The NOOK Media ebooks team announced a number of recent promotions. Ali Kokmen has been promoted to director of sales, ebooks, reporting to Kashif Zafar, responsible for fiction, nonfiction, and kids and teens. Norman Waters has been promoted to senior merchandising associate, continuing to report to Kokmen. Finally, Matt Warner has transitioned his role to be director, ebook channel sales & marketing, also continuing to report to Zafar.
In the UK, founder and managing director of Quadrille Alison Cathie will leave the company at the end of August. Cathie, who founded the craft and cookery publisher in 1994, will now focus on her role as chair of marine archaeological body, the Honor Frost Foundation. Quadrille was acquired last year by Australian publisher Hardie Grant.
HarperCollins announced the HarperCollins Promotional Fund, which began providing an additional fund of marketing dollars to independent accounts (namely, booksellers) as of July 1 and will run for the rest of the fiscal year. The company says the program “is designed to simplify the co-op process and promote creative merchandizing of HarperCollins authors.” In addition all co-op and new promotional funds will be paid out on a quarterly basis. “We highly value the growing channel of Independent booksellers and recognize them as trusted partners in helping us connect our authors with their readers,” said president of sales Josh Marwell in the announcement. “We know that Indies play a huge but sometimes under-valued role in local communities, and we want to support their extraordinary efforts in building buzz around books.”