The AAP reported their StatShot sales for June, including summaries for the first half of 2017, but good luck figuring out what — if anything — the statistics indicate. Traditionally you would evaluate current stats by comparing to historical comps. But the AAP keeps changing the bar on those comps, which leaves little room for confidence about any of their data. (Mind you, we are not blaming the organization: They rely on publisher-contributed data and do their best with it.) The problem is that initial StatShot reports are considered preliminary, and the monthly numbers can and often do change significantly […]
Archives for October 2017
People, Etc.
At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Jen Ung has been promoted to editor for Simon Pulse; Sylvie Frank has been promoted to senior editor at Paula Wiseman; and Cindy Kim has been promoted to assistant editor for Little Simon. Alex Levenberg has been promoted to senior global rights manager at Amazon Publishing. Frank Parisi has joined Chronicle Books as senior editor, entertainment. Previously he was senior editor for Lucasfilm.
Bookselling: Store News, S&S New Store Offer, Bertram’s for Sale
The manager of the Barnes & Noble in Maui Cindy Mauricio told employees and the media that the store will not be closing at the end of the year after all, based on a conversation with her district manager. A spokesperson for the mall owner did not have any confirmation yet, and the management company says for now that originally it was BN that declined to renew the lease rather than the inverse, as first report. The Bookworm in Carbondale, IL is up for sale as owners Carl Rexroad and Kelly Rexroad prepare to retire after more than 16 years in […]
Wieseltier Apologizes For “Offenses” Against Women, As Jobs Pulls Backing for His New Journal
Laurene Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective pulled the plug on Leon Wieseltier’s about-to-launch new journal Idea “upon receiving information related to past inappropriate workplace conduct.” In a statement, Wieseltier said: “For my offenses against some of my colleagues in the past I offer a shaken apology and ask for their forgiveness. The women with whom I worked are smart and good people. I am ashamed to know that I made any of them feel demeaned and disrespected. I assure them that I will not waste this reckoning. “And I am profoundly sorry to my extraordinary collaborators at the journal we began […]
People, Etc.: Fotinos to Start Imprint at SMP
Joel Fotinos will join St. Martin’s as vice president and editorial director of a new mind/body/spirit line of books, starting November 6. He recently stepped down as vp and publisher of Tarcher Perigee after 21 years. St. Martin’s president and publisher Sally Richardson says, “We are delighted to have Joel Fotinos join us at SMP. We have long had an interest and success in publishing in the mind/body/spirit space and we look forward to strengthening and growing that success with his focus and expertise.” Arianna Rebolini has been named books editor at Buzz Feed. Jessica Easto has been promoted to managing […]
Personnel Changes at DK North America
UK-based chief operating officer of DK Shaun Hodgkinson announced changes in the publishing structure of the publisher’s North American division to “move us forward in achieving our publishing and commercial goals.” Those adjustments included “some very painful but necessary decisions,” resulting in the laying off of longtime DK employees including vp, sales Tom Korman; national account manager Bill Jennings; and editorial director Nancy Ellwood; along with senior editor Margaret Parrish and production specialist Brian Massey. Hodgkinson indicates that going forward the “three main areas of attention will be to ensure our titles are best suited and accessible for North American […]