In her first major move since taking over as ceo of Penguin Random House US in April, Madeline McIntosh announced “significant news” to staff on Thursday: The Crown Publishing Group is being put together with Random House in a “newly-combined division” under the direction of president and publisher Gina Centrello. For now the new division will simply be called Random House, but a company spokesperson notes “this is an exploratory time with open dialogue among all appropriate parties, and the group name might be among the topics under review.” Regardless, McIntosh writes that “Random House and Crown will retain their distinct editorial […]
Archives for October 2018
People, Etc.
Tara Parsons will join the Harper One Group on October 29 in the new role of associate publisher for Amistad, Harper Español, and the international fiction program, for which she will also acquire, reporting to Judith Curr. She has been editor-in-chief at Touchstone (where she reported to the soon-retiring Susan Moldow). M’Bilia Meekers joins the University of Washington Press team as publicity manager on Monday. She was publicist and copywriter at LSU Press. Also starting next week is Julie Fergus, exhibits and direct marketing manager. She was most recently associate marketing manager at Routledge, managing a list of social sciences […]
Barnes & Noble Appoints a Schottenfeld-Backed Director
At the recommendation of activist shareholder Richard Schottenfeld, who controls a roughly 6.9 percent stake in the company, Barnes & Noble has added a new director to their board. They appointed Hain Celestial founder Irwin Simon as an independent board member. Simon is in the process of stepping down as ceo at Hain, after which he will serve there as non-executive chairman. BN executive chairman Len Riggio says in the announcement, “His intellect, leadership, marketing savvy and expertise will benefit Barnes & Noble greatly.”
Corporate: Pearson Gains On Steady Quarter, Scribd Pairs with NYT
Pearson provided a trading update on the first nine months of 2018. Total revenues were flat, with a 3 percent decline in US higher education courseware offsetting growth in the rest of the company. The company attributed some of the revenue decline to delays caused by the implementation of new enterprise software in the US, which it expects to “largely reverse” in the fourth quarter. That growth elsewhere, along with revised estimates for some one-time tax benefits, helped lift shares in London today. The traditionally terse comment on trade book performance noted, “Penguin Random House is performing in line with […]
People, Etc.: Moldow to Retire
Susan Moldow, president of Scribner Publishing Group and publisher of Touchstone, is retiring at the end of the year. She has been with Simon & Schuster since 1994, shortly after the Macmillan acquisition. CEO Carolyn Reidy notes, “Her first order of business was to rationalize and reorganize a collection of three disparate adult imprints-Charles Scribner’s Sons, Macmillan and Atheneum-and forge them together as one: Scribner, a single powerful brand that at once acknowledged and cherished the distinguished history and tradition of those diverse imprints, while also signaling a new and contemporary focus that would revitalize and move Scribner forward. And what […]
Anna Burns Wins Booker Prize
The Booker Prize was a solid win for independent publishers, going to Irish writer Anna Burns for her novel Milkman. Faber & Faber publishes her in the UK, and Graywolf had purchased rights recently. The US publisher originally had the book scheduled for fall 2019 publication, but has moved the release date up to December 11. Faber is going back to press for another 100,000 paperbacks in the UK based on strong bookseller demand, after having sold a modest 2,000 hardcovers and 3,500 paperbacks so far. Chairman of the judges Kwame Anthony Appiah said of the novel, “None of us has ever […]