Benjamin Lee will join Putnam and Dutton as vp, associate publisher of paperbacks, as both imprints will launch their own in-house paperback lines beginning January 2016. Lee was previously vp, associate publisher at Atria. At St. Martin’s, Monique Patterson has been promoted to editorial director of romance while also continuing as executive editor. She will continue to acquire women’s fiction, literary fiction and commercial nonfiction for all parts of St. Martin’s list (hardcover, trade, mass market and ebook) and will continue to strengthen SMP’s African American fiction and nonfiction program as well. Former White House Press Secretary and political analyst for CNN Jay Carney will […]
Archives for February 2015
Trade Rebounds In Houghton’s Fourth Quarter
Helped by publication of bestselling What If, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s modest trade division saw sales rise in the fourth quarter to $48 million, up $2 million from a year ago, as the unit recorded a small net gain for the period ($500,000), compared to a small net loss a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA of $4.8 million also rose slightly, up from $4.5 million a year ago. For the full year, however, sales of $163 million were down $8 million, and the trade unit recorded a net loss of $3 million, down from net income of $6.6 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA of $12.7 […]
Barnes & Noble to Spin Off College Business As Separate, Public Company
Barnes & Noble filed a registration statement with the SEC to separate BN College into a separate, publicly-traded company, which will operate as Barnes & Noble Education Inc. They say “the separation is intended to be a tax-free distribution to Barnes & Noble shareholders and is anticipated to be completed by the end of August 2015.” Investors welcomed the news, with the stock rising 7 percent to roughly $26 a share in early morning trading, the highest it has been since 2009. The company politely admits that combining the once private BN College with the BN retail stores and declining Nook […]
Internship Lawsuits Come to Book Publishing, Against Simon & Schuster
The spate of lawsuits against entertainment and media companies alleging unfair labor practices with respect to interns paid less than minimum wage has arrived in book publishing: The same law firms that recently filed suit against CBS (among others) brought a new suit against the company’s publishing division Simon & Schuster last Friday in a New York Court, seeking class action status. The named plaintiff is Diana Bruk, currently a viral content manager at Hearst, whose work as an editorial intern at Scribner between September 2009 and May 2010, while she was in college, is at issue in the 10-page […]
Lerner Publishing Group Acquires Egmont USA List
What seemed like a premature announcement from Egmont that it was closing its US office at the end of January after giving their “attempts to sell” the unit only four months now has further clarity. Lerner Publishing has acquired Egmont USA’s list of nearly 100 titles, and will fold those titles into its existing imprints including Carolrhoda Books, Carolrhoda La, Darby Creek, and Millbrook Press as of April 30. Egmont USA will publish the eight remaining titles on their 2015 winter list which will be distributed by Random House until April 30, at which time Lerner will take over publication […]
Announcements: Quarto Buys Ivy; Maya Angelou Postage Stamp; Kindle Scout Launch List; and More
Quarto Publishing has agreed to acquire The Ivy Press for up to £1.3 million plus the assumption of up to £200,000 of debt, pending approval from the press’s lender. The unit will become part of Quarto’s international co-editions division. Founded in 1996, Ivy Press has been distributed by Thames & Hudson since 2012. Co-founder and co-owner Jenny Manstead used to work for Quarto, and is married to one of Quarto’s non executive directors, Bob Morley. Manstead says, “This is exactly the right move for Ivy at the right time. Becoming part of Quarto gives us a solid, secure platform from which to develop our publishing program with […]