The one story that seemed to galvanize media circles more than any other this week was that of Jonah Lehrer and his apparent penchant for recycling the same material, down to the sentence, from publication to publication. Romenesko broke the news Tuesday morning when it revealed Lehrer repurposed material for his New Yorker “Frontal Cortex” blog from earlier stories he published in the WSJ; by the end of the day, numerous other examples of recycling were unearthed by many other outlets and journalists, so much so that the New Yorker appended an editor’s note to all five of Lehrer’s blog […]
Archives for June 2012
M&S, Doubleday Canada Merge Into McClelland & Stewart Doubleday Canada Group
Now that McClelland & Stewart’s absorption into Random House of Canada is complete, the imprint will live on in the form of the newly merged McClelland & Stewart Doubleday Canada Publishing Group. Kristin Cochrane will oversee the group — which also encompasses Signal, Tundra, Bond Street Books, Anchor Canada, Doubleday Canada Books for Young Readers, and Appetite by Random House — as its newly promoted executive publisher and evp, Random House of Canada Limited. Additionally, Doug Pepper takes on the role of publisher of Signal/McClelland & Stewart and vp Random House of Canada, and Ellen Seligman moves up to publisher of […]
Briefs: Bardowl Audiobook Streaming Service Launches in Europe; Reading Rainbow iPad App; And More
A new audiobook subscription service, Bardowl, has launched in Europe and will provide unlimited access to audiobooks for £9.99 a month for those with iOS devices. Among the publishers who have signed on to provide audiobooks to Bardowl are Penguin, Macmillan, AudioGo, Wiley, and specialist audio publishers Summersdale and Creative Content. Release Months after announcing LeVar Burton and his company RRKidz announced their intention to revive Reading Rainbow, the long-running PBS children’s show that ended in 2009, as an iPad app, the service is now live in the iTunes store, available at an introductory price of $9.99 a month or […]
Harper Trims and Reorganizes Sales Department with “Flatter Management”
HarperCollins announced “some significant changes in our sales organization to help our company compete and thrive in this rapidly evolving marketplace” that include “a more streamlined and flatter sales management team as we assess the radically changing book industry landscape.” As a result Ken Berger, Mike Brennan, Mark Hillesheim, Kathy Smith and Jeanette Zwart, hailed as “respected and beloved colleagues,” will leave the company on July 20. VP, director of distributor sales Jeff Rogartwill retire at the end of August after 18 years at Harper: “Jeff’s unique combination of deep industry knowledge, direct style and kind charm has earned him the […]
People: Morin Promoted to COO at Ingram; O’Shea Named Associate Publisher, Broadway and Hogarth Paperbacks; Fletcher To Retire From Hodder
Ingram Content Group has bolstered their executive ranks following the departure of ceo Skip Prichard, who was replaced in that post by John Ingram. Shawn Morin has been promoted to chief operating officer, effective immediately, in charge of managing the company’s commercial activities (including the divisions that serve publishers, libraries, booksellers and educators), systems, and operations. He joined the company in 2009 as chief information officer, after serving as CIO at Bass Pro Shops. Finance, legal and human resources will continue to report to Mr. Ingram. Ingram notes in the announcement: “Over the past three years, Shawn has done a great job […]
Briefs: Barbara’s Bookstore Will Operate Boutiques in “Dozens” of Macy’s Stores; Moleskine Plans IPO; Learning from Godin’s Kickstarter
Macy’s will add “dozens” of in-store boutiques operated by Chicago-based independent Barbara’s Bookstore to its Massachusetts shops in the coming weeks, according to the Boston Herald. The boutiques will be known as “Barbara’s Bookstore at Macy’s” and will roll out in department stores located in Boston’s Downtown Crossing, Hyannis, Holyoke and North Attleboro, replacing the now-bankrupt Borders. (Barbara’s has been operating a kiosk in the city’s South Station for a number of years.) Print sales may be in decline, but that does not seem to have affected books with little or no print: Moleskine, maker of blank notebooks, calendars and […]