier in the week. “Given the dominant role of the services sector, the survey fuels concerns over the fragility of the economy and its ability to withstand the fiscal tightening that increasingly kicked in from April,” said Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight. A sharp decline in government spending in the new fiscal year, which began in April, was one explanation for the deteriorating outlook, according to Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist. “There’s been a significant loss of momentum,” he said. “It’s particularly linked to government spending cuts. What companies were saying in the first quarter was that there was a surprisingly strong increase in spending from government departments, and that has gone into reverse.” The latest official figures showed that GDP had been flat – “on a plateau”, as the Office for National Statistics put it – since last autumn, even before the worst of the fiscal squeeze, and today’s survey will add to fears that the government’s austerity plans are stifling economic recovery. There was some good news in the CIPS survey – the increase in sales was the fastest since last March, and new business also rose. However, firms also said they were pushing up their prices at the fastest pace for two-and-a-half years, to try to offset rapidly rising costs. Williamson suggested that the three surveys – of manufacturing, construction and services – taken together suggested that the pace of growth in the economy may have halved between the first and the second quarters of the year. The reading is likely to be the final piece of evidence the more dovish members of the monetary policy committee needed to forestall an increase in interest rates on Thursday, from their record low of 0.5%. Services sector Economic growth (GDP) Economics Heather Stewart guardian.co.uk
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