In a session titled, “Barnes & Noble Looks to the Future,” Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle interviewed Barnes & Noble ceo Len Riggio at the AAP’s annual meeting on Wednesday, held at PRH’s offices. Dohle started the session with the jovial question, “How’s retirement?” (since Riggio was supposed to retire from the executive ranks of the bookseller until he stepped in following the firing of Ron Boire). “My original plan, believe it or not,” Riggio said, “was to retire at the age of 45 and become a schoolteacher, so I guess I’m running late on that plan.” In terms […]
Archives for March 2017
Bookselling: Albany Book House Downsizing; Wide World Books and Maps to Vacate Space; and More
Albany store Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza is downsizing, due to the economy and online competition. They will close the children’s store next door, Little Book House, and move children’s books into the back area of their main space. In an email the owner also cited “the relentless impact of Amazon on the publishing industry.” Seattle’s Wide World Books and Maps, saved from closure in February 2016 by a crowd-funding campaign, will leave its current location by the end of April. In an email announcement, the owners noted that they are exploring options including changing locations, becoming web only, or partnering with a cafe. The announcement explains, “While […]
Corporate: Rovio Spinoff, New York Wants to Tax Online Marketplaces, and More
Angry Birds creator Rovio Entertainment spun off their book publishing business as Kaiken Publishing last month. The separate unit will “build on Rovio’s book business while also developing publishing programs for new stories, worlds and characters. Kaiken will concentrate on children’s and teen content as well as comics for all ages…while also creating publishing programs for other licensors.” More broadly, just announced this week, former Rovio ceo Mikael Hed has led a group that purchased both the publishing business and Rovio’s TV animation studio in Vancouver, along with “certain non-Angry Birds properties,” operating as Kaiken Entertainment. New York Governor Andrew […]
People, Etc.
Sarah Bowlin and Ariel Foxman have joined Aevitas Creative Management as affiliate agents. Bowlin was most recently a senior editor at Holt, and will be working from her home in Los Angeles. Foxman was previously the editorial director of InStyle and StyleWatch. At Portfolio/Sentinel, Niki Papadopoulos has been promoted to editorial director, Stephanie Frerich moves up to executive editor, and Leah Trouwborst is now associate editor. In the UK, at the Blake Friedmann Agency, Julian Friedmann will become chairman of the company and Conrad Williams becomes head of the media department, with Isobel Dixon becoming head of the book department and Juliet Pickering moving up […]
Crown to Publish Obama Books
Any in-house competition for the Obamas is now over, with Penguin Random House announcing that Crown will continue as the ongoing publisher of former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michele Obama. Rachel Klayman will remain Mr. Obama’s editor, and Molly Stern will edit Mrs. Obama’s book. David Drake and Tina Constable will lead the publication strategy for both books. Crown Publishing Group president and publisher Maya Mavjee says in the announcement, “Crown is honored to continue its publishing relationship with President Obama and Mrs. Obama, both of whom are transformative figures in today’s world. They will write deeply inspiring and illuminating books […]
Legal: European Court Disallows Lower Tax for eBooks, Harper Responds In Canada
Responding to a query brought by the Polish Constitutional Court, the European Court of Justice has ruled that member states may not apply a lower value added tax to downloadable ebooks or other publications — even though lower taxes are allowed for books and other publications that are printed (and in turn, even digital books delivered by a physical medium, such as CD-ROM). The Court found that “to accept that the Member States are able to apply a reduced rate of VAT to the supply of digital books electronically, as is permitted for the supply of such books on all physical means of […]