At Macmillan, Dan Schwartz has been promoted to vp, digital product services, adding a variety of responsibilities to his current role managing the strategic and day-to-day operations of the trade ebook group, among them college ebook production and helping to set corporate digital strategy. The company says their ebook group now comprises a more than $100 million business.
Workman Publishing has formally unveiled the Workman Speakers Bureau, which former Random House executive Carol Schneider has been building since last May. (Schneider ran the Random House portion of the Random House Speakers Bureau among her responsibilities there.) Workman has enrolled 17 of the house’s authors “who have already demonstrated their appeal as popular speakers,” including Patricia Schultz (1000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE), Bob Nelson (1501 WAYS TO REWARD YOUR EMPLOYEES), Tayari Jones (SILVER SPARROW), Naomi Benaron (RUNNING THE RIFT), and Dr. Gary Small.
Osprey Publishing’s Oxford-based Shire Publications has hired Robert Kempe as US director of sales and marketing as a “cornerstone” of their 2012 launch of Shire USA. The line “celebrates expressly all-American aspects of culture and nostalgia…with concise nonfiction editions on phenomena as diverse as muscle cars, classic video games, brewery collectibles, and ghost towns of the Old West.” He has worked previously Seven Footer Press, Random House, Dutton, and Simon & Schuster.
Former Bain partner (and Romney supporter) Edward Conard‘s UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy is Wrong is being moved up by Portfolio, based on interest driven by this coming Sunday’s NYT Magazine cover story (published online Tuesday), which features Conard. The ebook will now go on sale May 7, with the hardcover following on June 7 (brought forward from the original June 28 pub date).
At McGraw-Hill Professional, Donya Dickerson has been promoted to executive editor in the Business Group.
Egmont UK has hired Melissa Fairley as publishing director for their picture books and gift list. She was publishing director for Ticktock Books, publisher for Kingfisher and managing editor for Harper UK Children’s.
Vook‘s self-service ebook platform has added a much less expensive $9.99 a month “starter” plan.