Cliff Guren and Pam Turner have admitted in a letter to Skiff ebookstore partners that they are both leaving the venture, and imply that Skiff will not be pursuing the ebook portion of the venture for now. They write that “Skiff, LLC will be winding down its current operations. We fully expect News Corp. may want to consider opportunities to renew the relationship we’ve had with you at Skiff.”Via eReads
Archives for June 2010
Now, New Ownership and Restructuring for Thomas Nelson
On the heels of last week’s announced debt restructure and new ownership at F+W Media, privately-held Thomas Nelson announced that an investor group led by Kohlberg & Company has purchased a majority stake in the publisher. Equity from the new investors “will significantly improve the company’s capital structure and eliminate the majority of its long-term debt.” Nelson had been taken private in 2006 with financing from private equity group InterMedia Partners VII in a deal valuing the company at approximately $473 million. At the time, as the Tennessean reminds us, the purchasers said they were financing approximately 60 percent of […]
Skiff (Platform) Skips to News Corp.
News Corp. announced that they have bought the “platform” portion of Hearst’s Skiff venture–but not the yet-to-be-launched black-and-white ereading device. In the announcement they focus entirely on the Skiff platform to the extent that it “specializes in delivering visually appealing layouts for newspaper and magazine content.” The Skiff platform was designed to sell and deliver ebooks as well, and their team has been building an ebookstore, though no mention of that feature has been made in the announcement and a direct query to Skiff has not yet been answered. As the WSJ puts it, “Skiff technology handles the behind-the-scenes workings […]
Little, Brown Crime Imprint Details
Little, Brown will call their new crime imprint Mulholland Books (named for the road in the Hollywood Hills that is “synonymous with drama and suspense.”) The line will launch in spring 2011, starting with books by Marcia Clark, Lawrence Block, Mark Billingham, Michael Robotham, Duane Swierczynski, Sebastian Rotella, and Daniel Woodrell. They intend to grow to 24 books a year by 2012, with a new hardcover and one paperback each month. Miriam Parker is marketing director for the imprint.
Random House to Start Shooting Adaptation of Just-Released Novel
Random House Films and Focus Features will start shooting next month on a film version of David Nicholls’ novel ONE DAY, released today in the US in trade paperback by Vintage. Nicholls adapted the book for film, and Focus plans on a theatrical release in the third quarter of 2011. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess are starring, with Nina Jacobson producing.
Rundle's Legal Filing Alleges At Least One Prior Claim of Harrassment Against Davidar
Former Penguin Canada employee Lisa Rundle’s lawsuit against the company and former ceo David Davidar alleges that another employee had filed a sexual harassment complaint against Davidar with the human services department in 2008. Rundle alleges that Davidar showed her the other employee’s complaint, and said that the had “come to her senses” and recanted–after which she received a promotion. In the filing, Rundle says that in March 2010 she asked to be released from her position of director of digital publishing and foreign rights–to which she was promoted in January–so that she could stop reporting directly to Davidar and […]