Anthony Astarita will join Rodale as svp, general manager for digital and brand development on January 3, according to the NYT. Astarita has been vp, general manager for e-commerce and digital products at Barnes & Noble for the past 3 years (helping to develop and market the Nook line of digital products) and joined the company in 1998. Rodale ceo and chairwoman Maria Rodale said in a statement that Astarita brought “a wealth of digital expertise and notable credibility to the ambitious digital efforts Rodale has set for 2012 and beyond. He’s poised to expand our global digital business to better serve our customers around the world.”
At Paper Lantern Lit, Rhoda Belleza has been named assistant editor while Beth Scorazato has joined as assistant and managing editor.
Former Waterstone’s parent company HMV reveals in an earnings report for the first half of the year (through the end of October) that in the two months before Waterstone’s and HMV Canada were sold in June, the businesses lost a total £10.2m on £78.4m in sales, with HMV also taking a one-time charge of £9.3m for restructuring and financing. (Total net losses from discontinued operations ended up being £4.6m.) The company did earn £5.6m in net profit from the sale of the two companies, while also deferring £13m of the £53m owed to new Waterstone’s owner Alexander Mamut until the second half of the fiscal year.
Results [PDF]
Ingram Publisher Services/Spring Arbor will distribute HarperCollins titles to the Christian market effective January 1.