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First Book and Pearson, the world’s learning company, are encouraging America to #ReadUP as part of their campaign dedicated to raising the importance of literacy in the week leading up to Election Day. The campaign will unlock funds for new books to children in need and promote informed decision-making as Election Day draws closer.

For every use of the #ReadUP hashtag through November 8, 2016, First Book will donate a book to a child in need, with funding from Pearson, of up to $10,000.

“Among the many issues discussed in this year’s election season, the importance of an informed electorate has taken center stage,” said Kyle Zimmer, First Book president and CEO. “But key to the growth of an educated public is the ability to read and think. Raising the next generation of voters is dependent on the equitable and widespread distribution of books and educational resources. This is the mission to which First Book has dedicated itself for nearly 25 years.”

Jennifer Young, Director of Social Impact Programs at Pearson, said, “Literacy is the foundation for learning. Without literacy, people can’t access education, are more likely to experience poverty, and are unable to participate fully in society. That’s why Pearson founded and convened Project Literacy, a global campaign to close the literacy gap by 2030 – a gap that stands at one out of every tenth person on this planet who is locked out of the opportunities that literacy can bring. Pearson is very proud to be supporting the great work of First Book to help thousands of children start their journey towards a life of literacy and lifelong learning.”

Even if it is tough to imagine, the wide-eyed and curious children of today will become the voters of tomorrow. Having an informed electorate doesn’t happen overnight. The #ReadUP campaign aims to help give children the resources they need to explore their curiosities, ask important questions, and ultimately become well-informed voters.

And who knows, it might just be one of those children who we’re voting for  in the future.

Education is the foundation of our future. Use the hashtag #ReadUP on social media to promote literacy and provide a new book to a child in need. Visit First Book’s social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to join in the conversation. 

The post #ReadUP: A Non-Partisan Call-to-Action for Education and Literacy appeared first on First Book Blog.

This January illustration was sent in by illustrator Louise C Bergeron.  Her work always makes me smile.

In the past month, I have gotten a number of requests for self-publishing information, thus the reason for sharing this information with you.  The one important piece of advice I can personally share is not to rush your book out, because you are excited and can’t wait.  If you want your self-published book to stand up to the big boys, you need to cross every “t” and dot every “i”. We’ll talk more about that over the weeks. 

Digital Book Wired reported:

Responding to a changing self-publishing landscape, including Pearson’s acquisition of leading self-publishing services provider Author Solutions, Penguin’s Book Country workshopping and self-publishing community has made some changes and added new features, including a free ebook creation, publication and distribution tool. It has also raised the royalty rate that it offers authors to 85% of net sales, up from 70%.

Book Country had taken criticism from self-published authors for charging authors for publishing services and for the percent of revenues that it takes after the book goes on sale. Author Solutions, now a sister company to Book Country, has also faced similar criticism.

The writer community and self-publishing platform will also now offer an online editor service that will help authors with their ebook formatting issues. The self-publishing tool will now also be open to all kinds of writers, not just writers of genre fiction, which the tool was focused on before. The writing community, however, will still be limited to genre work. Book Country will now distribute to more retailers and also be abandoning its print self-publishing capabilities.

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Since its April launch, www.BookCountry.com has nearly 4,000 members who have posted 500 pieces of fiction, according to the company.

The self-publishing tool is integrated with Book Country’s “genre map,” a detailed classification system of many genres and sub-genres, offering authors fairly sophisticated marketing capabilities, including use of BISAC codes that help readers find books in their area of interest. Users are also given an online marketing guide and advice on pricing through a pricing calculator. Revenues from books sold are to be split between Penguin and the authors, depending on the price the author selects for the book and the distribution method.

“You don’t have to drive around with books in the back of your Subaru anymore”, said Penguin global digital director Barton.

Users can opt for professional print- and e-book production through outsourced firms for $549, produce it themselves for print and digital distribution for $299 or produce it themselves for e-book-only distribution for $99.

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Random House sold 11.2 million ebook units; Hachette 8.7 million; Harper UK 7.2 million, and Pan Macmillan 4.5 million. Some of those units were driven by the deep-discount 20-pence promotional bestsellers that have roiled the UK market in recent months.

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ePublisher Premier Digital announced a strategic alliance with Ingram in a lengthy press release that doesn’t really explain the business relationship, except to say that it covers “the management and distribution of print and digital content” though Ingram’s “integrated print, digital, and full-service distribution services.”

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Educational publishers have been accused of not providing enough support to help independent bookshops stay on the high street, as owners call for more discounts.

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Pearson has bought German educational materials company Stark Holdings.

The company provides text preparation resources for pupils and teachers. It had sales of €20m for its most recent financial year and has gross assets estimated at €32.6m.

Pearson said the acquisition diversifies its German business and it expects to generate a return on the cost of capital a year after the acquisition formally goes ahead. It is subject to regulatory approval.

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Do something good before jetting off this weekend – check out this beautifully-produced video from Pearson’s We Give Books and On My Mind Foundation. These two organizations paired up on a trip to Haiti to help schools affected by the earthquake disaster last year, and address the overwhelming illiteracy rate in that area. Now, We Give Books is providing 1,000 books to kids in Haiti, and you can find out more and help here.

The video features Jesse Joshua Watson, author/illustrator of the Putnam book Hope For Haiti, one of my favorite picture books we’ve published recently.  Jesse’s artwork is brilliantly colored and perfectly suited to this uplifting story.  It goes well beyond soccer and speaks straight to the heart of Haiti’s youngest generation.  A must read – and I’m so glad that children in Haiti were able to experience it in their own language!