Ebury deputy publisher Joel Rickett will take over as managing director on January 1, and Andrew Goodfellow will move up to publisher. Mary Gannon will become executive director of the Community of Literary Presses and Magazines on November 5. Gannon has been the associate director and director of content for the Academy of American Poets since 2013. Erin Galloway has been promoted to deputy publicity director for Berkley, and Tara O’Connor has moved up to associate publicist. Harassment Files Garrison Keillor‘s scheduled appearance at the Burlington Book Festival in Vermont has caused a controversy, with critics online calling his inclusion “tone deaf.” […]
Archives for October 2018
EU to Allow Members to Drop E-Book Tax Rates
After two full years of debate (and years more of hand wringing), European Union member states now have the option to lower VAT tax rates on ebooks to the same rate charged for printed books — which in some countries are tax free. The measure unanimously agreed on by the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council on October 2 is “the final step to ensure that the unequal treatment of the two products – paper versus digital – becomes a thing of the past,” said the EU Commission. The measure does not force member states to align the rates, but […]
So Amazon Will Respond to Public Pressure, Raising US Wages to $15 An Hour
After Amazon initially met accusations that they pay workers too little from Senator Bernie Sanders and others with pushback, the company announced a more productive course: “We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” ceo Jeff Bezos said in their press release. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.” That change is a promise to pay all US workers a minimum of $15 an hour, starting November 1 — including part-time, temporary and seasonal workers, and including divisions such as […]
October Bookseller Picks
Amazon‘s October Spotlight Pick is Leif Enger’s Virgil Wander and the featured debut is A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos. Enger’s book is excerpted in our Buzz Books 2018 Fall/Winter edition and available for download now, along with other Amazon pick, Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. The rest of the list: The Witch Elm, by Tana French A Map of Days, by Ransom Riggs Frederick Douglass, by David. W. Blight LikeWar, by P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking Gone So Long, by Andre Dubus III There Will Be No Miracles Here, by Casey Gerald A Spark of Light, by Jodi Picoult Waiting […]
People, Etc.
Liza Cassity has been promoted to associate director of publishing for Putnam, Dutton, and Berkley. With a new managing director to be named as Rebecca Smart leaves for DK, Ebury deputy managing director and publisher Jake Lingwood has decided to leave as well after more than 20 years there, saying it is “the perfect time to leave and try something new.” William Brandt joins Arcadia Publishing today as director of IT, managing a transition to improved and upgraded systems and applications. He was with C&S Wholesale (previously Piggly Wiggly). Forthcoming McClelland & Stewart will publish an anonymous political thriller, THE KINGFISHER […]