Ever since Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s second bankruptcy reorganization in 2012, the company has aspired to offer shares to the public (giving their lender/owners a chance to recoup some money). A year ago ceo Linda Zecher told the press she hoped the company could prepare an IPO “over the next 18 to 24 months,” and now Reuters reports progress on that front, right on schedule. Sources say HMH has hired Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo to prepare an IPO. The current expectation is raise approximately $250 million in equity, with an offering aimed at the fourth […]
Archives for July 2013
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At Razorbill, Caroline Donofrio has been promoted to editor. At Random House Children’s, Books, Danielle Rollins has been promoted to marketing coordinator. At Llewellyn Worldwide, Tom Lund has been promoted to director of sales and marketing, replacing Rhonda Ogren upon her retirement. In addition, Kat Sanborn has joined the company as senior publicist. Jane Austen will appear on the £10 note starting in 2017, the Bank of England announced Wednesday. “Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes. Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal and she is recognised […]
eNews: Google Adds Textbooks, and More
For most people Google’s Chromecast (a dongle that lets you display video from computers and tablets on a TV screen) was their most enticing product announcement on Wednesday. But those announcements included the news that digital textbooks will be added to the US Google Play store in August. Google will join Kindle, Nook, iBookstore, CourseSmart and others in providing “a full catalog of higher education titles in math, science, history and more” for purchase or rental. For now they make the same claim as Kindle and others on pricing — that digital rental can provide “up to [an] 80 percent […]
eNews: Feeding Book Buzz; Apple Touts School iPad Sales; Kobo Self-Publishing Stats
BuzzFeed.com added a books section, Poynter discovered. Managing editorial director Summer Anne Burton is the “point person” for the feature, and she indicates, “We’re running it kind of informally because we already had a ton of book content on BuzzFeed and now it’s just the space for that to live.” Burton says that librarians and YA fans are already viewing the section in discernible numbers. Apple reported third quarter results after the close of the market on Tuesday, moving another 14.6 million iPads in the period — lower than sales of 17 million tablets a year ago (though iPhone sales were […]
Authors in the News: Galbraith FAQs; Ann Rule Sues Seattle Weekly; Pahlaniuk’s FIGHT CLUB Sequel; and More
The official website of “Robert Galbraith,” JK Rowling‘s crime-writing alter ego, now includes a FAQ addressing many of the questions that have emerged since the Sunday Times unmasked her identity earlier this month. She wrote THE CUCKOO’S CALLING under a pseudonym because “I was yearning to go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback. It was a fantastic experience and I only wish it could have gone on a little longer.” Rowling says she had “labyrinthine plans…to conceal my identity” and “hoped to keep […]
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Maria Rodale, who took over as chairman and ceo of the family-owned company in 2009 from Steve Murphy, told staff in a memo last week “we have begun a search to fill two important roles — a president and chief operating officer — each of whom will report to me.” Random House Children’s Group has announced a number of changes and additions to its marketing division. Kimberly Lauber has joined as director of marketing, having previously worked as director of marketing and publicity, children’s books for Chronicle Books. Laura Antonacci will join the School and Library team on August 12 […]