HarperCollins and Amazon have reached a multiyear deal for the sale of the publisher's titles that uses the agency model for e-books and is similar to the deals Amazon struck late last year with Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Macmillan, according to the Wall Street Journal, which, like HarperCollins, is owned by News Corp. The Journal quoted "a person familiar with the situation."

Amazon provided no comment. For its part, HarperCollins issued a one-sentence statement: "HarperCollins has reached an agreement with Amazon and our books will continue to be available on the Amazon print and digital platforms."

The Journal said the deal, like the ones with other major publishers, includes "incentives for HarperCollins to provide lower prices to consumers" and will go into effect this week.

Earlier this month, there were rumblings about negotiations between Amazon and HarperCollins. First, a Business Insider piece, based apparently on a source at Amazon (Business Insider is partly owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos), said that the companies' current contract was going to expire soon and that HarperCollins was "refusing to sign an agreement with the new terms that Amazon is asking." It added, "If HarperCollins and Amazon don't come to an agreement, no print or digital HarperCollins books will be available on Amazon once its existing contract runs out 'very soon.' " Neither party commented on those negotiations.

Then last week, Publishers Lunch said that HarperCollins was returning to an agency model for e-books beginning today, as an "interim" step before permanent contracts.

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Busy HarperCollins booth at this week's London Book Fair.

In other HarperCollins news, the publisher is continuing to expand its international operations, building on Harlequin's programs. Today it announced the formation of HarperCollins Holland, HarperCollins Japan, HarperCollins Nordic (consisting of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark) and HarperCollins Polska (Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). Each company will publish 30-50 HarperCollins titles this fall, and the existing Harlequin programs will continue. The programs will launch with several internationally bestselling authors, including Karin Slaughter, Daniel Silva, Faye Kellerman, Stephanie Laurens and Alyson Noel, and each list will also have titles tailored to local markets.

Since HarperCollins acquired Harlequin last year, which added more than a dozen international publishing offices to the company's operations, it has formed HarperCollins Germany, HarperCollins Iberica and HarperCollins Español.

"The growth of our foreign-language publishing program is proceeding as we had envisioned and we are thrilled to be expanding into these new regions with such an outstanding list of authors," said HarperCollins president and CEO Brian Murray. "We have seen great success in coordinated global publishing in the English language--lining up marketing, sales, and publicity in multiple markets simultaneously. Now, we are able to extend the effort even further to these foreign language markets."

Wendy Sheanin

Congratulations to Wendy Sheanin, who has been promoted to v-p, director of marketing, at Simon & Schuster. She has been director of marketing of the adult trade group and joined S&S in 2007.

In announcing the promotion, executive v-p and chief marketing officer Liz Perl noted that--as we've all seen--Sheanin has been "an indefatigable advocate for our adult titles, galvanizing booksellers through creative marketing campaigns, influential newsletters and dedicated B2B email blasts, hosting bookseller events, handselling and more.

"Her passion for books, knowledge of literature both popular and obscure, her skilled and creative approach to positioning and marketing our titles and her great taste has made Wendy a widely respected and trusted partner with colleagues here and throughout the industry. Booksellers of all walks have come to rely on Wendy (a former events manager at San Francisco's A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books) for sharing great books as well as great ideas for selling them. Working together with our sales department, Wendy’s outreach to independent booksellers has been instrumental to our success in garnering Indie Next Picks--29 Picks in 2014, including two #1 selections! Her enthusiasm and hard work have contributed greatly to the success of such recent titles as All the Light We Cannot See, We Are Called to Rise, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You, Mrs. Poe, The Accidental Empress and A Man Called Ove."

She's also been a key presence at and supporter of BookExpo America, regional bookseller associations trade shows, the ABA's Winter Institute, Independent Bookstore Day and Indies First.

In addition, she oversees S&S's book club outreach, including the "Something to Read About" newsletter, website and catalogues. She's a liaison with with Edelweiss, works with the sales department to develop backlist marketing programs, and recently took on the management of "Off the Shelf," S&S's book recommendation newsletter and blog.

The American Library Association released its annual Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom reported that a current analysis of book challenges recorded by the OIF from 2001 to 2013 indicated that attempts to remove books by authors of color and books with themes about issues concerning communities of color are disproportionately challenged and banned.

In 2014, the OIF received 311 reports regarding attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves, with 89% of the 2014 Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books reflecting diverse authors and cultural content. The new list was included in the ALA's State of America's Libraries Report 2014.

The most challenged books last year were:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
5. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Amazon is requesting tax abatements "as part of its plan to open another distribution center in North Texas, this time in southern Dallas," the Morning News reported, adding that the proposed facility, employing 500 to 900 people, would "handle small items versus the Coppell center that opened in 2013."

The online retailer is asking the Dallas County Commissioners Court for a tax abatement on $17 million worth of equipment and inventory before it makes a final decision to operate a 500,000-square-foot distribution center, which is currently being built on spec.

E-Fairness is an international challenge. This month, Retail NZ and Booksellers NZ are launching an #eFairnessNZ campaign to "encourage the government to take urgent action to close the existing de minimis loophole."  

In a post on the organization's website, Booksellers NZ wrote that New Zealand "is currently seriously disadvantaged by a loophole that means that people do not pay GST or duty on low-value purchases (generally goods less than $400 in value) when they buy from foreign websites. This creates a reverse tariff which unfairly discriminates against Kiwi retailers. Booksellers NZ are working hard alongside Retail NZ to level the playing field for local retailers including our membership bookstores."
 
As part of the #eFairnessNZ campaign, booksellers are encouraged to write their local MPs "and let them know that you support eFairness in New Zealand: tell them how the existing GST loop hole is impairing the progress of your store and the financial and cultural well-being of your local community. We have also supplied a helpful list matching local bookstores to their local MP's.... Booksellers NZ have provided the eFairness Action Kit to make this outreach easier."

Harold Dillon

Harold Dillon, who had a 54-year career in the book business, died March 31. He was 93. Dillon began his career in the late 1940s, managing Zavelle's, an off-campus bookstore in Princeton, N.J. Subsequently, as a publisher's rep with Doubleday and Random House in Denver, his territory initially included 31% of the entire U.S. During his more than 21 years with Random House, he enjoyed calling on the healthy and vibrant independent booksellers throughout the inter-mountain west.

In 1979, Dillon retired from Random House to become the owner and operator of Dillon's Books, a paperback book distributorship in Boulder. He later went back to working as an independent rep until officially retiring at the age of 78.

Dillon was fond of quoting Barbara Tuchman: "Books are humanity in print." A private memorial will be held in Denver, Colo., on April 25.

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Uruguayan author and journalist Eduardo Galeano, "one of Latin America's leading anti-capitalist voices" whose 1971 book, Open Veins of Latin America, "rocketed to the top of U.S. bestseller lists after the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez presented a copy to President Barack Obama in 2009," died yesterday, the Guardian reported. He was 74.

Galeano wrote dozens of works of fiction and nonfiction, with several of them being translated into as many as 20 languages. His books include the Memory of Fire trilogy, Football in Sun & Shadow and Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History.

Kepler's Books of Menlo Park, Calif., in partnership with Peninsula Arts & Letters, will host In Deep with Angie Coiro, a weekly radio show starring journalist and interviewer Angie Coiro. Each hour-long show brings on a "newsmaker, author or thinker" to discuss current events with questions and commentary from a live audience. The first episode, which airs tomorrow, features sex and health educators Dr. Robert Lehman and Julie Metzger of Great Conversations in Seattle and authors of Will Puberty Last My Whole Life?; and Molly Andrews and David M. Lutken, cast members of TheatreWorks' current production, Fire on the Mountain, which portrays the lives of mining families in Appalachia.

"Part of the value we are creating here is an important new media opportunity to get the word out about new authors and books," said Praveen Madan, CEO of Kepler's Books. "The shrinking amount of space devoted to book reviews and book talks in traditional media has made it harder for publishers to reach readers. We are excited by the potential of this new programming to publicize important books, while also promoting critical thinking, literacy, and conversation in the community."

Angie Coiro

"Our goal is to bring top writers, cultural and business leaders, scientists and thinkers to the community," said Jean Forstner, director of programming and operations at Peninsula Arts & Letters. "This is an extension of that effort, and a unique opportunity to work with a talented and inquisitive journalist to create a live-format event that broadens and extends these great conversations to a national audience. We believe we are the first bookstore in the country to do this."

Peninsula Arts & Letters was created in 2012 as a nonprofit, events-focused spinoff of for-profit Kepler's Books. Under it aegis, Coiro has hosted several "Premier Event Series" appearances with guests like Gail Sheehy, Barbara Ehrenreich and Barney Frank. "There was tremendous community response to Angie's interviews," said Forstner. "Given that the audience will actually participate in the radio shows, this format provides an even deeper and more engaging experience for both the guest and the audience."

In Deep with Angie Coiro started in 2009 as The Angie Coiro Show. This new incarnation of the program will be nationally syndicated and broadcast on various commercial and public radio stations. It will also be available on Netroots Radio, as a podcast on Public Radio Exchange and on iTunes. The show will be recorded live at Kepler's on Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. beginning tomorrow, April 15. Seats are free through April 22 and $10 after that, payable online or at the door.

In a video for National Library Week, historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough--whose next book is The Wright Brothers (Simon & Schuster, May 5)--"discusses his relationship with libraries and librarians throughout his career, including his first visits to the library as a youngster."

Mitzi's Books, Rapid City

Noting that Rapid City, S.D., readers love to "visit the area's many bookstores," the Journal reported local booksellers "find that business is still booming."

"Rapid City still serves a high percentage of customers that prefer the physical book," said Tarah Jennings of Mitzi's Books. "They really enjoy reading with a book in their hands.... We know e-books are here to stay. We've learned to adapt our business and work alongside it.... Every book has its own magic with each story. Having that story with you, physically, is the best feeling."

At Abrams:

Chris Blank has been promoted to director of online marketing operations. He was formerly senior manager of digital marketing.

Jody Mosley is joining the children's department in the newly created position of associate publisher, effective May 1. She is currently director of special markets.

Monica Shah is being promoted to director of special markets. She is currently special markets gift manager.

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At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Liz Anderson has been promoted to social media manager.

Leila Meglio has been promoted to publicity associate. She was previously publicity assistant.

Toddlers Are A**Holes (It's Not Your Fault) by Bunmi Laditan (Workman Publishing), from the woman behind @HonestToddler.

Tomorrow on MSNBC's the Cycle: Chris Hadfield, author of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth (Back Bay Books, $17, 9780316253031). He'll also appear tomorrow on Weather Channel's Wake Up and CNBC's Squawk Box.

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Tomorrow on Tavis Smiley: Noam Chomsky, co-author of On Palestine (Haymarket, $11.95, 9781608464708).

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Tomorrow on Diane Rehm: Cokie Roberts, author of Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 (Harper, $27.99, 9780062002761).

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Tomorrow on the View: Kimberly Schlapman, co-author of Oh Gussie!: Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly's Southern Kitchen (Morrow, $29.99, 9780062323712).

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Tomorrow on Watch What Happens Live: Fredrik Eklund, author of The Sell: The Secrets of Selling Anything to Anyone (Avery, $26.95, 9781592409310).

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Tomorrow on the Wendy Williams Show: Katie Lee, author of Endless Summer Cookbook (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $29.95, 9781617691447).

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Tomorrow night on Conan: Christina Tosi, author of Milk Bar Life: Recipes & Stories (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780770435103).

"Matthias Schoenaerts asks Carey Mulligan to marry him in a clip from Far from the Madding Crowd," based on Thomas Hardy's classic novel, Indiewire reported. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt, The Celebration), the movie opens on May 1.

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Willem Dafoe will star in Hunter Killer, directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Green Lantern) and based on the novel Firing Point by George Wallace & Don Keith. Deadline.com reported that the cast also includes Gerard Butler and Billy Bob Thornton.

The shortlist for this year's £30,000 (about $43,950) Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction includes five previously shortlisted authors and one debut novelist. Chair of judges Shami Chakrabarti said, "The novels we shared and the shortlist we ultimately honor form a body of great women's writing to entertain and inspire for many years to come." A winner will be announced in London June 3. The shortlisted titles are:

Outline by Rachel Cusk
The Bees by Laline Paull
A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
How to Be Both by Ali Smith
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

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The five finalists for the Audiobook of the Year, sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association, are:

The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin, narrated by Edward Herrmann (Simon & Schuster Audio)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Derek Jacobi and a full cast (HarperAudio)
Mandela: An Audio History by Nelson Mandela, narrated by Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Joe Richman (Highbridge Audio/Recorded Books)
What I Know For Sure, written and narrated by Oprah Winfrey (Macmillan Audio)
Yes Please, written and narrated by Amy Poehler (Harper Audio)

The four finalists for the Distinguished Achievement in Production are:

The Child by Sebastian Fitzek, narrated by Rupert Penry-Jones, Jack Boulter, Emilia Fox, Stephen Marcus, Robert Glenister and Andy Serkis (Audible, Inc.)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Neil Gaiman, Derek Jacobi, Robert Madge, Clare Corbett, Miriam Margolyes, Andrew Scott and Julian Rhind-Tutt (HarperAudio)
Report from Nuremberg: The International War Crimes Trial by Harold Burson, narrated by Christian Rummel, Richard McGonagle, Gabrielle de Cuir, Kristoffer Tabori, Arthur Morey, Joe Nocera and others (Audible, Inc.)
Revolution by Deborah Wiles, narrated by Stacey Aswad, Francois Battiste, J.D. Jackson and Robin Miles (Listening Library)

The winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala on May 28 in New York City.

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Winners of this year's Peters Book of the Year awards, sponsored by Peters Books & Furniture, are Smelly Louie by Catherine Rayner (picture book), A Room Full of Chocolate by Jane Elson (junior fiction) and A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond (teen fiction). Shortlists were compiled by a team of librarians. From December to March, participating children, teachers and librarians voted for their favorites.

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Finalists have been named for the Doug Wright Awards, which recognize "the best in English-language comics (or translations of French) by Canadian cartoonists." Winners will be announced May 9 during the Toronto Comics Arts Festival.

LibraryReads, the nationwide library staff-picks list, offers the top 10 May titles public library staff across the country love:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey, $25, 9780804179034). "A young girl is unexpectedly uprooted from her family and becomes involved in a centuries-old battle with The Wood, a malevolent entity which destroys anyone it touches. Fast-paced, with magic, mystery and romance, Novik's stand-alone novel is a fairy tale for adults." --Lucy Lockley, St. Charles City-County Library, St. Peters, Mo.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury, $18.99, 9781619634442). "The human world is in peril. Feyre, a semi-literate girl, hunts for her family's survival. After she kills an enormous wolf, a fierce fey shows up at her doorstep seeking retribution. Feyre is led to beautiful eternal springs, but the journey is not without danger. Maas masterfully pulls the reader into this new dark fantasy series which feels like a mix of fairy tales, from Beauty and the Beast to Tam Lin." --Jessica C. Williams, Westlake Porter Public Library, Westlake, Ohio

A God in Ruins: A Novel by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown, $28, 9780316176538). "In A God in Ruins, we become reacquainted with Teddy Todd, the beloved little brother of Ursula from Atkinson's last book. As with Life After Life, this novel skims back and forth in time, and we see the last half of the 20th century through Ted's eyes and the eyes of his loved ones. At times funny and at others heartbreaking, Atkinson revels in the beauty and horror of life in all its messiness." --Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, Conn.

The Water Knife: A Novel by Paolo Bacigalupi (Knopf, $25.95, 9780385352871). "Bacigalupi's novel looks at the possible struggle for water rights in the southwestern United States. Reading Bacigalupi's novel made me thankful for the current easy access to clean drinking water, yet fearful for our future. A great read for any fan of dystopian fiction." --Lindsay Atwood, Chandler Public Library, Chandler, Ariz.

The Knockoff: A Novel by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza (Doubleday, $25.95, 9780385539586). "The Knockoff is a digital-age mash-up of old-school movies The Women and All About Eve, set in the Devil Wears Prada world of a high fashion magazine. I absolutely loved this fresh, charming, addictive and ultimately heroic story of 40-something cancer survivor Imogen's quest to rescue and rebuild her career, despite the machinations of a younger tech-wiz rival." --Janet Schneider, Bryant Library, Roslyn, N.Y.

Early Warning: A Novel by Jane Smiley (Knopf, $26.95, 9780307700322). "In the second book of the Langdon trilogy, the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist follows the next generation of the unforgettable Iowa family introduced in Some Luck. Beginning with the death of the patriarch Walter in 1953, Smiley chronicles the social consciousness in America of the 1960s. The book goes up to events in the 1970s and early 1980s that touch each family member in unforeseen ways." --Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, N.J.

Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (Morrow, $35, 9780062190376). "Stephenson's back in fine form with this hard science fiction masterpiece, combining the detail of Cryptonomicon with the fast-paced action of Reamde. Fans of Anathem will appreciate Stephenson's speculation about the possibilities of human evolution. This book is a great follow-up for readers who enjoyed the science of Weir's The Martian. I heartily recommend Seveneves to SF readers." --Keith Hayes, Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, N.C.

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25, 9780544330146). "Griffiths has written another strong entry in her excellent Ruth Galloway series. Here, Ruth is called in when a World War II plane is excavated, complete with pilot--but the pilot is in the wrong plane. Strong characters combine with an absorbing puzzle to create a hard-to-put-down mystery." --Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Our Souls at Night: A Novel by Kent Haruf (Knopf, $24, 9781101875896). "Beautiful, elegant and poignant, this novel is a distilled experience of Haruf's writing. The story of how two elders attempt to poke at the loneliness and isolation that surrounds them will stick with me for a long time to come. I’m amazed at how Haruf says so much with such spare prose. He will be missed." --Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur Books, $25.99, 9781250028594). "Set in the Falkland Islands, this novel grabs you from the opening paragraph. A child is missing, and he's not the first. The incident sets off a chain of events leading to multiple characters confessing to murder. Accustomed to living in an idyllic community, fear and anger escalate among the locals. Bolton has created a page-turner of a story with a surprise ending." --Elizabeth Kanouse, Denville Public Library, Denville, N.J.

Voices in the Night: Stories, Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Millhauser's (Martin Dressler) third collection of short fiction since 2004, is a captivating group of 16 stories, whose decidedly fantastic perspective on what we like to think of as ordinary life infuses mundane existence with a persistent sense of mystery and wonder.

A characteristic Millhauser story starts off in an unnamed, nondescript town where an odd event or series of them quickly alters everyday life. That's the essential plot device in "Phantoms," where people start seeing night visions, and "Elsewhere," where a collective wanderlust emerges over the course of one summer. "A Report on Our Recent Troubles" describes a wave of suicides that devastate one town, while "Mermaid Fever" is the account of what happens when a dead mermaid washes up on the beach and quickly is put on display by the town's historical society. Millhauser's gift lies in his ability to maintain the plausibility of these stories while at the same time allowing their surreal qualities to flourish. 

Millhauser also demonstrates his mastery when he turns to familiar source material. In "Rapunzel," he reimagines the classic fairy tale, shifting perspectives from prince to sorceress to their love object to tell a story of romantic obsession and the constancy of true love. He relies on a similar structure in "A Voice in the Night," the story that concludes the collection, linking the biblical prophet Samuel to a young boy in 1950s Connecticut--and that same boy in his 60s, now an established author--in their encounters with the dilemma of faith. "The Pleasures and Suffering of Young Gautama" is a luxuriant account of the young Buddha's attempt to break the fetters of his royal life to realize his destiny.

One of the most striking aspects of Millhauser's style is the near absence of anything that looks like conventional dialogue. Only "Miracle Polish" (the tale of a product whose magical glass-cleaning properties permanently alter one romantic relationship) and "Sons and Mothers" (a frightening story of the encounter between an adult son and his mother on one of his infrequent visits) contain any meaningful number of scenes in which characters talk to each other. Because Millhauser excels at exposition and pacing, this unusual feature of his work doesn't diminish its appeal.

"The world within the world is too small for a man with a restless heart," thinks Chanda, the Buddha's companion. In these enchanting, unsettling stories, Steven Millhauser bursts the boundaries of the world we think we know to help us see it anew. --Harvey Freedenberg, attorney and freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: In 16 stories, Steven Millhauser transcends the boundary between fantasy and reality.

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. The 20/20 Diet by Phil McGraw
2. Crave (MacKenzie Security Book 11) by Liliana Hart
3. 10 Years Later by J. Sterling
4. Destined for Power (Women of Power #4) by Kathleen Brooks
5. Dagger's Hope (The Alliance Book 3) by S. E. Smith
6. Nobody's Dream (Rescue Me Saga #6) by Kallypso Masters
7. The Forbidden Russian Lover (The Hart Sisters Trilogy Book 3) by Elizabeth Lennox
8. Here With Me (The Archer Brothers Book 1) by Heidi McLaughlin
9. Shopping for a Billionaire by Julia Kent
10. Consolation (The Consolation Duet Vol. 1) by Corinne Michaels

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]