Brandi Larsen has joined Penguin as director of Book Country. Previously she was at the Chicago Tribune, where she worked on adapting the paper’s content for mobile devices and tablets, and expanding the scope of their business and their relationship with their readers. At Clarkson Potter, Anna Mintz has been promoted to senior publicist and Sean Boyles has been promoted to publicist. In addition, Catherine Cullen has been promoted to publicist at the Crown imprint. In addition to Steve Kasdin‘s ongoing role as director of digital strategy at Curtis Brown, he is now taking on clients for representation as well, […]
Archives for February 2013
Discounting of Macmillan Books to Start By Next Week
When Macmillan ceo John Sargent said in a letter Friday morning that discounting of their ebooks under the settlement with Department of Justice “will take effect quickly,” he really meant it. The court filing is more blunt on the matter: “Macmillan must allow its e-book retailers to discount within three business days of agreeing to the settlement, even if it has not formalized new contracts with retailers.” DOJ writes that “the proposed Macmillan Final Judgment does not give Macmillan a choice” in notifying and renegotiating with retailers–as the original settlement had done–“to provide for more prompt relief to consumers.” But it’s […]
Macmillan Settles DOJ Case
Macmillan ceo John Sargent told the publishers’ community Friday morning they company is settling the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice: “We settled because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome.” As Sargent explains, each time another company settled with DOJ, that increased Macmillan’s potential liability, to the point where the risk became untenable. As a result of the settlement, “retailers will now be able to discount Macmillan e-books for a limited time,” even beyond the limited 10 percent discounting on ebooks priced at $13.99 and above that they introduced last […]
People, Etc.
Mary Ann Naples is returning to book publishing as publisher of Rodale Books, starting March 4, following detours to OpenSky and then, briefly, Zola Books (as head of business development; she will now join Zola’s strategic advisory board.) Naples had been a co-founder of literary agency The Creative Culture after working at Hyperion. Jim Hanas will join HarperCollins as director of audience development, reporting to cmo Angela Tribelli. Previously he was social media editor at the New York Observer. In the UK, Harper is once again reshuffling and rebranding imprints, consolidating their nonfiction lines. Harper Press and parts of Collins are […]
More Buzz on Buzz Books
Our launch of the big BUZZ BOOKS 2013 free ebook sampler has gotten nice attention all over, from the AP and USA Today to Bookselling This Week and lovely tweets from all over. (Special thanks to Washington Post critic Ron Charles and booksellers Emily Gould and Ami Greko among the tweets we’ve spotted so far.) If downloading a free ebook is a little too much commitment for you, we’ve also posted the entire book in a online reading widget, courtesy of Firebrand and Book2Look. (And that widget can be embedded elsewhere if you wish.) In a similar vein, USA Today […]
People: Reagan Arthur to Become Publisher of Little, Brown
Current editorial director of her eponymous Little, Brown imprint Reagan Arthur will take over as svp and publisher of the division in April when Michael Pietsch moves up to ceo of Hachette Book Group USA. Arthur will also join the company’s management board. Pietsch says in the announcement, “Throughout the world of writers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, scouts, literary agents, and international publishers, Reagan’s name has come to carry that same weight. Reagan was born to the work of publishing, she understands it deeply, she possesses a publisher’s relentlessness and charm, and she is hungry for more.” Arthur adds, “I’m thrilled […]