Sam Raim has been promoted to editor at Penguin Books. In the ever-changing landscape of German trade publishing, deputy publisher Kerstin Gleba is being promoted to publisher and ceo of Kiepenheuer & Witsch as of January 1. She will also join the board of Holtzbrinck Publishing. Current head Helge Malchow will serve as editor-at-large and “continue to work with selected authors.” Quarto appointed Jane Moriarty as a non-executive, independent board director today. The former KPMG partner headed that firm’s London Region restructuring business for 12 years. Andy Cumming, chairman of Quarto, said in the company release that she “brings substantial professional and […]
Archives for November 2018
Oprah Picks “Becoming,” And One Store Books An Appearance
Oprah Winfrey is giving Michelle Obama’s BECOMING an extra boost, picking it for her occasional book club. “This book is everything you wanted to know and so much you didn’t even know you wanted to know,” Winfrey said. “I believe it’s going to spark within you the desire to think about your own becoming.” She added, “It’s so well-written I can hear her voice; I can hear her expressions; I can feel her emotion. What she allows us to see is how she was able to discover, define and then refine her voice.” Winfrey has taped an interview with Obama, […]
Westover’s Educated Tops Amazon’s Best of 2018 List
Tara Westover’s memoir Educated — which was Amazon’s favorite book halfway through the year — also tops their Best Books of 2018 list, just announced. (True to form, only six other titles from their June “best so far” picks made it to the year-end list.) Also on the list are featured Buzz Books by Ottessa Moshfegh and Leif Enger, and A.J. Finn, all excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2018 collections. Amazon’s top 20, in numbered order: Educated, by Tara Westover Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan Indianapolis, by Sara Vladic Elevation, by Stephen King The Line Becomes a River, […]
People, Etc.: DK to Close Prima Games
DK announced the “extremely difficult decision” that they will no longer commission new Prima Games strategy guides following a “significant decline” in the video game guide sector, and the US-based imprint will be discontinued in Spring 2019 after 28 years of publication. The company says it is “now in conversation with all colleagues in Roseville, Indianapolis and New York who have been impacted by this announcement.” They declined to indicate how many employees will be affected, though there are approximately 40 people from Prima on LinkedIn. The Roseville office will close mid-November, and some Prima Games employees in Indianapolis office […]
Bookselling: Riggio Interviewed; Transgender Powell’s Employee Files Complaints; ABA Warns on Tight Holiday Inventory
CNBC takes a look at “what happened” to weaken Barnes & Noble and put the company in play, which includes an interview with executive chairman Len Riggio. He remains hopeful that recent adjustments will help: “We’ve done a lot of things this year to try to put ourselves on the right track and to get our comp-store sales number to head in the positive direction … and we are hoping that that comes — we are planning for it to come — during this holiday season.” Riggio concedes that, “We did come up empty with the last couple of ceos, […]
Orwell Licensing Agreements Boost Trade Sales $15 Million at HMH
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported Thursday its operating and financial results for the third quarter ended September 30. Sales were flat, at $516 million — stable compared to the dark days of Q3 2016. Though net income was down 5 percent, or $4 million, to $86 million, earnings were still ahead of analysts’ diminished expectations and the stock is up sharply Thursday morning on the relief. After trading down to all-time lows after the second quarter results, shares are up about 20 percent in the first hour. Trade sales, which were weak last quarter, recorded a significant one-time boost, up $15 million, […]