Monday News: HarperCollins sales down; Tournament of Books now Nook sponsored; GiveWell rates charities

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HarperCollins Results Fell in Fiscal 2012 – HarperCollins numbers were down in 2012 due to a drop in print sales that was partially offset by digital sales. Ebooks accounted for about 15% of HC’s global revenue. Publishers Weekly

In reporting results, News Corp. broke down HC revenue into consumer and other, although it doesn’t identify what other includes. In the quarter, consumer sales were $326 million and other $26 million, while in fiscal 2012, consumer sales were $1.12 billion and other $66 million. In providing background on HC, News Corp. said HC has about 100,000 SKUs with about 30,000 titles available in digital formats.

Announcing the 2013 Tournament of Books – The Tournament of Books is in its 9th year and this year’s tournament is sponsored by Nook. The tournament of books is a bracket like contest where books are pitted against each other. There is a panel of judges that determines the winner of each round.  The Morning News

Each weekday in March, two works of fiction from 2012 go head to head, with one of our judges deciding—with elaborate explanation—to advance one title into the next bracket. At the end of the month, the winner of the tournament is blessed with the Rooster, our prize named after David Sedaris’s brother (because why not). Along the way, each judge reveals his or her biases and interests, any connections they have to the participating authors, and, most importantly, how they decided between the two books. Then our ToB Chairmen, authors Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner, weigh in with commentary, and finally leave it up to you, the readers, to add your own passionate thoughts and rebukes to the mix.

The Wonkblog guide to holiday giving – When you make a charitable contribution, you want to know that your money is actually helping someone and not being spent to line pockets or be used inefficiently. Dylan Matthews of the Washington Post writes about the organization “Give Well.” Give Well is one of the “most rigorous and reliable evaluators” of charities.  The Washington Post

One of the things that’s striking about GiveWell’s list is that a lot of marquee charities — UNICEF, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, Doctors Without Borders, among others — aren’t on it. It’s not because GiveWell thinks those groups do a bad job, necessarily, but that it’s just not possible to know whether they’re doing a good one. Oxfam, for example, neither publicly releases evaluations of its programs nor focuses on areas where interventions would be particularly cost-effective. The next time you are thinking about giving to a charity, you may want to see what Give Well has to say about them.

2012 SFR Holiday Blitz – Heather Massey is hosting her annual SFR Holiday Blitz, an event where readers can win a variety of scifi romance ebooks. It will run until December 28. The Galaxy Express

To those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. Tomorrow there will be no news because a) it is Christmas but mostly b) I won’t be in a place that has internet access.  I know. Quelle horreur!  Pray for me.

Jane

Jane Litte is the founder of Dear Author, a lawyer, and a lover of pencil skirts. She self publishes NA and contemporaries (and publishes with Berkley and Montlake) and spends her downtime reading romances and writing about them. Her TBR pile is much larger than the one shown in the picture and not as pretty. You can reach Jane by email at jane @ dearauthor dot com

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