She won three swimming medals when she was only 14, has posed for Playboy and struggled with drugs and eating disorders. Now Beard is telling her story, and the release of her new memoir will hopefully coincide with her bid to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Instead of licensing the digital rights to Penguin, Ian Fleming's literary estate is making the e-book editions available directly itself. Getting the most out of the Bond brand is the estate's rationale for keeping the e-books in-house.
Two of the Big Six publishing houses reported a rise in sales this week, further evidence that the worst of the industry's doldrums may be coming to an end. Simon & Schuster also increased profit, while HarperCollins remained in the red.
Book publisher Simon & Schuster did not have the greatest of first quarters, according to the report released Wednesday: Sales and earnings dropped or were flat compared to a year ago. The bright spot, however, came on the digital side, with e-book sales zooming up.
While parent company CBS ended 2009 with a modest 1% dip in sales, the same could not be said for its book publishing arm Simon & Schuster. For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, S&S reported sales of $220 million, a 10% drop (or $25 million) from the previous year, and profits of $13.6 million, more than half as much ($28.5 million) the company earned in 2008.
