Jennifer Ung has joined Simon Pulse as associate editor. Previously she was an assistant editor at Scholastic.
Kristen Reach has joined the Kenyon Review as associate editor. Previously she was an editor at Melville House.
Bankruptcy Filing
Filmed Entertainment Inc. — the parent of DVD direct-seller Columbia House — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, citing $2 million in assets and $62 million in liabilities. The unit was part of Bertelsmann’s once-mighty Direct Group, then part of Direct Brands — purchased, along with the Bertelsmann’s North American book club group Bookspan, by Najafi Companies, which transferred the units to the mysterious Pride Tree Holdings in 2012. Filmed Entertainment is listed as a freestanding subsidiary of Pride Tree and should be isolated from Bookspan.
Acquisitions
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has bought “select eBook and technology assets” of ebook subscription service MeeGenius, which is geared to children up to eight years old. The five-year-old service, created by parents and entrepreneurs Wandy Yeap Hoh and David Park, includes more than 700 interactive ebooks available through a mobile app for iOS and Android.