Digital director and publisher at Bloomsbury Publishing Stephanie Duncan leaves the company this week: “I’ve loved working at Bloomsbury, it’s been challenging, fun and great to work with such brilliant colleagues, authors and books. After over twenty years here, it’s time for me to do something new, somewhere new.” She oversaw the first official Harry Potter website, Bloomsbury’s global ebook operations and the digital-first imprint Bloomsbury Reader. She can be reached at stephanie@duncan.uk.com
Arcadia Publishing has hired Shane Hennigan as sales specialist; and Ashley Hill and Hayley Behal as production editors for History Press. Katelyn Jenkins returns to Arcadia as acquisitions editor, and Sam Jones is promoted to scan-based trading data manager.
Charlotte Wenger has joined Prospect Agency as an agent. She was previously an associate editor at Page Street Kids.
Hachette UK Children’s has hired Tracy Phillips as rights director, starting this fall. She has been rights director at Egmont UK for the past four years. Senior rights manager Juliette Clark is promoted to replace Phillips at Egmont.
Audrey Ingerson was promoted assistant editor at Delacorte.
Bookselling: Book Culture “In Danger of Closing Soon”
Owner of the Book Culture stores in New York City Chris Doeblin wrote on Facebook: “Our 4 stores are in danger of closing soon and we need financial assistance or investment on an interim basis to help us find our footing. This is true in spite of the fact that business has been good and we are widely supported and appreciated. In the last 30 months the payroll costs for Book Culture have risen by 50 percent and it has been difficult to adapt quickly enough. We have now made the structural changes to our company and the cuts that will allow us to move ahead profitably once we find the financial resources we need.”
Doeblin appeals to public officials to help him out the way they assist big companies and developers, but it will likely take private financing to make the difference now. (“We have been financed by credit card, by 30% a year interest loans and by remortgaging our home.”) He tells Gothamist how big the need is: “I think we need at least $500K in a term loan but I hope to find $750K to a $1M.” When their Columbus Avenue store opened in 2014, Harper’s publisher John “Rick” MacArthur was a minority partner in the location.
Imprints: DC Reorganizes
DC will reorganize their imprints and focus their publishing “around characters and stories that evolve and mature along with the awareness and sensibilities of DC’s readers.” The Vertigo imprint will close at the end of the year, and starting in January 2020 book lines will be segment by age: DC Kids for middle-grade; DC, for readers 13+, focused on the current DC universe of characters; and DC Black Label for readers 17 and older. Books from the DC Zoom and DC Ink imprints will be assigned to DC Kids and DC.
Audio: BookBeat Expands Across Europe (In English)
Bonnier’s audiobook subscription service BookBeat, anchored in Sweden and Finland and available in Germany and the UK as well, announced an expansion across Europe to an additional 24 nations, though “most of the catalog will be made up of English content.”
Distribution
Casemate will distribute Mortons Books and its imprints, including Gresley Books, Gallantry Books, Tempest Books, Banovallum Books, and Timespan in North America starting July 1.
Correction
Gaby Naher and Grace Heifetz’s new agency Left Bank Literary will be based in Darlinghurst, Australia.