Japanese Rights Sold by Upper Access Books
Publishers’ Assistant Is Now Freeware
Japanese Rights Sold by Upper Access Books
June 3, 2009 - A major Japanese publisher, Kajima Shuppankai, has just issued its edition of “Why the Wind Blows: A History of Weather and Global Warming.” The book is published in the US by Upper Access, Inc., Book Publishers, in Hinesburg, Vermont, which negotiated the rights deal.
The book, written by Matthys Levy of Burlington, Vermont, re-tells stories of historical events influenced by the weather—and, in the process, educates the reader on the science of weather. The narrative leads up to our current crisis, global warming, cutting through some of the public confusion about that subject by helping the reader to understand the causes, effects, and challenges posed by global warming.
The Kajima edition is a direct translation of the Upper Access title, including all of the graphics and cover design by Vermont artists Kitty Werner and Sue Storey.
This is the latest of Levy’s series of books that provide a painless education on complex scientific subjects through story-telling. He is best known for the books Why Buildings Fall Down, Structural Design in Architecture, Why the Earth Quakes, Earthquake Games, and Engineering the City.
Kajima also published the Japanese edition of Levy’s best-seller Why Buildings Fall Down. Its success with that title made it a logical choice for the Japanese edition of Levy’s new book, according to Upper Access Publisher Steve Carlson.
Levy has participated in several IPNE-sponsored events, including signings and panel discussions at the Burlington Book Festival. Upper Access has been an active member of IPNE for several years. More information about the US edition of the book is at www.upperaccess.com . Information about the author is at www.matthyslevy.com.
Publishers’ Assistant Is Now Freeware June 3, 2009 - Publishers’ Assistant—the popular business software used by the book industry since 1989, is now available free of charge. The announcement was made today jointly by Steve Carlson of Upper Access, Inc., publisher of the software, and Ron Lawrence of Publishers’ Assistant, developer and programmer.
“We’ve been considering this for some time,” Carlson commented. “Now, with publishers struggling in a tough economy, it seemed the right time.” Carlson is primarily a book publisher, long active in the independent publishing movement and now serving as interim president of Independent Publishers of New England.
Publishers’ Assistant was first issued under the name PiiGS in 1989, as an affordable (then ($500) program, at a time when no other comparable software was available for less than $9,000. “We developed it because we needed it, and couldn’t afford what was out there, so of course it made sense to offer it to others as well,” Carlson says. At the time of the change, various versions were priced from $495 to $2,245.
With today’s announcement, the most widely used version, Lyric, which had been priced at $1,495, can now be downloaded free, with no strings attached. “We ask for registration via our shopping cart, so that we can inform you about bugs and upgrades,” Lawrence said. “But we guarantee that we will not share your contact information with other companies, and we never use it for spam.” The site for downloading, along with further information, is http://www.pubassist.com/ .
Like other industry-specific business programs, Publishers’ Assistant tracks data automatically when you enter invoices, shipping records, receipts, etc. With no extra keystrokes, it computes royalties and commissions, issues billing statements, tracks promotions, follows review copies, generates many business-analysis reports, plus hundreds of other functions that would otherwise require a great deal of paperwork.
Publishers’ Assistant is part of a triumvirate of offerings, along with Web services and the popular Couplet program, which manages contact and title information, including preparation of ONIX data, the book-industry standard. Couplet can work either with Publishers’ Assistant or independently, and will continue to retail at its current price of $99.
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Issued June 3, 2009.
Contacts: Steve Carlson at 1-800-310-8320 or steve@upperaccess.com
Ron Lawrence at 1-800-310-8716 or ron@pubassist.com