Katrin Hagerty has joined Insight Editions as foreign rights salesperson, and Alison Corn has joined the company as assistant design manager. Former managing director of Palgrave Macmillan in the UK Jaime Marshall is launching a literary agency, focused on upmarket nonfiction and popular economics, psychology, and business. Marshall will work in partnership with A M Heath. In his first public remarks on being named the Nobel laureate for literature, Bob Dylan told a reporter for the Telegraph he is “absolutely” planning on attending the Nobel ceremony in Sweden on December 10, “if it’s at all possible.” He says the honor is “amazing, incredible. […]
Archives for October 2016
New York City Council Passes Freelance Rules
With new Federal rules on overtime pay set to go into effect on December 1, New York City-based companies are facing the likelihood of still more record-keeping and pay requirements, now with respect to freelance workers. The New York City Council unanimously approved the Freelance Isn’t Free Act last Thursday, which goes to Mayor Bill Di Blasio to sign it into law. The act would take effect 180 days after signing. Under the potential new law, any freelance relationship that pays more than $800 over a four-month period requires a written contract. The act also mandates timely payment for freelancers, with stiff […]
Book Expo Will Limit Attendees, Revert to Two Days of Exhibits
In a promotional piece from PW, Book Expo now confirms what they would not make official for us a week ago (though it was between the lines if you read carefully): With convention attendance dwindling steadily over the past five years and then dropping precipitously for the 2016 Chicago event, the new strategy will officially “limit” non-exhibitor attendees to 6,000 people. As we reported recently, Chicago attendees numbered 6,314 people, or right around the new limit, down from 9,634 in 2015, and 11,374 in 2012. Media are counted separately. As noted on the show website, the exhibit floor will once again open for two […]
Leaked Pictures Indicate Nook Has Cheap 7″ Tablet Coming Soon
Although Nook stopped making its own tablets several years ago when they partnered with Samsung — and has failed to sell those co-branded Samsung tablets in any meaningful quantities — leaked documents indicate the company is working on a new tablet to be marketed and sold under its own brand name. FCC documents obtained by various gadget blogs indicate the new device, called the Nook Tablet 7″ BNTV450, is manufactured by Chinese company Shenzhen Jingwah. It appears to be a cheap seven-inch screen Android model that could ostensibly try to compete with Amazon’s $50 Fire tablet. The new Nook Tablet 7 has the […]
Barnes & Noble Settles Boire’s Severance
Barnes & Noble has finalized a settlement agreement with former ceo Ronald Boire, fired after just over a year with the company. The retailer will pay Boire $4,825,600, and he will forfeit all equity awards. Boire and the company “agreed to release claims against each other in connection with Mr. Boire’s termination of employment.” As part of the agreement, BN also agreed to state in an 8-K SEC form the following language: “The Company regrets that things did not work out for the longer term between Mr. Boire and the Company. The Company appreciates Mr. Boire’s efforts on behalf of the Company, […]
People: Aitken Dies
Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander announced the death of her business partner, literary agent Gillon Aitken “after a period of ill health.” She writes: “A towering figure in so many of our lives, publishing has lost a great agent from a brilliant generation. He was a wise counsel, a true intellectual and an irreplaceable friend.” She includes testimonials from a number of clients, including Sebastian Faulks: “Gillon was one of my closest friends. He was was one of my closest friends. He was also my literary agent for 30 years…. As an agent, he was creative, mischievous and drove a hard bargain; but he […]