At SXSW, the disconnect between traditional book publishing and the forward-thinking conference attendees was never more apparent than in reaction to yesterday’s “New Think for Old Publishers” panel featuring Clay Shirky (whose recent essay on the newspaper industry has been much discussed over the weekend.) The panel writeup had audience members believing the session was about learning what was wrong and right with publishing. Panel members, which included Penguin marketing director John Fagan, Putnam President Ivan Held and Bloomsbury Publicity Director Peter Miller, and moderator Deborah Schultz, evidently had something else in mind: to invite the audience to tell them […]
Archives for March 2009
Informa Cuts Final Dividend to Reduce Net Debts
The publishing and events group is targeting debts of below £1bn but insisted there was no danger of banking covenants being breached. The final dividend, down at 3.9p from 11.3p, will be paid on 3 July.Telegraph
People
Rebecca Gradinger has left Janklow & Nesbit Associates and launched Finchley Road Literary, a boutique agency specializing in literary fiction, up-market commercial fiction, narrative non-fiction, memoir, humor and pop culture. (She has also worked as a scout at Mary Anne Thompson Associates and a lawyer practicing media and intellectual property law at Frankfurt Garbus Kurnit Klein & Selz). Kevin Howell has been named associate marketing manager for Tarcher/Penguin, reporting to Brianna Yashimita. He was previously bookselling and audiobook review editor at Publishers Weekly. Shelf Awareness reports on Saturday’s memorial service for Baker & Taylor senior VP of merchandising Jean Smercz, […]
Announcements
Gary Young has won the Shelley Memorial Award, given annually by the Poetry Society of America to a living American poet “selected with reference to genius and need.” The 2009 Iowa Short Fiction Award was given to Kathryn Ma for her collection, “All That Work and Still No Boys,” which will be published this fall by the University of Iowa Press. IndieBound has been named by ReBrand as one of its 100 Global Winning Brands.
Books-A-Million CEO Quits
Sandra Cochran notified Books-A-Million that she has resigned from her positions as president and ceo effective March 11 “in order to accept an executive position with another company.” (In April she will become cfo of Cracker Barrel.)The statement says “Cochran’s resignation was voluntary and did not result from any disagreement with the company or its board.” Executive chairman of the board Clyde Anderson has taken over as ceo.
Simonoff Moves to WMA, and More People News
Agent Eric Simonoff is leaving Janklow & Nesbit after 18 years to join William Morris. He will take all of his clients with him. Professor of philosophy at Princeton and novelist Kwame Anthony Appiah is expected to take over from Francine Prose as president of the PEN American center. Nick Trautwein will join The Penguin Press as editor on April 6, moving over from Bloomsbury. Jeanne Glasser has joined FT Press and Wharton School Publishing as executive editor. Most recently, she was editorial director, finance, for McGraw-Hill’s Professional Division. Lindsay Mergens has joined Nelson Literary Agency as marketing director, based […]