OverDrive released its lists of the most-downloaded e-books from libraries in December 2011. These lists look pretty different from the current New York Times e-book bestseller lists. Here’s why, plus a few interesting tidbits.

$9.99 is often treated as a magic price—the cost of a New York Times bestseller on Kindle back in the good old days, before big-six publishers adopted agency pricing models and ended Amazon’s discounting of their books. However, for a variety of reasons, few readers ever had the chance to…

Science fiction/fantasy publisher Orbit, which is part of Hachette Book Group, is expanding its short fiction e-offerings from the U.S. to the UK and other countries where Orbit titles are sold.

Big-six publisher Hachette Book Group is partnering with Bloomberg Businessweek on e-singles that will “illuminate key moments in the world of business,” drawing on content from the magazine. First up is Steve Jobs: 1955-2011.

E-books now make up about a fifth of “big six” publisher Hachette’s U.S. sales, but net sales for the quarter were down overall.

It is surprisingly hard for an author to know how many copies his or her book is selling. Now Simon & Schuster (NYSE: CBS) is giving its authors real-time access to their sales information for the first time, and Random House and Hachette Book Group just announced they will do…

Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) is moving from periodic e-book sales (like Sunshine Deals and Big Deals) into regular month-long Kindle promotions (along with its Kindle Daily Deals, launched last week). A new section of the Kindle store now offers “100 Kindle books for $3.99 or less,” selected by editors each month.…

On the heels of the news yesterday that over 20 percent of Random House’s U.S. sales are e-books, Hachette Book Group says that e-books made up 20 percent of its U.S. sales in the first half of this year, up from 10 percent in the first half of 2010.

How did a book first published in 1992 suddenly land at the top of the Kindle and Nook bestseller lists in 2011?

Yesterday’s news that the Borders bookstore chain is going to be sold off—much of it probably at fire-sale prices—means that some of the nation’s biggest publishers are going to be taking a bath, financially. Five publishing houses are owed more than $25 million by the bookstore chain, and many others…

Hearst Corp. is nearing completion of its $921 million (€640 million) acquisition of French media conglomerate Lagardère SCA. It’s finalized the purchase of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., which gives the publisher control of nearly 100 titles in 14 countries outside of France. On top of the magazines, the deal adds…

Technically, Bookish doesn’t have any revenue stream yet. The joint venture of Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), and Simon & Schuster (NYSE: CBS) went public Friday after more than a year in stealth but the launch is planned for summer. CEO Paulo Lemgruber and I chatted via e-mail about…

Three major publishers are behind the latest effort to boost print and digital book reading. Bookish, backed by Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), and Simon & Schuster (NYSE: CBS), promises an editorially independent platform for discovery and sales. It has been in stealth mode for months as “Obikosh.” (Get…

Google’s Android Marketplace, now home to more than 100,000 mobile apps, has fast become the top competitor to Apple’s App Store. But unlike Apple’s store, Android apps aren’t subject to extensive review before they’re made available in the store. Google’s more open system for uploading apps has led to a…

Teenage girls’ magazine Sugar is to close after a 75% fall in circulation over the past decade, with publisher Hachette Filipacchi blaming young readers’ appetite for free content.

Lagardere executives are moving out Alain Lemarchand as president and CEO of HFMUS, the magazine publisher of Elle, Woman’s Day and Car and Driver, and are moving in former president of Primedia (NYSE: PRM) Enthusiast Media and Source Interlink Steve Parr to replace him. Parr’s hiring is billed as the…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) ad exec Robin Domeniconi is officially leaving the company and will return to the magazine world to take on the role of SVP, chief brand officer for Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.‘s Elle Group, which is comprised of the Elle, Elle Decor and ELLEgirl brands, the publisher announced.…

Here’s an interesting New York real estate story: we’ve heard that Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S will be vacating its long-time 50th St. and Broadway offices this fall and will move a block and a half east to the *Time* Life Building. So far, some Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) staffers don’t…

Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. becomes the latest to try to tackle the mixed opportunities of mobile and various handheld devices by creating a new post. Florent Peyre has been promoted to VP-Emerging Platforms from VP-business and corporate development. Peyre is still reporting to Todd Anderman, SVP, Hacehette Digital, but with…