F+W has hired Tom Beusse as ceo, effective immediately, filling the position vacated by David Nussbaum last September (with coo Jim Ogle working as interim ceo since then). Beusse founded and ran as president the USA Today Sports Media Group until leaving in 2013. Prior to that he was ceo of radio content syndication company Westwood One for a brief period; he was also president of Time Warner’s Time4 Media subsidiary, and president of magazine publishing at Rodale.
Beusse says in the announcement: “I am excited about the opportunity to lead F+W forward in the ever-changing media landscape. The deep relationship F+W brands have with their customers positions us for real growth in an increasingly vertical media environment. The experience I have gained from previous roles, particularly at Rodale and Time4 Media, provides me with an excellent understanding of the roles these brands play in the lives of the enthusiasts they serve and with some tangible plans to expand the same.” [Note that F+W is a partner of Publishers Launch Conferences in the Digital Book World conference.]
Crown Publishing Group deputy publisher David Drake has been promoted to executive vice president of the division, continuing to report to Maja Mavjee. “David is my trusted advisor and partner in shaping and executing our shared vision for Crown,” Mavjee writes to staff.
George Weidenfield, 96, died Tuesday in London. He co-founded Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1948, which was acquired by Orion in 1992 and later became part of Hachette UK, remaining the imprint’s chairman until his death. “He was a brilliant publisher, a driving force in the careers of the many distinguished authors he published, taking a delight in ideas, and applying his boundless energy to the issues of the day,” Hachette UK ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson said in a statement. “We will miss his wise counsel, his generosity, his brilliant publishing instinct and his great insight but there is consolation in the fact that he lived a long, wonderful and constructive life.”
Christina Clifford has recently joined Union Literary as a literary agent. Previously she was an agent at Aitken Alexander.
Seven book tech startups have been selected to participate in the first 1440 Accelerator for publishing innovation, backed by Ingram Content Group and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. The participating companies are:
Authorpad Publishing (Zimbabwe)
Authorship.me (Brazil)
Freenters (Illinois)
Leafless (Tennessee)
PiracyTrace (Calfornia)
PublishSoSimply (Poland)
Woodpie (India)
Book Expo America is working directly with the American Library Association on their “library insight track” of educational programming. They say the sessions “will draw hundreds of additional librarians to BEA and cover new terrain in Readers Advisory, nurturing local writers, and working with marketing teams from the Big Five publishers to help patrons.” New conference tracks include one on children’s publishing (remember that our fifth annual full-day Publishers Launch Kids Conference kicks of Digital Book World week, coming up soon on March 7; get your registration discount now), and one on self publishing.