Andrew Weber has joined Macmillan as global trade chief operating officer, reporting to ceo John Sargent. In his new role, Weber will be responsible for all US finance, accounting, distribution, legal, human resources, technology, M&A, and strategy functions, while also overseeing Macmillan’s UK distribution business MDL and global responsibility for trade administration and technology. Weber spent 16 years at Random House, eventually serving as svp, operations and technology, and was most recently vp, operations at e-commerce startup Bonobos.
In a statement Sargent said, “I am delighted that Andrew has agreed to join us. His wide breadth of experience in strategy, operations and technology will be invaluable as we grow and evolve. And besides all that, he is a great guy and it is good to have him back in the book business.” Weber added: “I’m excited to return to book publishing and to work with John and the Macmillan team around the world to address the great opportunities we have before us. Macmillan is a company I have long admired for their independent spirit and their highly successful publishing programs.”
Barbara Lalicki will retire from HarperCollins Children’s, where she has been svp, editorial director since 1999, on January 31 after more than 40 years in publishing. As a result, Rosemary Brosnan moves up to editorial director. In addition, Andrew Harwell has been promoted to editor.
Brendan Cahill has left his position as ceo of NatureShare/Green Mountain Digital, Publishing Trends reports, though he will remain an advisor to the company’s chairman.
They also report that Matt Shatz has left his position as head of content relations for Nokia.
The National Book Critics Circle elected eight directors for three-year terms. New members Tom Beer, Eric Liebetrau, and Anne Trubek join the re-elected Mark Athitakis, Gregg Barrios, David Biespiel, and Carolyn Kellogg, as Jane Ciabattari rejoins the board after a year’s absence.
Richard Ben Cramer, 62, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of WHAT IT TAKES, on the 1988 presidential campaign, died Monday from complications of lung cancer in Baltimore. Cramer was also the author of books on baseball players Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, and most recently HOW ISRAEL LOST: THE FOUR QUESTIONS (2004). He was under contract to Hachette for a book on Alex Rodriguez that made headlines last month when the publisher sued for failure to deliver a portion of the manuscript. A spokesperson for Hachette told us “we were very surprised to hear of Mr. Cramer’s illness. We had been trying to contact him for well over a year and unfortunately received no response despite repeated attempts, so litigation was a last means recourse.” The company did not say whether they planned to drop the suit.
Patricia Stockland has been named editor-in-chief of the Lerner Publishing Group, replacing Mary Rodgers, who recently departed the company after nearly 14 years. Stockland first joined Lerner in 2012 as editorial director. “I am delighted that Patricia will be an important leader and architect of Lerner’s multi-genre fiction and nonfiction list,” said Adam Lerner, publisher of the Lerner Publishing Group, in a statement. “She will oversee all our acquisitions, broaden our cadre of authors, and provide direction to our editors. Under her guidance we expect to be an industry leader, publishing titles of the highest quality and the greatest appeal to K-12 readers.”
In addition, editorial director for Carolrhoda Books and Darby Creek Andrew Karre and editorial director for Millbrook Press Carol Hinz will serve as interim co-directors of the Graphic Universe imprint until a permanent replacement for Carol Burrell, who recently left the company, is announced. announced. All operations for the Graphic Universe imprint will transition from New York to the Company’s headquarters in Minneapolis at the end of January. Finally, Tara Warren was promoted to vp, Information Technology for Lerner.
The Department of Justice submitted a proposed schedule for reviewing its settlement with Penguin under the Tunney Act to the court last week. The 60-day clock for public comments began on January 5 and will end on March 5, with the DOJ promising to publish them all electronically by April 5. The DOJ will then move for entry of the proposed final judgment on April 19 (after which responses are due on May 3) with a final ruling proposed for May 10. The DOJ’s suit against Macmillan and April remains scheduled for June 3. In addition, Bob Kohn has filed a fresh amicus brief with respect to Penguin’s proposed settlement.