Bill Hamilton will join Celadon Books as executive editor, starting April 5, where he will acquire “nonfiction with a focus on politics and history.” He was most recently Washington editor at The New York Times. Nathalie Le Du has been promoted to publisher of Odd Dot, reporting to Jen Besser, president of Macmillan Children’s Publishing. Newly reporting to Le Du is creative director Christina Quintero. Previous publisher Daniel Nayeri is stepping down to write full time. At Orbit, Nivia Evans has been promoted to senior editor; Angela Man has been promoted to publicist; and Lisa Marie Pompilio to associate art director. Author Colson Whitehead will […]
Archives for February 2021
E L James to Move Backlist to New Sourcebooks Imprint for Entrepreneurial Women
Author of the Fifty Shades Trilogy and other titles E L James will have her entire backlist distributed by Sourcebooks in print and ebooks starting April 1. James is the “keystone author” in a new imprint providing a “joint publishing model” to “entrepreneurial women authors who want to benefit from all that a top publisher has to offer, including powerful retail relationships and deep distribution channels.” The company says the role line will let “established entrepreneurial authors to take greater control in the creation, development and marketing of their books.” Pamela Jaffee will head publicity and marketing for the imprint. […]
People: Conford Returns to PRH UK to Lead Merged Hutchinson Heinemann
Two years after leaving Penguin Press UK to serve as publisher of Profile Books, Helen Conford returns to PRH UK on March 29 to lead the literary fiction and nonfiction teams at the Cornerstone Publishing Group. She will be publisher of Hutchinson Heinemann, a merger of the separate William Heinemann, Hutchinson and Windmill imprints. Publishing director at Little Brown UK and Virago Ailah Ahmed will join the company on May 4 as publishing director of Hutchinson Heinemann, with Charlotte Cray reporting to her. Conford will also oversee #MerkyBooks and Random House Business, which will “undergo a strategic rebrand” to cover […]
Lagardere Publishing Has Modest Rise In Fourth Quarter
Lagardere reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Thursday afternoon, with publishing sales of €700 million in the holiday quarter 2020, up 3.4 percent from €677 million a year ago. The performance was “led by positive sales trends in the United Kingdom and the post-lockdown catch-up effect in France in December.” For the full year, publishing sales of €2.375 billion were down €9 million from a year ago. Recent acquisitions added €30 million to sales, with €14 million from Le Livre Scolaire, €10 million from Laurence King Publishing and €6 million from Blackrock Games. (The addition of the catalog from Disney […]
AAP Trade Sales Rose 10.2 Percent in 2020
The AAP reported monthly Stat Shot sales for December and full-year 2020. December was another strong month, with sales of $739 million, up $65 million (9.6 percent) compared to a year ago — with all the gains and then some coming from adult books. Well over half of that gain came from adult hardcovers, which were $38 million higher. For the full year, AAP trade sales hit $7.933 billion — up $736 million from a year ago, a 10.2 percent gain. (The revised final total for 2019 sales was $52 million lower than when it was first reported a year […]
Simon & Schuster Finishes Best Sales Year
ViacomCBS reported fourth quarter and full-year earnings on Wednesday afternoon, with sales at Simon & Schuster hitting an all-time high of $901 million for the year, up almost 11 percent from $814 million a year ago. With S&S now classified as discontinued operations, due to the pending sale to Penguin Random House, the parent company did not provide their usual commentary. Sales for the quarter were $252 million, well up from $215 million last year (and still ahead of the $235 million recorded two years ago). Adjusted OIBDA looks to have been $41 million — the company did not explicitly […]