Former Harcourt executive Andre Bernard uses the recent memorial service for Robert Giroux as the launching point for an assessment of current happenings in publishing (and at Harcourt in particular). He says that Houghton Mifflin Harcout is “reportedly now trying to bring” recently fired longtime editor Drenka Willen back “in another capacity.” “One way or another, whether printed on paper or seen on an electronic screen, good books — great books — will continue to find their way to readers. Good writers — great writers — will continue to surface, with the help of the Drenka Willens and Rebecca Saletans […]
Still More Best of Lists, from the SF Chronicle
They picks 50 top nonfiction books and 50 fiction and poetry works. A separate piece lists notable books by Bay Area authors.
People
At Grand Central, Karen Kosztolnyik (editor of the bestselling DEWEY) has been promoted to executive editor. Celia Johnson, who has worked with both Kosztolnyik and Les Pockell, has been promoted to assistant editor.
Bertelsmann Sells British Club
In a press release issued this morning in German, Bertelsmann announced the sale of their British book clubs, Book Club Associates (BCA), to Munich’s holding company Aurelius. The transfer is scheduled for January 1. BCA has approximately 700,000 members and sales are said to be in the “middle double-digit million euro range.” This will be the first British property in Aurelius’s portfolio.
A Little More Time for Redstone
Today’s deadline for Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements to repay $800 million in debt has “has been extended as the company makes headway in negotiations with its banks,” the WSJ reports–even as he and Shari Redstone remain at adds over the solution. “Shari, who runs the movie theaters, remains deeply opposed to sacrificing them and has been putting pressure on her father and his advisers to consider other asset sales. The disagreement has become so heated that Ms. Redstone and her father are only communicating by fax, according to people familiar with the situation.”WSJ
Credit Insurance Lifted for Borders UK
Top credit insurer Euler Hermes is continuing to pull insurance cover from a number of retail operations, now including all of Borders UK, as well as the UK’s Book People. The decision is reportedly based on the overall economic decline rather than specific weaknesses at those operations. The Bookseller says that “the action has prompted at least one distributor to advise its clients to reconsider their trading limits. Hachette-owned LBS has emailed its publisher clients warning them that it wants to be told of the new limits by 23rd December or the supply of books will be placed on hold.”Bookseller