The ABA named Maid by Stephanie Land its No. 1 pick for January. Sample it now in our Buzz Books 2018 Fall/Winter, along with Elizabeth McCracken’s Bowlaway and Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient, both Indie Next picks for February. The rest of the list: Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli Go Ahead in the Rain, by Hanif Abdurraqib The Collected Schizophrenias, by Esme Weijun Wang Deep Creek, by Pam Houston The Last Romantics, by Tara Conklin The Girls at 17 Swann Street, by Yara Zgheib Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James The Current, by Tim Johnston The Age of Light, by Whitney Scharer […]
Archives for January 2019
Vivendi Gets Greenlight to Acquire Editis
The French government’s competition authority has approved Vivendi’s acquisition of Editis, the second-largest book publisher in France after Hachette Livre, finding that the transaction “was not likely to undermine competition in the markets for cultural property.” The Authority “took into account the respective market shares of the parties, the organization of the relevant markets, the competitive pressure exerted by the competitors and the counter-power of certain customers, in particular in the digital sector” and dismissed “any competition problem.” The €900 million deal was formalized in mid-November after several months of negotiations, and is now expected to close right away. Owned by […]
Parneros Formally Disputes BN’s Claim He Was a “Faithless Servant”
Former Barnes & Noble CEO Demos Parneros’ determination to dispute the bookseller’s claim he was a “faithless servant” has now resulted in a formal motion: On December 21, after some scheduling confusion regarding an intended postponement, his counsel filed the motion to dismiss BN’s second counterclaim against him. (As for the other two counterclaims, counsel heeded Judge John Koetl’s strongly-established concerns about a motion to dismiss.) Attorney Anne Clark’s 15-page filing leverages legal precedent to dispute BN’s claim that Parneros was a “faithless servant” who sabotaged negotiations with a potential buyer of the struggling company. While Parneros disputes the facts in BN’s […]
People, Etc.
Cara Bedick joins Chronicle Books as executive editor of Mark Tauber’s new imprint. She was most recently a senior editor at Touchstone. Iris Hsieh has been appointed associate director, China sales & product management, Penguin Random House International sales & marketing. She will oversee the company’s export strategies across all channels within China, reporting to Cyrus Kheradi. Samantha Simon has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as associate marketing manager for Lifestyle. She was previously digital content manager at Coaction Public Relations. Andrea Concaildi has joined Sourcebooks as marketing associate, ecommerce. At Princeton University Press, Caroline Priday becomes global promotions director and Julia Hall is promoted […]
HBG Marks Good 2018, Looks to Gladwell and More In New Year
Hachette Book Group USA ceo Michael Pietsch welcomed staff back to work with a summary memo, celebrating “another strong year in 2018” in which “our budget for revenue and profit and surpassed 2017’s results.” He notes that “our publishing divisions all contributed to our positive financial results.” It was also a year, as previously reported, in which the company “restructured for greater efficiency.” Notably, Pietsch reiterates that “our first goal as a company continues to be growth, and we achieved this both through acquisitions and internal expansion.” As for the year ahead, he indicates that Malcolm Gladwell will have a […]
Briefs
Ashley Collom is joining Thompson Literary Agency as literary agent January 7. She was previously an agent and the head assistant at DeFiore and Company. Brian Garfield, 79, screenwriter and author of more than 70 books, died on December 29. Garfield’s book nonfiction book The Thousand-Mile War was a Pulitzer finalist, and his book Hopscotch won an Edgar. Bookselling NYC blog Bowery Boogie reports that McNally Jackson will not be moving from its original Prince Street location after all. The site initially reported last October that the store would be moving due to a rent increase, and at the time the […]