Andrew Savikas has left Safari Books Online, where he was ceo for the past 5 years, as the role itself was eliminated “as O’Reilly works to fully integrate Safari with the rest of their operations.” (O’Reilly Media bought out their joint-venture partner Pearson in summer 2014.) Savikas writes, “Tim O’Reilly and I agreed this was the right time for me to step away…. Acquisitions mean that roles change — and in this case, as the Safari CEO role went away, the right choice was for me to go along with it.” Safari Online chief technical officer Liza Daly left the company in early February. […]
Archives for March 2016
Grand Central’s Mass Market License for To Kill A Mockingbird Expires
Last year’s publication of Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman meant big business not just for HarperCollins but also for Grand Central, which has licensed the mass market paperback rights for To Kill A Mockingbird for many years. According to Nielsen Bookscan, that mass market edition of TKAM sold almost 567,000 units in 2015 (and since 2001, the service has tracked sales of approximately 4.924 million units of that edition). That license is about to expire and will not be renewed, according to an email from Hachette Book Group to retailers seen and reported on by the New Republic. A […]
People, Etc.
At PGW, Abbey Phalen has been promoted to marketing and business development manager. Katie Gallagher will join Perseus as gift sales manager on March 15, working out of the company’s Berkeley offices. Previously she sold giftware and home décor products for Midwest CBK and was an account executive at Napoleon Appliance. At Chronicle Books, Mirabelle Korn has been promoted to assistant editor. Kathy Huck has recently left North Star Way to pursue other opportunities. She is also available freelance writing and editing. She may be reached at khuck@nyc.rr.com At the Los Angeles Times, arts and entertainment editor Laurie Ochoa is adding […]
DBW Highlights: Women & Publishing, Finance, Tech
Digital Book World’s second day of main stage presentations concluded with a panel discussion on women at the intersection of publishing, finance, and technology. Moderator Charlotte Abbott led off by reciting a number of alarming facts about the paucity of women in executive positions, the gender and diversity gap, and other matters (“On the bright side, there aren’t many instances of harrassment in publishing, at least that I know of”) before turning the conversation over to Sourcebooks ceo Dominique Raccah, NetGalley president Susan Ruszala, Penguin Random House senior director of apps channel Katherine McCahill, and DeSilva+Phillips managing director Joanna Herman. […]
Briefs: Wimpy Kid 11, Booker International Candidates, and More
Book 11 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will go on sale on November 1 in the US and “at least 20 international territories.” Last year was the first coordinated global release for Jeff Kinney’s series, and Israel and Korea have joined as new partners for the simultaneous laydown of book 11. Abrams says, “More on-sale publishing partners are expected to be announced soon.” The Booker International Prize announced its longlist, the first since the award changed to honor current releases and split the prize among authors and translators. The 13-book longlist includes The Story of the Lost Child […]
Sittenfeld’s ELIGIBLE Tops April Library Reads List
Curtis Sittenfeld‘s new novel Eligible, a retelling of Pride & Prejudice, is the No. 1 pick for the April Library Reads list. The rest of the list features: Nora Roberts, The Obsession (Berkley) Laurie R. King, The Murder of Mary Russell (Bantam) Amanda Quick, Till Death Do Us Part (Berkley) Martha Kelly, Lilac Girls (Ballantine) Joshua Hammer, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (S&S) Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway (Tor.com) Susan Mallery, Best of My Love (HQN) Julie McElwain, A Murder in Time (Pegasus) Molly Prentiss, Tuesday Nights in 1980 (Scout Press)