HarperCollins has created HarperTeen Impulse, an eBook imprint dedicated to publishing short stories and novellas for the young-adult genre.

The imprint will release one to four eBooks on the first Tuesday of every month, a day the publisher has dubbed “Impulse Tuesday.” The prices will range between $0.99 to $2.99. Follow this link to see the upcoming titles.

Here’s more from the release: “The first titles go on sale December 4, 2012, and they include Breathless by Sophie Jordan, a companion novella to her Firelight series; Stupid Perfect World, a future-set novella by bestselling author Scott Westerfeld…Cruisin’ by Sarah Mlynowski, a short story in which teens take a plunge on the high seas and discover that everything is not as it seems; and Radiant by Cynthia Hand, a novella set in the world of her bestselling Unearthly series…Forthcoming titles include The Prince: A Selection Novella by Kiera Cass, a companion to the New York Times bestseller The Selection; Tags, a one-act play by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Walter Dean Myers; and One Day More, a prequel novella to bestselling author Aprilynne Pike’s forthcoming novel, Life After Theft.”

The News Corp. owned Wall Street Journal broke the news this afternoon that News Corp. (the corporate parents of HarperCollins) have pondered buying Simon & Schuster.

Check it out: “News Corp, owner of HarperCollins Publishers, has expressed interest to CBS Corp. about acquiring its Simon & Schuster book business, according to people familiar with the talks. The people described the talks as preliminary and cautioned that a deal isn’t imminent.”

At the end of October, Pearson-owned newspaper the Financial Times reported that Random House and Penguin were holding similar talks. Three days later, the companies announced a merger.

HarperCollins has turned over its U.S. distribution to RR Donnelley. By next summer, a RR Donnelley distribution facility will warehouse and “pick, pack, and ship” all U.S. HarperCollins titles.

UPDATE: According to the Associated Press, 192 jobs will be lost as the publisher closes warehouse in Pennsylvania.

Under the terms of the expanded partnership, all HarperCollins U.S. books will be available to ship from one central facility. The idea is to make it easier to distribute titles to booksellers across the country with more efficiency.

Here’s more from the release: “With this combination, booksellers will be able to order, track, and receive books through a common system; save time and money receiving fewer consignments from HarperCollins divisions; minimize freight costs; and benefit from increased fill rates through on-site manufacturing capabilities. RR Donnelley will balance print runs across offset and digital presses to provide fast delivery of hot titles, thus getting authors’ books into stores faster.”

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HarperCollins may publish a novel by X Factor judge Britney Spears. E! News reported that the pop singer’s representatives have been negotiating with the executives of the It Books imprint.

Spears (pictured, via) has co-written three books. She collaborated with her mother Lynn Spears on Heart-to-Heart (released in 2000) and A Mother’s Gift (released in 2001). Her 2002 title, Britney Spears’ Crossroads Diary, tied in with her Crossroads movie.

Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “A source tells THR Spears would pen a roman a clef for the publisher. The story would incorporate fictionalized versions of her own experiences, much like Lauren Conrad’s 2009 New York Times bestseller L.A. Candy, which was about a girl who moves to Los Angeles and becomes the star of a reality show.”

HarperCollins’ HarperOne imprint will team up with the Skoll Foundation to publish narrative nonfiction books written by Skoll Foundation Social Entrepreneurs–bright minds who received support from former eBay president Jeff Skoll.

This group includes 91 entrepreneurs from around the world, and they will collaborate with writers to share “dramatic first person stories about creating large-scale impact on the world’s most daunting problems.” The series will begin with However Long the Night: One American Woman’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph, a book about Tostan founder Molly Melching. Publication has been set for April 2013.

Here’s more about her work: “Through the Tostan program, she has helped these villages address Female Genital Cutting (FGC)—a violation of human rights and a practice which up to three million girls are at risk of undergoing each year in Africa. Because of their work, over 6,000 communities have now publicly declared their abandonment of FGC. Tostan, which means “breakthrough” in the West African Wolof language, now operates in eight countries and twenty African languages and is applying its successful “community-led” social change to address a wide range of Africa’s most pressing issues.”

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Harper Voyager, HarperCollins’ science fiction and fantasy imprint, is now accepting complete and unagented manuscripts for two weeks.

From October 1 until October 14, authors from around the world can send their manuscripts through this submission portal. You can find all the submission details at this link. Here’s more from the publisher:

The manuscripts will then be read and those most suited to the global Harper Voyager list will be selected jointly by editors in the USA, UK and Australia.  Accepted submissions will benefit from the full publishing process: accepted manuscripts will be edited; and the finished titles will receive online marketing and sales support in World English markets. Voyager will be seeking an array of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly novels written in the epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural genres.

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Three publishers will drop the agency model that kept eBook prices the same across all marketplaces, and the eBook price wars have already commenced. PaidContent confirmed yesterday that HarperCollins prices have already started to change.

Last week, a federal judge approved a settlement between between Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins and the Department of Justice. Soon eBook marketplaces can sell some digital books at a discount, reigniting the eBook price wars.

Prices on Hachette and Simon & Schuster digital books still contain the “This price was set by the publisher” tag on Amazon, but their price restrictions will also be lifted as part of the agreement. In the meantime, we took a look at the most expensive books from these publishers–a way to track the changes in agency model books.

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The Amateur author Edward Klein has signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins’ William Morrow imprint.

According to CBS News, one of the books will profile the 2016 presidential nominee of the Democratic party. The other will spotlight on politicians who promote “the left-wing political agenda.”

In the past, Klein has written books about the President John F. Kennedy, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. Prior to establishing his publishing career, Klein worked in journalism. He served as an editor at both Newsweek and The New York Times Magazine.

HarperCollins Publishers has created a new paperback mystery novel line to be published under the Bourbon Street Books line that is published by the Harper Paperbacks imprint.

Here’s more about the line: “Bourbon Street Books will publish all types of mysteries and will feature paperback originals, reprints, backlist titles, and reissued classics. We will launch the line in the fall 2012 season with two paperback originals: The Hollow Man, an exciting debut by British author Oliver Harris, and Blood Line, the 7th book in the Anna Travis series by international bestselling author Lynda La Plante, both publishing on October 23rd.”

In addition to these new books, the line will re-release a number of Dorothy L. Sayers’ books in October, including: Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Busman’s Honeymoon, and Gaudy Night. 

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55 attorney generals from different states, districts and U.S. territories have reached an agreement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster in the ongoing litigation over eBook pricing.

According to the terms of the deal, consumers who bought an eBook from any of the “Agency Five” publishers during April 1, 2010 until May 21, 2012 will receive compensation.

Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster will pay consumers who purchased eBooks from any of the five agencies accused of price fixing, including Macmillan and Penguin, who have yet to settle. Payments will begin 30 days after the settlement gets its final court approval.

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