More Ways the Publishing Industry and libraries are aiding victims of Hurricane Katrina -- Nora Roberts is matching dollar for dollar any donations made to Habitat for Humanity, and is also collecting books to donate to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The NAWW will be sending 20% of all revenues generated the month of September to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. When you renew/join the NAWW or purchase any NAWW product or service this month, know that 20% of these revenues will be forwarded to the Red Cross. If you have any questions at all about the donations, don’t hesitate to contact their office. 1-866-821-5829 (Toll Free) or naww@onebox.com
The American Library Association (ALA) has information posted on their website concerning libraries and hurricane Katrina, with status reports from libraries across the affected areas, along with some requests identifying libraries' greatest needs [e.g. the state library of Louisiana really needs printers and computers to help evacuees search for information and print and file assistance forms.
Random House said it was donating $500,000 to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and will match employee contributions to "qualified relief aid organizations." Random House Children’s Books is donating 250,000 copies of their titles to First Book, "the great organization which is distributing reading to kids in the hardest-hit areas." In addition, parent company Bertelsmann's CEO, Gunther Thielen, announced this morning that they will donate an additional $500,000 to the Red Cross Relief Aid Fund.
First Book is "providing books to children affected by Hurricane Katrina. Every $5 donated to First Book will be matched with 1 book that will go to children in the devastated areas."
Simon & Schuster says they are "planning on making a substantial donation of books for the benefit of individuals and institutions affected by the Hurricane and flood."
RWA member Toni Causey of Baton Rouge is coordinating efforts to distribute books to shelters in the area, including the Baton Rouge River Center, where an estimated 45,000 people are sheltering. Write toni.causey@gmail.com for shipping details. The Louisiana Library Association
can also direct you to other shelters in the Baton Rouge area asking for book donations [office@llaonline.org].
The Louisiana Library Association has set up a Disaster Relief Fund, soliciting cash donations to "assist school, public, and academic library restoration efforts in southeastern Louisiana." The address is listed on their web site.
Houston Borders and Waldenbooks will serve as collection points for book donations for those currently housed in the Astrodome, to be delivered to the center every Saturday. Contact/delivery:
Operation Books for Refugees from Katrina
c/o Borders Books
3025 Kirby
Houston, TX 77098
713.524.0200
The Texas Library Associationis collecting financial donations, which can be earmarked for libraries in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
The Romance Club has set up a Hurricane Relief fund specifically for the romance community.
Primer Publishers is working to compile a library for displaced people housed at Arizona's Veteran's Coliseum. Contact bill@primerpublishers.com.
The Child Rescue Foundation in Colorado is collecting children's books and educational materials only. Contact childrescue97984@aol.com.
Showing posts with label Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Publishing. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Anne Rice Article
I've also come across this article written by author Anne Rice for the Sunday, September 4 issue of The New York Times:
Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html
Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html
More Help From the Publishing Industry
From today's Publisher's Lunch newsletter:
Helping Hands
John Grisham is donating $5 million to create the Rebuild the Coast Fund Organization to help uninsured people from Mississippi (where he has ahome, in Oxford) rebuild homes and buinesses. He commented: "We don't normally publicize gifts. It's something we keep extremely private. But in these very, very rare circumstances -- this tragic time -- we hope the gift will get some attention and inspire other people to contribute money and help our fellow Mississippians on the Gulf Coast."
On Friday, Scholastic announced a $100,000 cash donation and indicated: "Scholastic Education and Scholastic Library Publishing divisions will make in-kind donations of books and other curriculum materials to local area schools receiving displaced students. The Company will work closely with the state departments of education in the affected region to assess their immediate and long-term needs for educational materials that will be so important in helping restore normalcy to children's lives."
Scholastic also plans to help coordinate "school-based initiatives that will result in extensive donations of books during the long recovery andrebuilding effort ahead. "
We have heard from at least a few people hoping to help channel and/ororganize efforts within the publishing community to contribute books as and where needed--from shelters to currently overburdened schools takingin extra students to libraries wiped out in the devastated areas. If you have firm information about established relief agencies looking for and/or ready to accept and process book donations or other actionable leads, or companies and publishing organizations standing ready to donate, please let us know at info@publishersmarketplace.com so that we can recirculate.
Tangentially, the AP notes online demand at Amazon for John M. Barrys' book RISING TIDE: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America--about an earlier flood that claimed 1,000 lives and displaced nearly a million people. Simon & Schuster says they are reprinting 10,000 copies of the paperback.
Short Grisham release
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vna6deFEbaeQxXH/
AP/Grisham
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Voa6deFEbaeQxXH/
Scholastic release
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vpa6deFEbaeQxXH/
AP/Barrys
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vqa6deFEbaeQxXH/
Helping Hands
John Grisham is donating $5 million to create the Rebuild the Coast Fund Organization to help uninsured people from Mississippi (where he has ahome, in Oxford) rebuild homes and buinesses. He commented: "We don't normally publicize gifts. It's something we keep extremely private. But in these very, very rare circumstances -- this tragic time -- we hope the gift will get some attention and inspire other people to contribute money and help our fellow Mississippians on the Gulf Coast."
On Friday, Scholastic announced a $100,000 cash donation and indicated: "Scholastic Education and Scholastic Library Publishing divisions will make in-kind donations of books and other curriculum materials to local area schools receiving displaced students. The Company will work closely with the state departments of education in the affected region to assess their immediate and long-term needs for educational materials that will be so important in helping restore normalcy to children's lives."
Scholastic also plans to help coordinate "school-based initiatives that will result in extensive donations of books during the long recovery andrebuilding effort ahead. "
We have heard from at least a few people hoping to help channel and/ororganize efforts within the publishing community to contribute books as and where needed--from shelters to currently overburdened schools takingin extra students to libraries wiped out in the devastated areas. If you have firm information about established relief agencies looking for and/or ready to accept and process book donations or other actionable leads, or companies and publishing organizations standing ready to donate, please let us know at info@publishersmarketplace.com so that we can recirculate.
Tangentially, the AP notes online demand at Amazon for John M. Barrys' book RISING TIDE: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America--about an earlier flood that claimed 1,000 lives and displaced nearly a million people. Simon & Schuster says they are reprinting 10,000 copies of the paperback.
Short Grisham release
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vna6deFEbaeQxXH/
AP/Grisham
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Voa6deFEbaeQxXH/
Scholastic release
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vpa6deFEbaeQxXH/
AP/Barrys
http://click.email-publisher.com/maadWLsabj3Vqa6deFEbaeQxXH/
Friday, August 26, 2005
ImaJinn responds to RWA
Found this tonight while blog-hopping, originally posted to Sylvia Day's blog on Wednesday, 24 August.
"Dear Board Members of Romance Writers of America, Inc.:
I have been informed by several authors as well as other people in thepublishing industry that ImaJinn Books has been removed from your list as a recognized publisher. Since we declined to fill out the paperwork for recognition, I expected this action. I do, however, find it unprofessional that I did not receive a letter or even an e-mail from you telling me of your action prior to you releasing this information to your membership, or at least contacting me at the same time you notified your membership."
Continue
So that's at least two of the now-unregonized publishers who have publically chastised RWA. I think Linda Kichline (owner & publisher, ImaJinn Books) does bring up a few valid points, the primary one being the lack of professionalism with which RWA has handled this. The very least they could have done is notify the publishers prior to sending their letter out to RWA members. More than that, publishers who were removed from the "recognized" list should have been given an opportunity to respond prior to member notification.
Third, the publishers should be supplied with the "industry standards" by which they will be judged. Not supplying this information makes it possible for RWA to reject a publisher out of hand, no explanation given -- and it also makes it possible for them to alter the standards in order to keep someone out. If no one knows the standards, no one can dispute them, right?
And fourth, though I have no idea exactly what RWA asks publishers to turn over, it does sound as though confidential information is being requested, which leaves them vulnerable to legal action. It's a wonder some of the small presses and epubs haven't already organized a class action suit against them.
"Dear Board Members of Romance Writers of America, Inc.:
I have been informed by several authors as well as other people in thepublishing industry that ImaJinn Books has been removed from your list as a recognized publisher. Since we declined to fill out the paperwork for recognition, I expected this action. I do, however, find it unprofessional that I did not receive a letter or even an e-mail from you telling me of your action prior to you releasing this information to your membership, or at least contacting me at the same time you notified your membership."
Continue
So that's at least two of the now-unregonized publishers who have publically chastised RWA. I think Linda Kichline (owner & publisher, ImaJinn Books) does bring up a few valid points, the primary one being the lack of professionalism with which RWA has handled this. The very least they could have done is notify the publishers prior to sending their letter out to RWA members. More than that, publishers who were removed from the "recognized" list should have been given an opportunity to respond prior to member notification.
Third, the publishers should be supplied with the "industry standards" by which they will be judged. Not supplying this information makes it possible for RWA to reject a publisher out of hand, no explanation given -- and it also makes it possible for them to alter the standards in order to keep someone out. If no one knows the standards, no one can dispute them, right?
And fourth, though I have no idea exactly what RWA asks publishers to turn over, it does sound as though confidential information is being requested, which leaves them vulnerable to legal action. It's a wonder some of the small presses and epubs haven't already organized a class action suit against them.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
A fall for major literary fiction?
A fall for major literary fiction?
By Hillel ItalieAssociated Press
August 24, 2005NEW YORK --
As the fall season approaches, the book world is still searching for this year's great American novel.
"Looking across the landscape, there were supposed to be some literary novels that blew everybody away. But for various reasons they didn't quite perform," says Jonathan Burnham, vice president and publisher of HarperCollins, which released last year's National Book Award winner, Lily Tuck's "The News From Paraguay."
"I think everyone is still waiting for the book that everyone greets as the big literary book," says John Sterling, president and publisher of Henry Holt. "People thought it would be a strong year for fiction, but it hasn't turned out that way."
Continue
By Hillel ItalieAssociated Press
August 24, 2005NEW YORK --
As the fall season approaches, the book world is still searching for this year's great American novel.
"Looking across the landscape, there were supposed to be some literary novels that blew everybody away. But for various reasons they didn't quite perform," says Jonathan Burnham, vice president and publisher of HarperCollins, which released last year's National Book Award winner, Lily Tuck's "The News From Paraguay."
"I think everyone is still waiting for the book that everyone greets as the big literary book," says John Sterling, president and publisher of Henry Holt. "People thought it would be a strong year for fiction, but it hasn't turned out that way."
Continue
Monday, August 15, 2005
Medallion responds
Popped over to Alison Kent's blog this morning and saw that she had posted a link to Kate Rothwell's blog yesterday, where a letter from Medallion is posted regarding their no longer being "recognized" by RWA. It was announced last week that several publishers have lost RWA recognition, though [valid] reasons were not supplied. I'm suddenly very glad NOT to be a member of RWA. Let the backlash begin!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
