Barnes & Noble is previewing their new “Nobody Knows Books Like We Do” holiday video ads, to be featured on cable TV and movie screens. The general ads are available on their YouTube channel, but they have yet to post what sound like the most interesting spots: A collection of 15-second videos “that celebrate the company’s remarkable 23,000 booksellers who make shopping at Barnes & Noble a one-of-a-kind experience.” CMO Tim Mantel says in the announce, “Our bookstores are cherished community centers where people go to aspire to learn more about the world around them and discover something new. This […]
Archives for November 2018
People, Etc.
Stephanie Frerich will join the Simon & Schuster imprint as an executive editor on November 12, acquiring narrative nonfiction; big idea books on current events, culture; business and technology; history; and biography; with an emphasis on diverse voices. She was at Portfolio. Additionally, Stuart Roberts has been promoted to editor at Simon & Schuster. Rob Kirkpatrick has launched his own agency, Kirkpatrick Literary. He was an agent with the Stuart Agency. Caitlin Mulrooney-Lyski has joined Ecco as director of publicity. She was deputy director of publicity at Grand Central. Annie Berger has been promoted to senior editor at Sourcebooks Fire. Open Road senior […]
WH Smith Was The Potential Barnes & Noble Buyer
The WSJ names the “book retailer” that made offers to buy Barnes & Noble last spring that fell apart on June 19, as described in Demos Parneros’s defamation and breach of contract lawsuit against the retailer, and the company’s answer to those charges and countersuit. “People familiar with the situation say it was WH Smith PLC, a UK retailer that sells books, stationery and other products.” Though the Journal does not mention it, that makes sense contextually given where WH Smith turned next: Their deal announced October 31 to acquire US travel electronics retailer InMotion for $198 million. In announcing […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Dan Gerstle will move to Liveright as senior editor on November 12. He has been an acquiring editor for Basic Books since 2013. Sarah Reidy will join Tom Doherty Associates as executive director of publicity on November 19. She has been associate director of publicity at Simon & Schuster. Laura Ferguson has joined Open Road as svp of business development, reporting to ceo Paul Slavin, overseeing their Open Road Ignition business providing marketing services for partner publishers. Previously Ferguson was managing new business development at Time, Inc. In promotions at Simon & Schuster Children’s: Julia McCarthy moved up to assistant editor for Atheneum; Amanda […]
People, Etc.
F+W Media has established a new standalone books group with Heidi Sachner joining as head of books (in September, according to her LinkedIn page). Most recently she had been vp, Two Rivers Distribution at the Ingram Content Group. Pam Wissman has been promoted to executive director, heading up the editorial and design teams, and Greg Nock has been promoted to production director. Moving As Penguin prepares to vacate their buildings downtown (with Penguin employees moving into the expanded PRH headquarters at 1745 Broadway), DK announced a new lease for their unit at 1450 Broadway, near Bryant Park, which they will […]
Bookselling: Antiquarian Uprising, Celebrating Retail Bookstores, and More
They’re calling it Banned Bookseller Week: More than 250 antiquarian booksellers in 24 countries are pulling their inventory off Amazon-owned AbeBooks this week to protest the company’s removal of booksellers from South Korea, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia. The biggest international marketplace for secondhand and rare books, AbeBooks told the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers that it was scaling back because “it is no longer viable for us to operate in these countries due to increasing costs and complexities.” The company told the NYT the removals are because “our third-party payment service provider is closing at the end of the […]