Mediabistro has relaunched its homepage, giving you an easier way to read all our blog content on a single page.

As you can see by the image embedded above, Mediabistro.com now features scrollers that let you quickly browse stories by subject areas like “Publishing,” “Social Media” and “Tech.” In addition, in the right hand column, you can browse jobs and employers from around the Mediabistro network.

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For the countless number of books published each year, there are only a few that become true breakout successes, selling millions upon millions of copies, hijacking the bestsellers lists and becoming permanently etched in American pop culture.

While great storytelling is at least partly responsible for their success, there is also an expansive team behind the scenes, working diligently to ensure that every plot twist is meticulously crafted, that the cover is so well-designed that readers drop $25 for the hardcover without blinking, and that those same characters will hopefully transcend the pages and end up on the big screen.

Think you’ve got what it takes to make it at one of the Big Six publishers? Learn how to break into the industry in How To Get a Job in Book Publishing.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

The Department of Justice has shared direct testimony from three Amazon executives about tempestuous negotiations over the agency model for setting eBook prices in 2010.

These discussions rest at the heart of the U.S. v. Apple et al. case, as a federal judge decides if publishers  and Apple colluded to fix eBook prices.

In the executive testimony, MyHabit general merchandise manager (and former Kindle Books director) Laura Porco testified about a fateful January 2010 dinner with her former colleague, Random House COO Madeline McIntosh. This conversation prompted evasive legal action at Amazon.

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Publishers Marketplace covered an “investor day” report at News Corp. (subscription only link) where investors got a closer look at the profit margin for digital books at HarperCollins.

Over at the AARdvark blog, DeFiore and Company founder Brian DeFiore shared the most important stats (chart embedded above): a “$27.99 hardcover generates $5.67 profit to publisher and $4.20 royalty to author” and a “$14.99 agency priced e-book generates $7.87 profit to publisher and $2.62 royalty to author.”

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Boing Boing has started its own publishing imprint with “All the Young Dudes: Why Glam Rock Matters” by Mark Dery.

The popular site runs lots of book-related content and long essays, so digital publishing seems like a natural step. Here’s more about the book:

“All the Young Dudes,” glam rock’s rallying cry, turned 40 last year. David Bowie wrote it, but Mott the Hoople owned it: their version was, and will ever remain, glam’s anthem, a hymn of exuberant disenchantment that also happens to be one of rock’s all-time irresistible sing-alongs. Bowie, glam, and “All the Young Dudes” are inseparable in the public mind, summoning memories of a subculture dismissed as apolitical escapism, a glitter bomb of fashion and attitude that briefly relieved the malaise of the ‘70s. Now, cultural critic Mark Dery gives the movement its due in an 8,000-word exploration of glam as rebellion through style. As polymorphously perverse as the subculture it explores, “All the Young Dudes: Why Glam Matters” is equal parts fan letter, visual-culture criticism, queer theory, and true confession.

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Skyhorse Publishing and Start Publishing have finalized a deal to acquire science fiction, fantasy and horror publisher, Night Shade Books.

According to the release, net sales at Night Shade totaled $1.5 million in 2012. Last year, Skyhorse also acquired Arcade Publishing’s backlist.  Here’s more from the release:

Founded by Jason Williams in 1997, who was joined by partner Jeremy Lassen shortly after, Night Shade Books has over 250 titles in its catalog, including some renowned genre fiction—written by multiple nominees and winners of Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, Nebula, and Hugo awards. In 2003, Night Shade Books won the World Fantasy Special Award for Professional Achievement. Both Williams and Lassen will continue to be with Night Shade in a consulting capacity. The agreement was reached following a spirited and public debate among authors, agents, fans, and publishers, which resulted in a deal approved by Night Shade’s authors.

Do you have the New York Times Best Seller list memorized? Do you have a passion for books and want to get into the publishing business?

In this episode of “Score That Job,” career expert, author and mediabistro editor Vicki Salemi sat down with Andrea Weinzimer of Hachette Book Group to get the inside dirt on what they’re looking for in a candidate.

Here a few tips — know the industry and know which authors they publish (hint: rhymes with James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, David Sedaris…). Or just watch the video.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

Virginia Quarterly Review web editor Jane Friedman has created an infographic called “Understanding the Key Book Publishing Paths.”

Follow this link to see the whole infographic–what path did you choose?

Friedman identified the following five options: traditional publishing, partnership publishing, fully-assisted publishing, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) publishing with a distributor, and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) direct publishing. She also includes a section for “special and hard-to-classify cases.”

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The European Commission has approved the merger of Penguin and Random.

The Commission ruled that they were not concerned with unfair competition, “because the merged entity will continue to face several strong competitors.” This was one of the major hurdles facing the merger of the publishing companies owned by Bertelsmann and Pearson. Here’s more from the release: 

The Commission assessed the impact of the transaction on the upstream markets for the acquisition of authors’ rights for English language books in the European Economic Area (EEA) and worldwide, and on the downstream markets for the sale of English language books to dealers in the EEA, in particular in the UK and Ireland. The Commission found that on both types of markets the new entity Penguin Random House will continue to face competition from several large and numerous small and medium sized publishers. As regards the sale of English language books, the merged entity will furthermore face a concentrated retail base, such as supermarkets for print books and large online retailers for e-books, like Amazon. In addition, the Commission’s investigation revealed no evidence that the transaction would lead to risks of coordination among publishers in relation to the acquisition of authors’ rights and the sale of English language books to dealers.

Brooklyn-based publisher Melville House will open a British publishing company in London called Melville House UK.

Founders Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians announced the news, hiring 4th Estate marketing executive Zeljka Marosevic as director of marketing. The company will begin with the publisher’s U.S. books, but should be acquiring new books by the end of the year. Here’s more from Johnson:

Our classics line, The Art of the Novella, has always done well in Britain, but sales of our other U.S. titles have grown explosively there over the last few years, some of the best writing we’ve published lately has been by British writers, such as Lars Iyer and Lee Rourke; we’re winning British book awards, I hear more and more from British booksellers and media about our books … And so rather than simply expand our US company’s operations here, we wanted to form a distinctly British company that would respond more particularly to that kind of welcome. It’s not a branch, nor an office. It’s a distinct, British company.