At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Jenica Nasworthy has been promoted to assistant managing editor. Ireland-based eBook distributor ePub Direct has opened a New York office, where they have hired Leana Rivera as account manager. She was at Penguin Random House Children’s. Fantasy author Graham Joyce, 59, died Tuesday from complications of lymphoma. His most recent novel was THE GHOST IN THE ELECTRIC BLUE SUIT, published by Doubleday last month.
Archives for September 2014
Wiley Q1 Results Up, But Trade Book Sales Decline
Wiley reported first quarter 2015 results of $438 million, up 4 percent on an “adjusted” basis. Net income of $33.5 million was up 9 percent on a currency-neutral basis, but virtually flat in real terms. The professional development segment, where Wiley’s trade business remains, rose $8 million to $92 million for the quarter, but the gains all came from the recent acquisitions of CrossKnowledge and Profiles International. Revenue was down 3 percent without those acquisitions. Print book sales fell 2 percent to $56 million in this segment, and ebooks actually declined more, down 11 percent to $10.5 million. declined 3 percent for the […]
Barnes & Noble Has Soft Sales But Smaller Loss As Nook Fades; Asset Separation Presents New Possibilities
Sales fell more than expected by analysts at Barnes & Noble in their fiscal first quarter, ending August 2, down 7 percent to $1.236 billion, but the loss was lower than estimated — with a consolidated net loss of $28.4 million, or 56 cents a share. Tellingly, the company admitted in this morning’s release that their plans to separate the BN retail business from Nook Media has included discussions “with its Nook Media partners to potentially restructure existing agreements” and “with potential third-party partners.” As a result, “Such discussions could affect the structure and timing of the separation.” What that […]
Even with Americans Eligible, Booker Shortlist Remains Quirky; Lifetime Achievements for LeGuin, Erdrich
In going from the 13-title longlist to the 6-title shortlist, the Booker Prize judges kept two Americans — Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler — and left behind a number of heavily touted works as usual (including books by Sirit Hustvedt, David Mitchell, and Richard Powers). Though the prize has often lifted books by independent publishers, this year we already know that Penguin Random House will win. They publish five out of six contenders in the UK, and even on that one outlier — by Fowler — the publishing giant has US rights. Smith’s book is currently set for US release by Pantheon […]
People: Wolff Starts HMH Business Line, Richter Turns Agent, and More
Rick Wolff will join Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on September 15 as senior executive editor, to launch a line of business books. The founder of Warner Business books and then the Business Plus imprint at Grand Central (until it was eliminated earlier this year) will edit and publish approximately 10-15 titles per year. HMH general interest publisher Bruce Nichols says in the announcement, ““I have long wanted to expand our business publishing here at HMH, and Rick is the perfect person to lead that effort. His experience is unparalleled, and his track record speaks for itself.” Co-founder of start-up Ruckus Media […]
People
Ruth Homberg has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s as senior marketing manager. Previously she was digital marketing manager at Egmont UK. In addition, Hayley Gonnason has been named senior publicist, starting September 22. She is currently a publicist at S&S Children’s. Both will work in HMH’s New York office. At HarperCollins, Austin Tripp has been named national account manager, Amazon, succeeding Diane Jackson, who will retire on October 1 after 24 years with the company. In addition, Christy Johnson joins as national account manager, Amazon. Previously she was sales/marketing/inventory manager at the New Press. Forbes has released their annual list of […]