BookPeople, the Australian booksellers association, has updated its Web presence with a dedicated membership website and a new consumer-facing site, Books+Publishing reported.
"Each site has been designed with a distinct audience in mind," said BookPeople operations manager Kate Sloggett. "The new member site is the face of our new association management software system that integrates many backend functions to streamline and create a central hub for our members. The consumer-facing website aims to celebrate and promote bookshops, making it easier for readers to find and connect with their local bookshop. It is the new home for the upgraded Find a Bookshop directory, reading guides, bestseller lists, and the annual Love Your Bookshop Day campaign."
BookPeople president Tim Jarvis added: "This is a systems improvement that will make a genuinely positive difference in the way BookPeople operates."
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| Arnaud Nourry | |
Artemis, the holding company of the Pinault family in France, has acquired a minority interest in Les Nouveaux Éditeurs, the Paris publishing group founded by Arnaud Nourry. The Bookseller reported that the investment, "meant to support the development of LNE in the years to come, makes Artemis the second shareholder of LNE, alongside the Fondateurs LNE holding company. Together, they own 100% of LNE's capital."
LNE currently includes eight publishing houses, two of which have been publicly announced: La Tribu and Maison Pop. The other six will be revealed gradually over the next few months, Nourry said in an interview with Livres Hebdo. The plan is to publish 20 to 30 books this year, 100 next year and, "if all goes well," 200 to 250 in 2027.
Nourry, now CEO, said: "To have persuaded François Pinault and François-Henri Pinault [co-founders of Artemis] to support Les Nouveaux Éditeurs fills me with joy. Known for their deep commitment to culture and for their enduring support of innovative companies, their decision honors me. It is also great news for the publishing industry, whose role in culture, education and public debate has never been more essential than today."
Pinault commented: "Les Nouveaux Éditeurs is a breath of fresh air in the publishing industry, and we are happy to seize the opportunity to partner with them. Our acquisition of an interest in LNE's capital is evidence of how much culture, innovation and entrepreneurial culture are essential to Artemis' strategy."
LNE "offers publishers the opportunity to own a share of their publishing house's capital and their editorial freedom is guaranteed by the group's bylaws, while benefiting from the business and financial support of LNE," the Bookseller noted.
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The Giller Foundation, which administers Canada's Giller Prize for fiction prize, has ended its 20-year relationship with main sponsor Scotiabank, "more than a year after members of the literary community began protesting the bank's ties to an Israeli arms manufacturer," CBC News reported.
"Following discussions, Scotiabank and the Giller Foundation decided that the best path forward was an end to the partnership," executive director Elana Rabinovitch said. "Their support has helped transform the Giller Prize into one of the foremost literary awards in Canada, and we look forward to building on that legacy as we move into an exciting new era."
Despite the decision, organizers of the No Arms in the Arts campaign said their boycott of the literary institution will continue. "The boycott will stand so long as the Giller retains the Azrieli Foundation and Indigo Books as sponsors, two entities also financing the ongoing oppression of Palestinians and the silencing of free expression in Canada," Michael DeForge, organizer with Canlit Responds and No Arms in the Arts, told CBC News. --Robert Gray