At Avalon Travel, Nikki Ioakimedes is promoted to acquisitions manager for Moon Travel Guides; Kristi Mitsuda becomes editor; Lisi Baldwin moves up to digital production manager; and Ravina Schneider is promoted to production designer.
Susan Fissell has joined the Simon & Schuster special markets team as national accounts sales manager. She was previously director of special markets at Hachette Book Group.
Former payroll clerk at New Jersey wholesaler Bookazine John M. Cribbin was arrested in February and charged with stealing $34,000 of vacation pay due to other employees over a two-year period, allegedly deposited to his own account with forged signatures. “Several employees of Bookazine had complained that they had not received paychecks owed to them for paid vacation time,” police Lt. Eric Amato indicated to the Jersey Journal.
Del Commune Enterprises has been appointed the US scout for the Modernista Group in Sweden.
Funding
Last October William Morris Endeavor parent company Endeavor Content was reported to be working on a deal to return Saudi Arabia’s $400 million investment in the company in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There has been no official acknowledgment, but the NYT reports the investment was returned “in recent weeks…according to two people with knowledge of the transaction.”
Bookselling
Samuel French Theatre & Film Bookshop has closed after being vandalized on March 5 and will not reopen. Owners posted on Facebook: “The police require us to close the store pending their investigation and with our staff’s safety in mind, we are unable to reopen it.” They had planned to close the store for good on March 31.
Book Tours
EL James announced dates for a US book tour for The Mister, which will be released April 16. Stops include Book Revue in Huntington, Long Island, Barnes & Noble in Paramus, NJ and NYC, and an RJ Julia Booksellers event in New Haven, CT.
Margaret Atwood‘s The Testaments will launch at Waterstones Piccadilly at midnight on September 9 followed by a live interview that will be broadcast around the world. Her tour will start with six dates in the UK and Ireland.
Legal
Not all decisions before the Supreme Court are ideologically split. Earlier this week, in a unanimous verdict — with the opinion authored by the see-how-healthy-I-am Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — the Court clarified a previous Circuit split on copyright law. In nearly all cases, the Court ruled, a rightsholder must receive registration of a copyright from the Copyright Office before suing for infringement.
Ruling
International
Earlier this week, Books + Publishing reported that Penguin Random House Australia “has agreed to engage in collective bargaining with staff in its editorial and publicity departments,” conducted with the Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance as representatives for the employees. They estimate that 95 percent of editorial and publicity staff are union members now. Those employees said in a group statement, “An Enterprise Bargaining Agreement will enshrine clearer processes, improve job satisfaction and job security, and allow editors and publicists to do what they love best: working on and promoting books. It is a positive step for Penguin Random House and the start of a new chapter for the Australian publishing industry.”
PRH said in a statement: “We understand and respect the right of Penguin Random House Australia employees to seek advice from a union, and we are aware that some have chosen recently to do so. In line with our Company Values, we respect the individual views of each employee and together we strive to create a collaborative and supportive workplace and company culture. We will continue to conduct discussions among the parties with confidentiality as we work closely for a mutually positive resolution.” The company’s warehouse staff are already covered by a different union.