Janklow & Nesbit Associates is opening their own Los Angeles office to extend their services in the film, television and digital communities. The agency says the move will allow it “to build on its existing relationships and expand its reach enormously in the service of its clients and their material.” Carlo Martinelli and Amanda Schweitzer comprise the new LA Team. Martinelli was at Vuguru, Michael Eisner’s online content company, after working for 10 years at Bona Fide Productions. Schweitzer has been at Millar Gough Ink and before that worked for Hugh Jackman’s Seed Productions. Luke Janklow says in the announcement […]
Archives for March 2012
Dorchester’s Office Closed, Assets To Be Auctioned After Owner Forecloses
Dorchester Publishing, plagued by financial troubles for years and having recently divested itself of its remaining editorial staff, appears to be marching towards an ignoble end after more than 40 years in business. In a twist worthy of Dorchester’s tortured road to collapse, the publisher’s owner is the one foreclosing, on a personal basis, against the company itself, and will collect the proceeds from the sale of at least some of its property–raising questions about whether any assets will remain to pay creditors. On February 28, John Backe filed a notice of foreclosure after failing to collect on an outstanding […]
Justice Department Said to Threaten Suit Over Agency eBook Pricing
The Wall Street Journal says that the Justice Department’s lengthy investigation of the agency model for ebook pricing has escalated, with the government threatening to sue the “Agency Five” publishers and Apple “for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.” The paper says that “some but not all” of the publishers involved have held settlement talks with Justice. Those same people said “the Justice Department believes that Apple and the publishers acted in concert to raise prices across the industry, and is prepared to sue them for violating federal antitrust laws.” […]
Sales and Earnings Rise At Wiley As Professional/Trade Falls
Sales at Wiley rose 1 percent to $451 million in their fiscal third quarter and adjusted earnings rose 8 percent to 91 cents a share (total earnings of $61 million rose more, due to some special tax benefits, and last year’s Borders writedown). In the professional/trade division, sales fell 6 percent to $108 million. The company blamed “the loss of comparable sales from the prior year to Borders through December, a weak global economy, and soft retail sales.” Direct contribution to profit dropped 7 percent to $28 million, “reflecting lower revenue partially mitigated by cost saving initiatives.” eBook sales almost […]
People, Etc.
Michael Taeckens will join Graywolf Press as marketing director, effective April 16. He spent the past eleven years at Algonquin, most recently as online and paperback marketing director. Casey Ebro has joined McGraw-Hill Professional as editor. She was previously an editor at Arcade Publishing. In France, Gregory Messina has joined the Place des Editeurs group as rights director, reporting to Anne-Laure Aymeric. He will sell rights for Belfond, Presses de la Cité, Hors Collection, Le Pré aux Clercs and Omnibus. Previously, he sold rights at Editions Robert Laffont. At Chronicle, Jeff Wiebe has been promoted to associate director of operations. The 2011 […]
Wiley Looks to Sell Professional/Trade Assets That Drive $85 Million A Year
Wiley announced Wednesday that it has retained Allen & Company to “explore the sale of a number of consumer print and digital publishing assets in its professional/trade business that no longer align with the company’s long-term strategies.” That decision comes after a “strategic review of the company’s professional/trade business portfolio.” They are looking to sell a substantial portion of their professional/trade portfolio, comprising “approximately $85 million of revenue” in the most recent fiscal year. (That’s about 20 percent of the year’s trade/professional revenue $437 million for the most recent full fiscal year.) Those assets provided a “direct contribution to profit, before shared-service […]