Vivendi formally closed their acquisition of France’s second-largest publishing group Editis from Spain’s Planeta on January 31, following approval from the French Competition Authority at the beginning of the month. The actual sale price still has not been disclosed (though it should be eventually, since Vivendi is a public company). For now they continue to say the deal was “based on an enterprise value of €900 million.” Vivend ceo Arnaud de Puyfontaine will serve as chairman of Editis as well, with general director of Editis Pierre Conte formally named ceo. The company has 2,400 employees, and publishes 4,000 new titles […]
Archives for January 2019
YA Author Zhao Postpones Blood Heir After Online Controversy
Amélie Wen Zhao’s YA novel Blood Heir, which was due to publish June 4 from Delacorte, has been postponed indefinitely by the author after a controversy in the online YA community. The first in a planned trilogy pitched as Anastasia meets Six of Crows, the sale was reported last January, in a major deal, at auction, with a number of international deals following thereafter. But some online readers accused Zhao of racism and insensitivity to the history of American slavery, in particular YA author L.L. McKinney who Tweeted, “apparently Blood Heir is anti-black.” (At the same time, she writes, “I didn’t ask […]
People, Etc.
Kathy Dunn has been promoted to executive publicist at Random House Children’s. There will be a memorial service for the late Claudio López de Lamadrid at this year’s London Book Fair, on Wednesday, March 13, at 4.30pm, in room 2, at the Conference Center on the third floor of London Olympia. Forthcoming Bonnier Zaffre will publish a sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, CILKA’S JOURNEY, on October 3 in the UK. Distribution Hachette Book Group USA will take over distribution of Summersdale from Trafalgar Square on March 1. Hachette UK’s Octopus Books acquired Summersdale in late 2017.
People, Etc.
Pieter Swinkels has been promoted to chief content officer at Rakuten Kobo. Additionally, Alan MacNevin has been promoted to chief operating officer; Marianne Hamilton to chief marketing officer; and Dave Anderson to chief strategy officer. At Macmillan Children’s, Carol Ly has been promoted to senior designer and Sophie Erb to associate designer. Emily Settle has been promoted to associate editor at Feiwel and Friends and Swoon Reads. Picks The Wife by Meg Wolitzer is the February pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club. The Costco Pennie’s Pick for February is The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald. Awards Biography The Cut Out Girl by Bart […]
People, Etc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has “realigned” its sales team. Ed Spade has been promoted to vp, national accounts, trade sales & strategy, co-leading the sales team with Colleen Murphy, vp, special markets, mass market, and product development. As a result, Maire Gorman, svp trade sales, has left the company. Additionally, Christine Sikule has joined HMH in the new role of director of sales analytics. She was previously metadata manager at Penguin Random House. Connor Guy joins Basic Books as editor on February 4. Most recently, he was associate editor at Metropolitan Books. In the UK, Amanda Ridout is launching Boldwood Books, publishing commercial fiction. The company […]
Newbery to Medina, Caldecott to Blackall, and More
The American Library Association presented their annual book awards at their mid-winter meeting in Seattle. On Monday morning, at the Youth Media Awards, the Newbery medal went to Meg Medina for Merci Suarez Changes Gears (Candlewick) and the Caldecott Medal to Sophie Blackall for Hello Lighthouse (Little, Brown). National Book Award winner The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen) won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature (it also won the Pura Belpre Award for Text). The William C. Morris debut award went to Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (Dial), while The Unwanted by Don Brown (HMH) won the Excellence in Nonfiction […]