CEO of Penguin Random House Canada Brad Martin will retire as of June 30. He began his publishing career in 1981 as a sales representative at McClelland & Stewart, and became ceo of Random House Canada in 2007. President and publisher Kristin Cochrane will take over as ceo, and will join the PRH global executive committee. Cochrane joined the company in 2005 as associate publisher at Doubleday Canada. (With her appointment, both PRH US and PRH Canada will have female ceos.) PRH ceo Markus Dohle writes of Cochrane, “As a leader, Kristin has an impressive track record of mentoring and […]
Archives for May 2018
First Quarter Highlights from Lagardere, Bertelsmann
Lagardere and Bertelsmann issued short first quarter highlight reports on Thursday morning. The more detailed report comes from Lagardere, where the book publishing division had sales of €442 million, up €2 million from a year ago. Last year’s acquisitions — primarily Brainbow, Bookouture, Summersdale and Jessica Kingsley — added €12 million in sales, while the weakening US dollar and British pound cost the unit -€23 million in foreign exchange. Lagardere says that sales in the US showed “solid growth, up 5.4%, lifted by the continued success of the backlist, especially Pete Souza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait, and by a busy release schedule at Grand […]
People, Etc.
Penguin Random House Australia conducted “a review of our structure ” and found they “no longer require the role of publishing director-Penguin Random House Literary” (comprising Hamish Hamilton, Vintage, Knopf, Viking and Penguin). As a result, Penguin veteran Ben Ball has left the company. The team for the Literary division (created last year) will now report to group publishing director Nikki Christer. Fairfax Media reports that “the immediate departure of Ball has created shockwaves in the Australian literary community, with authors, colleagues, booksellers and agents left in disbelief.” Four-time Miles Franklin Award winner Tim Winton said he was “deeply wounded by […]
Our Big Buzz Books Fall/Winter Sampler, Just in Time for Book Expo
With Book Expo just two weeks away, today we launch Buzz Books 2018: Fall/Winter and the companion Buzz Books 2018 Young Adult: Fall/Winter. As usual, the samplers are the best way to prepare for the season ahead, with substantial pre-publication excerpts from major authors, as well as breakout and discovery books from across the publishing landscape. The consumer editions are available for download now for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple’s iBooks (where they are being promoted on a number of high-profile pages), Google Play, and Kobo, among other online retailers, with click-throughs for preorders. (Also all linked at our main […]
Cengage Authors Sue Over New Subscription Model
Textbooks authors David Knox and Caroline Schacht filed suit in the Southern District of New York against Cengage, alleging that the publisher’s forthcoming Cengage Unlimited subscription model breaks the “fundamental bargain struck” in their publishing agreements, and is designed “for the specific purpose of retaining a greater share of its revenue stream (and therefore reducing author royalty payments).” The plaintiffs seek class action status for their suit. More broadly, they also allege that since emerging from bankruptcy protection in 2014, “Cengage has trampled on its authors’ rights.” They charge that the company has diluted authors’ royalties on courseware packages, by […]
People, Etc.
Samantha Fabien has joined Laura Dail Literary Agency as international rights manager. Former associate publishing manager at Viking Children’s Leila Sales has relocated to Austin, TX, where she will continue to edit select projects on Viking’s list, along with working on other editorial and writing projects. Awards The British Book Awards were presented on Monday, honoring both the trade and authors, with Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine named both debut of the year and book of the year. Launching Otto Penzler has started a new company, Penzler Publishers, now announcing its first imprint, American Mystery Classics. The line will focus […]