On Wednesday, Macmillan announced that they will increase their entry-level base salary to $47,500, effective April 1. That brings them in line with Hachette Book Group, which announced a similar increase a week ago. Macmillan has been paying a starting salary of $42,000. Macmillan noted, “Additional adjustments will be made to current salary bands to reflect this change.”
People 2/8
Zakiya Jamal has joined Atria as marketing manager.
Bertlesmann Subsidiary Gruner + Jahr to Sell or Close 23 Magazines, Cut 500 Jobs
Bertelsmann’s magazine division Gruner + Jahr — which they sold to Bertelsmann-controlled TV division RTL in 2021 — will retrench significantly, RTL Deutschland announced Tuesday. The company plans to close or sell 23 publications “against the background of the rapidly changing media landscape and the challenging macroeconomic situation” and focus on their core brands. Approximately 500 jobs will be eliminated at the Hamburg, Germany offices over the next few years, and they expect another 200 jobs to be transferred to new owners, from a total workforce of about 1900 people. “Costs will be reduced in all areas, especially in the […]
Trump Sues Woodward and S&S For Publishing Audiobook without A License
In a typically hyperbolic filing, Donald Trump sued author Bob Woodward and publisher Simon & Schuster in a Pensacola, FL Federal Court on Monday, alleging that audiobook THE TRUMP TAPES: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump was published without Trump’s permission and infringes his rights. The suit argues that when Trump agreed to speak with Woodward on multiple occasions and consented to being recorded, it was clear that the purpose and use was limited to Woodward’s planned book RAGE. The filing does not attach or cite a contract or release of any kind, suggesting that any agreement or […]
HarperCollins to Cut Five Percent of North American Employees
HarperCollins ceo Brian Murray announced in an internal memo that the company will implement both job reductions and cost cutting between now and the middle of the calendar year (which is when Harper’s fiscal year ends). A spokesperson confirmed that, “In addition to implementing a variety of cost-saving measures, we will be reducing our workforce across North America by 5% before the end of the fiscal year.” Some employees were told they were being laid off yesterday Murray wrote, though apparently additional reductions are still to come. Reportedly, the layoffs included a senior sales staffer and four positions in the […]
Excerpt: Steve Rubin’s “Words and Music”
Today is publication day for longtime publisher Stephen Rubin’s memoir, Words and Music: Confessions of an Optimist. As promised, the book is a deliciously candid (sometimes impolitic) account of his illustrious career, covering both his hits and his missteps, and sharing stories about some of the industry’s best-known personalities. The following excerpt, from the chapter “More Corporate Claptrap” — Rubin notes a few times, “I have always said that corporations do dumb things” — is just a taste, recounting his final days at Random House. Why didn’t it work for me as Random House’s Publisher at Large? Why was the […]