At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, Jenny Groves and Jenn Taber have been promoted to publicity manager, and Jean Thrift has been promoted to marketing associate. Cambridge University Press has hired Peter Phillips as chief operating officer, joining the publisher in early October, the Bookseller reports. He will join the board of the press as well. He was at the UK’s Office of Communications (an independent regulator and competition authority in the communications industries.) A group of people with connections to trade publishing, including agent Rafe Sagalyn, author and editor of the New Republic Franklin Foer and others have held informal […]
More Announcements: Hearst Renews, Indigo's Teen Awards
Hearst Magazines has renewed its long-term trademark licensing agreement with Sterling that grants them the rights to create and publish books under the Hearst Books imprint. Sterling has worked with Hearst for nine years. Indigo is running a new Teen Read Awards program in which teen readers can vote for favorite books, authors and characters in ten nominated categories. As the chain underscores in their announcement, “the teen books category has grown by 150% and has become the second largest at Indigo and Chapters, after adult fiction.”Release
Tune In to Cover Design
Cable channel Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist reality series turns to book jacket design on today’s episode, airing at 10 PM. The twelve contests are asked to design the cover for a Penguin book. The winner is selected this evening, and tomorrow Penguin “will publish the title featuring the winning design.”
Amazon Cuts Kindle Price, New iOS Releases, and More
Hours after Barnes & Noble’s price cut on Nook and announcement of a new lower-priced wi-fi model, Amazon announced a price reduction of its own. They lowered the price on the regular model of Kindle from $269 to $189, effective immediately. The press loves “price wars” and of course everyone is an expert on what this means, and what it portends. Barnes & Noble is particularly vocal in media accounts. CEO William Lynch tells the NYT, “I don’t see more than two, or maybe three dedicated reading companies in the market for selling e-books. I think you are starting to […]
People, Etc.
Among approximately 35 layoffs at the San Diego Union Tribune: books editor and art critic Robert Pincus. The paper describes the process of “reshaping our newsroom” which includes new hires and revised vision of what the paper should cover. While promising “coverage of pop and classical music, theater and fine art” and a new “critic-at-large who ventures beyond entertainment and the arts,” there’s no mention of books coverage or a replacement for Pincus.Editor’s noteVoice of San Diego on layoffs Dorling Kindersley deputy ceo Andrew Phillips is taking over as president of Penguin International, one of the posts vacated by David […]
Abrams and Chronicle In Joint Venture to Sell and Market in UK and Europe
Abrams and Chronicle are announcing a UK joint venture in which the UK sales and marketing group Abrams has run since 2004 is expanding to handle both titles from both companies. Called Abrams & Chronicle Books, under managing director Chuck Lang the unit will have a staff of 11 sales and marketing professionals. In addition to the Abrams and Chronicle lists, the company will continue to distribute “a select group of US and international publishers” and recruit “new complementary” clients. New international sales director David Gooding and eight export reps will handle sales and distribution throughout Europe, “where the new […]