Hachette

The Department of Justice has sued Apple and publishers for allegedly colluding to set eBook prices. Apple, Macmillan and Penguin will fight the suit in court; HarperCollins (statement here), Simon & Schuster and Hachette (statement here) have settled with the government.

In court documents, DOJ attorneys alleged that Apple and five major publishers engaged in a “substantial” conspiracy as they set up the agency model for eBook pricing–including deleting emails “to avoid leaving a paper trail.”

Macmillan CEO John Sargent has decided to fight the suit. Read his letter here: “Other publishers have chosen to settle. That is their decision to make. We have decided to fight this in court.”

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Following in HarperCollins’ footsteps, Hachette has “reluctantly agreed” to settle with the Department of Justice rather than face a lawsuit over the agency model for eBook pricing. Simon & Schuster has settled as well.

The publisher issued a longer statement that did not detail the terms of the settlement. The complete Hachette Book Group release is reprinted below–here is an excerpt from HBG’s official  statement:

Hachette was not involved in a conspiracy to illegally fix the price of eBooks, and we have made no admission of liability.  Hachette’s unilateral adoption of agency was designed to facilitate entry by a new retail competitor and to increase the diversity and health of retail booksellers, and we took these actions knowing that Hachette itself would make less money than before the adoption of agency.  Although we remain confident that we did not violate the antitrust laws, we faced the prospect of lengthy and costly litigation with government plaintiffs with virtually unlimited resources.

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Publishing industry veteran Evan Schnittman has been appointed executive vice president, chief marketing and sales officer at Hachette Book Group.

In this newly created position, Schnittman will head up sales and marketing across the company.  Schnittman comes to HBG from Bloomsbury Publishing, where he served as managing director, group sales and marketing, print & digital.

Schnittman released the following statement: “I am extremely honored and excited to be given the opportunity to further integrate print and digital sales and marketing at Hachette Book Group. I will be coming home full-time to New York and returning to two publishers close to my heart, Little, Brown and Grand Central Publishing (Warner Books when I was there)…”

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Yesterday Hachette Book Group USA announced two promotions at the Little, Brown and Company imprint.

Geoff Shandler has been named vice president and editorial director. Shandler will oversee the expansion in the imprint’s nonfiction program. Some of the authors he has worked with include The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Judy Clain has been named vice president and editor-in-chief. In her new role, Clain will chair the imprint’s editorial board, manage the editorial team, and serve as the lead ambassador to literary agents. Some of the authors she has worked with include Julie & Julia memoir author Julie Powell and Room novelist Emma Donoghue.

Veteran soldier Kevin Powers has inked a deal with Little, Brown and Company for his Iraq war novel The Yellow Birds.

Powers, who has served in the Iraq war, is currently working towards an MFA as a Michener Fellow in Poetry at the University of Texas at Austin. Powers’ manuscript was acquired by publisher Michael Pietsch.

Pietsch had this statement in the release: “Ever since reading Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time I have been gripped by novelists’ accounts of the experience of war.  And as soon as I began reading The Yellow Birds I knew I was in the presence of a masterful rendering of the particular horrors of this particular war. From the first word of this novel to the last, Kevin Powers’s portrayal of young soldiers trying to stay alive—and of the effect of the war on their families at home—is profound, unsettling, and sadly beautiful.”

Lagardère’s global publishing division, the company that owns the Hachette Book Group, reported €601 million in net sales for the third quarter of 2011, which was down 5.2 percent compared to the same period in 2010.

The company attributed the drop in sales to the rise in eBook sales with a lower margin, as well as to retail problems in English-speaking countries including Borders closing in the U.S. and REDGroup’s bankruptcy in Australia.

The digital book business is continuing to grow however. eBookNewser has more: “According to the company, eBooks now represent 21 percent of HBG’s net sales, which is up from 9 percent of net sales for Q3 2010. This is a 134 percent growth over total eBook sales in 2010.”

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The Spiderwick Chronicles author Holly Black has inked a deal for a YA vampire novel titled The Coldest Girl in Coldtown with Little Brown Books for Young Readers. Black (pictured, via) wrote a short story by the same name for a vampire anthology, The Eternal Kiss.

In her blog announcement, Black emphasized that the vampire tale is “loosely based” on her original short story. She also revealed that this project will be “a single, fat stand-alone book” with a release set for fall 2013. Literary agent Barry Goldblatt negotiated the deal with editorial director Alvina Ling. Ling will edit the manuscript.

Here’s more from the release: “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is set in the not-so-distant future, where the vampire population has surged, resulting in the establishment of Coldtowns, quarantined cities of vampires and humans where predator and prey coexist in a never-ending blood party of revelry. These isolated meccas of debauchery are the pillars of pop culture, with vlogs, live feeds, and YouTube videos constantly streaming from the endless parties at vampire mansions. Drawn into this bizarre and dangerous world is Tana, who willingly enters Coldtown with an infected ex-boyfriend on the brink of turning and a mysterious vampire with a tortured past intent on seeking revenge.”

Bestselling novelist Wm. Paul Young has inked a deal with Hachette Book Group for his next, as-yet-untitled novel, “a compelling story that touches deeply felt emotions and needs, and questions of the heart.”

Young had this statement in the release: “We have had quite the adventure this last couple of years and I look forward with anticipation to what the future holds.  The folks at Hachette are creative and passionate about the process and I am grateful for the integrity and support I have found at every level of this company.”

Young is best known for his hit Christian title The Shack. He originally wrote the book for his six children. It has since spawned a live stage show called “Stories from the Shack” and played in Seattle.

Glee star Chris Colfer has signed a two-book deal with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. His middle grade novel, The Land of Stories, will be released in summer 2012. A publication date for the untitled follow-up has not been announced.

Deputy publisher Andrew Smith and editorial director Alvina Ling negotiated the deal with literary agent Rob Weisbach of Rob Weisbach Creative Management. Ling will edit the book. The video embedded above features Colfer performing a duet with his Glee co-star Darren Criss.

Here’s more from the press release: “A fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairytales, The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner Bailey. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, Alex and Conner leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they comeface-to-face with the characters they grew up reading about.”

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Hachette Book Group will launch a new faith imprint in summer 2012 called Jericho Books. The imprint will be based in the company’s Nashville division.

Wendy Grisham has been named vice president and publisher. Since 2007, she has served as director of publicity for Hachette UK’s faith imprint, Hodder Faith.

Here’s more from the press release: “The mission of Jericho Books is to seek new, innovative authors who reflect a growing change in the church. These non-traditional voices will appeal to the fresh perspectives in today’s culture and provide an avenue for those exploring political and social issues as they relate to faith.”