Amazon announced Q1 earnings last night, reporting that net income had more than doubled, to $3.6 billion compared to $1.6 billion in the period a year earlier. But cfo Brian Olsavsky warned investors not to expect similar performance in Q2, as the company expects margin growth to decline when it spends around $800 million in the quarter to evolve toward one-day shipping for all Prime members, starting in North America and eventually globally. The stock was trading near flat Friday morning on the reduced profit guidance. While profit was up, sales growth continued to slow, in line with analysts’ expectations. […]
Archives for April 2019
Awards: Edgars, and More
The Edgar Awards were presented across multiple categories Thursday evening. Winners included: Novel Down the River Unto the Sea, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland) First Novel Bearskin, by James A. McLaughlin (Ecco) Paperback Original If I Die Tonight, by Alison Gaylin (William Morrow) Fact Crime Tinderbox, by Robert W. Fieseler (Liveright) Critical/Biographical Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s, by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books) Separately, the Publishing Triangle Awards, honoring LGBTQ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and trans literature published in 2018, were also presented. The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction went to Drapetomania, by John R. Gordon (Team Angelica); and Paul […]
People, Etc.
At Workman Publishing, Cindy Lee has been promoted to senior manager, marketing & visual content for the Workman imprint; Neil Hiremath to senior manager, digital operations; and SarahMay Harel to associate manager, web operations & ecommerce. Rina Mody joins the company as manager, digital operations, working across all imprints. She was previously with Thieme, in the editorial and marketing departments. In promotions at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, Lisa DiSarro is now executive director, marketing and Amanda Acevedo moves up to marketing manager, school & library; plus Taylor McBroom has been hired as marketing specialist, school & library (she was at Harper Children’s). Keely Platte […]
People, Etc.
At Farrar, Straus, longtime senior vice president, director of marketing and publicity Jeff Seroy “has decided to relinquish” those responsibilities as of July 1, publisher Mitzi Angel writes, after almost 25 years. He will become svp, director of special projects, still “handling a select group of key publicity campaigns, working closely with some of FSG’s core authors on forthcoming projects,” as well as acquiring and editing books on the performing arts and spiritual health. Jonathan Galassi, president, said, “Jeff and I have collaborated closely for twenty-five years, and so much of the success of FSG’s list has been due to […]
People, Etc.
Angela Man has joined Orbit as associate publicist. She was previously at Diversion Books. Cassandra Fernandez has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s as marketing associate. She was previously marketing assistant at Random House Children’s. Sarah Homer was promoted to assistant editor at Harper Children’s. Imprints Skyhorse will launch a crime fiction imprint, Arcade CrimeWise, starting this fall and publishing 6 to 8 titles a year, including mysteries, thrillers, noir, procedurals, and spy novels. Arcade has previously published genre fiction as part of their overall line. The OTT live trial network backed by Dan Abrams and A&E Networks Law&Crime is starting […]
Winter Is Here: What the Writers Guild Fight Means for Authors and Agents
More than a week ago the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ordered its members to fire their agents, and there’s no end in sight to writers’ objections to film and TV packaging fees and big agencies’ production affiliates. On April 16, the WGA escalated the situation by filing a civil lawsuit against the Association of Talent Agents (ATA) in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that packaging fees violate federal and state law with respect to agents’ fiduciary duties to writer clients. (Talent agencies, unlike talent management firms and literary agencies, are licensed and regulated by the state.) It’s a Hollywood […]