Hachette Book Group continues to add to its growing nonfiction list, following the summer’s failed effort to acquire the Perseus Book Group. The company announced Thursday it has agreed to purchase illustrated book publisher Black Dog & Leventhal. The deal will close “in the next several months, subject to meeting the closing conditions.” Once completed, the line will become an imprint of the Hachette Books nonfiction division. Founder J.P. Leventhal will stay on as publisher, with Rebecca Koh moving up to editorial director, and Maureen Winter becoming associate publisher. BDL publishes 20 to 30 books a year, and has been […]
Archives for November 2014
FastPencil Weighs on Courier’s Results
Courier Corporation reported fiscal fourth quarter sales of $84 million, just above flat, with income from continuing operations of $7.2 million (up $400,000). Publishing sales were $9 million for the period, down 4 percent, with operating income of $391,000. For the full year, those publishing segment sales were $33.4 million, down $300,000, with a smaller operating loss of $187,000. CEO James Conway III says in the announcement, “After several difficult years, our publishing segment continues to improve. Our investment in ebooks is starting to generate a larger audience as well as improved profitability, and we continue to demonstrate an ability […]
People, Etc.
Meredith McGinnis will join Norton’s trade department on December 3 in the newly-created position of director of marketing, responsible for creating strategy, determining priorities and procedures, and overseeing all aspects of marketing initiatives, both traditional and digital, for the entire trade list. She was most recently director of marketing at Harmony and Clarkson Potter and has almost two decades of experience in book publishing. McGinnis will report to Norton president Drake McFeely. Jo Lusby has been promoted to managing director, Penguin Random House North Asia, after nine years as managing director for Penguin China. Lusby reports to Gabrielle Coyne and will work alongside Cyrus Kheradi, […]
Klay, Osnos Top National Book Award Winners
As in previous years, the move towards added visibility and greater recognition resulted in a mixture of expected and surprise National Book Award winners Wednesday night. Phil Klay won the fiction prize for his debut short story collection REDEPLOYMENT, something of a surprise (most especially for the author, who only prepared a speech upon his wife’s urging.) “I spent 13 months in Iraq working with an exceptional group of Marines… and I came back not knowing what to think,” Klay said. “For me, writing this book…I can’t think of a more important conversation to be having. War is too strange […]
Corporate: Reviving Scribner’s Magazine Online, Open Road Espanol, and Courier’s Brazilian Buy
The latest consumer-facing website launched by Simon & Schuster revives an old magazine name: Scribner Magazine, inspired by (but dropping the apostrophe of) the publisher’s long-ago sister publication Scribner’s Magazine, which published from 1887 through 1939. The new site will act as a general-interest literary magazine featuring “contributions from Scribner authors, editors, fellow S&S imprints, and other voices in the literary community.” Pieces already online includes an essay from Anthony Doerr on his new novel ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, up for a National Book Award Wednesday night; rare Hemingway photos from the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s THE SUN […]
Some Finds
Many thanks for all of the kind anniversary wishes. A lot of members know PublishersMarketplace inside and out, but many people only follow a couple of familiar pathways. So here are a few tips on some cool, lesser-known features! – For starters, if you ever misplace your login information, just use our Password Reminder page. – For literary agents and other publishing professionals, we offer well-priced annual subscriptions to Nielsen Bookscan sales data and bestseller lists, integrated right into your PM account. – For mobile users, we have a purpose-built Contacts app. Not only does it search our Contacts database, […]