Amazon Expands Into the Middle East; Pearson Settles Class Action

[PW Daily: Breaking book business, bookselling and author news, bestsellers lists and publishing deals.] [Darth Vader™ and Family Coloring Book By Jeffrey Brown]( [With Purchase of Souq.com, Amazon Moves Into Middle East]( The acquisition of Souq.com, a Dubai-based online retailer that is the dominant one in the Middle East, comes one month after Souq announced plans to open a "global bookstore." [more »]( [Pearson Settles Textbook Royalty Case]( Two authors had claimed Pearson was shortchanging them on royalties, and had sought class action status, asserting that that their fellow Pearson authors were also likely owed millions of dollars more. [more »]( [Muslim Publishers Look to Build Bridges, Counter Cultural Misunderstanding]( Books on Islam from small Muslim publishing houses make up a rich but challenging niche market and can serve as a bridge between cultures. [more »]( For more about these and other great jobs, visit the new [PW JobZone]( now with resume hosting and more! - [Account Manager, Foreign Rights - National Geographic Partners - Washington, DC](. - [Administrative Assistant, Sales and Marketing - Parragon Inc - New York](. - [Managing Editor - Parragon Inc - New York](. - [Publicity & Marketing Manager - Hachette Book Group - Boston](. - [Editorial Director - Sasquatch Books - Seattle](. JOB MOVES Iris Mori has been promoted to distribution department coordinator at Chronicle Books. Ellise Yu has been promoted to subsidiary rights and custom publishing coordinator at Chronicle Books. Amelia Mack has been promoted to lead designer for children's books at Chronicle Books. Noah Schwartzberg, formerly acquisitions editor at Fairchild Books, has joined McGraw-Hill Professional as senior editor for its business group. Casie Kolbeck, formerly event coordinator at Chronicle Books, has joined Callisto Media as sales associate. [VIEW ALL »]( Spotlight on Comics and Graphic Novels [Back on the Farm: Jeff Lemire]( Jeff Lemire has a number of graphic novel projects coming in the spring, including 'Roughneck' (coming from S&S/Gallery 13) and 'Black Hammer' (published by Dark Horse Comics). [more » »]( [The Sand Warrior Advanced Readers Copy]( [MoCCA Arts Fest 2017 Unveils Guests and Programming]( The MoCCA Arts Festival, an annual festival of indie graphic novels held by the Society of Illustrators, opens Saturday at the Metropolitan West space on West 46th St. in Manhattan. [More To Come Podcast 253: Netflix, Monsters, Conventions]( We discuss Netflix shows (including 'Iron Fist'), Fantagraphics bestseller 'My Favorite Thing is Monsters,' and news from New York Comic Con and the Big Apple Con. [Candied Plums Launches with Bilingual Picture Book List]( Seattle and Beijing-based publishing company Candied Plums has entered the American market with a list of contemporary English and bilingual picture books from China. [more » »]( [iBooks Bestsellers: Slaughter Sits 'Pretty' On Top]( Karin Slaughter's 'Pretty Girls' hit the top of the iBooks bestseller list last week, followed by Liane Moriarty's 'Big Little Lies' as its HBO adaptation comes to a close. [more » »]( [Call for Information: Business Books]( Deadline: April 5. For this feature, we’d like to hear about books addressing various aspects of working life, such as leadership and management, climbing the corporate ladder, negotiating, entrepreneurship, and surviving in the gig economy. Pub. dates: June–December 2017. New titles only, please; no reprints. Please email pitches and links to artwork to features@publishersweekly.com and put “Call for Info: Business Books” in the subject line. [more » »]( Authors on the Air [Authors on the Air March 28, 2017: Karen White]( Karen White, author of 'The Night The Lights Went Out' (Berkley, 978-0-45148-838-1), will appear on 'The NOT Boring Book Show' on Wednesday, March 28th at 12:00 p.m EST. [more » »]( News Briefs [Bookmasters Signs Three for Distribution]( Publishers Bitmap Books, KiCam Projects, and Dalton Windsor have signed new sales and distribution agreements with the publishing services provider. [more » »]( THE ROUNDUP ['Children of Blood and Bone' Scores Big]( Macmillan and Fox 2000 land an African-flavored fantasy—the first in a planned trilogy by a 23-year-old debut novelist—for seven figures. [Best Translated Book Award Longlists]( Celebrating its tenth iteration, the BTBAs announced its longlists for translated fiction and poetry this morning. [Claudia Rankine Wins Bobbitt Prize]( Rankine has won the 2016 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for her acclaimed book 'Citizen: An American Lyric.' [Jeff Buckley's Journals]( The handwritten journals of the singer-songwriter, who died tragically in 1997 at age 30, will be reproduced in a forthcoming book from Da Capo Press. [A Long Lost Library Book]( A man returned a library book after 35 years with an apology, donation, and explanation: He says he has read it at least 25 times. [VIEW ALL »]( PW Bestsellers [Children's Fiction Bestseller List]( 'Dragonwatch' by Brandon Mull is the #1 title on PW's children's frontlist fiction bestseller list. [See the full list » »]( PW DAILY REVIEW OF THE DAY ['The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' by Arundhati Roy]( "Appearing two decades after 1997's celebrated 'The God of Small Things,' Roy's ambitious, original, and haunting second novel fuses tenderness and brutality, mythic resonance and the stuff of front-page headlines." [more » »]( SHELFTALKER [Love a Children’s Bookstore? Nominate It for the Pannell Award!]( Elizabeth Bluemle Anyone can nominate a favorite bookstore, from customers to staff. The deadline is April 10! [more »]( PICTURE OF THE DAY [Down the Atamaha, 'River of Kings']( Taylor Brown, author of 'The River of Kings' (St. Martin's Press), sets off on a 13.5-mile, weekend-long trip down Georgia's Altamaha River with over 100 paddlers on behalf of the Georgia Conservancy. Photo: Ben Galland E-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [PubTech Connect | April 20, 2017]( [The BookLife Prize - Enter Now]( [Want more? Get more! Sign up for Publishers Weekly today!]( To submit pictures of the day, email pics@publishersweekly.com Send editorial questions about this e-newsletter to: jmilliot@publishersweekly.com Send advertising questions about this e-newsletter to: cbryerman@publishersweekly.com For additional assistance, contact us by email or at the address below. Publishers Weekly, 71 West 23 St. #1608 New York, NY 10010 Phone 212-377-5500 Copyright 2017, PWxyz LLC Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( You are receiving this email because {EMAIL} subscribed to one of Publishers Weekly's e-newsletters. If you are not {EMAIL}, then please disregard this. If you would like to stop receiving this or any Publishers Weekly e-newsletter or promotional emailing, [click here to update your newsletter subscription preferences](. Publishers Weekly takes spam very seriously. This email message meets all the requirements of the United States CAN-SPAM Act and Canada¹s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). If you would like your email address removed from all Publishers Weekly email lists, [click here to unsubscribe](. [Delicious]( [Digg]( [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [Reddit]( [StumbleUpon]( [Twitter](