Editorial director of Watson-Guptill, Amphoto Books and Potter Craft Victoria Craven is among several staffers leaving the Crown Publishing Group as part of a reorganization of the imprints under new reports. Craven, who has been with Crown since Watson-Guptill and Amphoto were acquired the imprints in 2008, and those who report to her will remain with the company for a transitional period, which ends on July 31. At that point, responsibility for the publication of fine arts and photography instruction titles published by Watson-Guptill and Amphoto Books will be reassigned to Ten Speed Press, under the leadership of Aaron Wehner […]
Archives for June 2013
eNews: Harper’s Hackathon Twist With BookSmash Challenge
A week after the Perseus-produced Hackathon that concluded at BEA, HarperCollins is launching its own version with BookSmash Challenge, a contest running from today through September 5 that asks developers developers “to create new digital products that ‘break the binding’ and re-imagine the book.” Developers will have access to works by more than a dozen authors, including Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, and C.S. Lewis, from which they can build new products and software from access to the full API for those titles. HarperCollins is working with software competition platform ChallengePost on the contest, and a total of $25,000 in cash […]
People, Etc.
Phoebe Yeh will join Random House Children’s Books as vp, Publisher, Crown Books for Young Readers on June 21, reporting to Barbara Marcus. Yeh was most recently editorial director at HarperCollins Children’s. ““I have known Phoebe for many years and admire her as a highly creative and versatile editor with an excellent track record for discovering and nurturing new voices,” said Marcus in a statement. “I am so pleased to welcome her to Random House, where her expertise in nonfiction and commercial middle-grade books will perfectly complement and further strengthen our list.” Genoveva Llosa has joined HarperOne as senior editor. […]
In Court: Grandinetti and Reidy
Wednesday’s ebook pricing trial against Apple finished with testimony from Amazon executive Russ Grandinetti, who will return to the stand on Thursday, with colleagues Laura Porco and David Naggar to follow. He said that during the original switch to agency, “it was our belief the reason we were in this position is that some of the publishers wanted to slow down the success of Kindle.” Grandinetti agreed with Apple attorney Howard Heiss’s characterization of the original meeting in Seattle at the end of January, 2010 with Macmillan executives John Sargent and Brian Napack to first discuss new contract models as tense, and […]
People, Etc.: Levesque, Gersh + Diversion, Lehrer Returns?
Jennifer Levesque will join Rodale Books on June 17 as editorial director, reporting to Mary Ann Naples. Previously Levesque was editorial director of adult trade books at Abrams. “Over the past 20 years, Jennifer’s list has included a wide range of Rodale-style books—everything from cooking and lifestyle to gardening and sports/active living titles. Her experience with, and passion for, these subjects—along with her strong management expertise—makes Jennifer an ideal leader for the trade editorial team,” Naples said in the announcement. At Red Wheel/Weiser, Kat Salazar has been promoted to publicist and Jordan Overby moves up to associate production director. The […]
In Court, Penguin CEO Shanks Testifies To “The Way This Crazy Business Works”
Just before lunch on Day 2 of the Department of Justice’s trial against Apple, Penguin ceo David Shanks took the stand to explain his version of how the publisher’s agency model agreement with Apple came into being. Unlike the clipped, succinct testimony of Apple general counsel Kevin Saul, who finished his stint in the witness box earlier in the morning, Shanks’ manner was more expansive, even when it appeared to raise some eyebrows in the eyes of the court. At the close of the day’s testimony, Shanks’ spoke volumes when his explanation of the economic nuances of the agency model […]