His agency has provided a formal obituary, which reads in part: “Ralph M. Vicinanza, literary agent, died suddenly at his home on Saturday, September 25, 2010. For over two decades, Vicinanza achieved worldwide recognition for his vision in opening the international marketplace for American authors, predominantly in the science fiction and fantasy genres. By discovering previously untapped markets for his clients’ work, Vicinanza carved out a large literary territory and dominated the field of foreign rights. “Vicinanza began his publishing career at the Scott Meredith Agency. It was there that three important things about the industry’s international scene became clear […]
Archives for September 2010
Riggio Re-Elected to Barnes & Noble Board; Yucaipa Poison Pill Amendment Defeated
It was a melancholy hometown crowd of about 250 Barnes & Noble shareholders and employees who filled the auditorium at the Asia Society this morning for the company’s annual meeting, but when the proxy election results were announced the room erupted in applause. Chairman Len Riggio and the company’s other nominees won election to the board, and Yucaipa’s effort to amend Barnes & Noble’s poison pill was also defeated. Riggio declared, “this has not been an easy four or five months…but this has been a very great day.” Earlier in the meeting, in a brief moment of personal reflection, Riggio […]
Borders Will Open 25 Seasonal Holiday Stores
In other book chain news, Borders is jumping on the “temporary store” trend, announcing this morning that they will open and run 25 “pop-up” Borders Express stores from between October 25 and January 31. The stores will average about 2,500 square feet. CEO Mike Edwards says, “The majority of these stores are located in malls where we had a presence at one time. Where it didn’t make business sense for us to operate stores on a permanent basis in these areas, we can open a seasonal store and serve the holiday shopping needs of our customers.”Release
People, Etc.
Margaret Raymo has elected to take the new position of senior executive editor, at Houghton Mifflin Children’s, a “purely editorial role” that will let her focus on discovering and working with authors and illustrators. Raymo says “I’m very happy to be able to put all my energy back into creating books.” As a result, Mary Wilcox has been promoted to vp, editorial director for Houghton Mifflin Children’s, while continuing as editorial director of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s. Abrams has hired Lindy Humphreys for the new position of director, digital assets and publishing technology, to “oversee our digital initiatives and help […]
Agent Ralph Vicinanza Dies
Clients of literary agent Ralph Vicinanza, 60, were reportedly notified by the agency this evening that he died suddenly in his sleep last night from a cerebral aneurysm. Locus Magazine has a brief report, and at least some clients have posted to Twitter as well. The agency reports that his family is having viewings on Wednesday the 29th from 7-9 PM and Thursday the 30th from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM at McGrath & Son Funeral Home, 20 Cedar Road, Bronxville, NY. A mass will be held Friday, October 1 at 10:30 AM at St. Ann’s Church, 854 Midland Ave., […]
Kobo Partners As “Featured Reading App” for New Blackberry PlayBook Tablet
Research in Motion (RIM) announced their Blackberry PlayBook tablet device today. It’s smaller and lighter than an iPad, though a little bigger than Samsung’s Galaxy tablet–even better suited to reading in the estimation of some. As rumored, it features a new operating system developed just for the device. The promotional video includes a clip of the Kobo store and reader at work, and a Kobo executive tells Lunch their app will be “preloaded at launch” on the device. Tomorrow the two companies are due to officially announce Kobo as the “preferred eReading app” for the PlayBook, giving “users around the […]