Baker & Taylor president David Cully will retire at the end of August. Cully joined Baker & Taylor in 2008 and became president in 2017. CEO of parent company Follett Pat Connolly said in a statement, “Since I joined Follett, David has been a valued and trusted member of my executive team. I will miss his wise and pragmatic counsel, exemplary character and quick sense of humor. I know he will enjoy this next chapter in life, returning to teaching, reading even more voraciously and spending time with his family.” Amandeep (Aman) Kochar has been named executive vice president of […]
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Natalie Church has joined Dutton and Plume as assistant marketing manager. She was previously at Knopf. Jenny Chen has been promoted to associate editor at Crooked Lane Books. Thomas Weaver will join MIT Press as senior acquisitions editor for art and architecture, starting in September. He previously worked as editor of ANY (Architecture New York) and at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He succeeds Roger Conover, who held the position from 1977 until his recent retirement. In the UK, literary agent Rowan Lawton will join the Soho Agency (the merged Lucas Alexander Whitley and Factual Management) on July […]
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Roberto Torres is joining Harper Mexico as general manager. Torres was most recently with Macmillan Education, where he served for seven years as regional marketing director and sales director for Mexico. Honors Joy Harjo has been named the 23rd US Poet Laureate, succeeding Tracy K. Smith in the fall. Harjo will be the first Native American to hold the position. Acquisitions Rowman & Littlefield acquired Prometheus Books, the Amherst, NY publisher of popular science, critical thinking, philosophy, history books, and more. Trade titles published under the Prometheus Books imprint will become part of Globe Pequot, while titles published under the […]
Amazon’s Best Books So Far
Amazon announced its list of the Best Books of 2019 So Far, with the recently-published City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Riverhead) as its overall top pick. Also on the list are several titles excerpted in our Buzz Books 2019 Spring/Summer sampler: The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon); Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb (HMH); On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong; and The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake (Flatiron). Usually fewer than half of Amazon’s top 20 So Far make it to the top of their end-of-year Best Books list; last year 7 of […]
Hachette Book Group Introduces Metered Model for Digital Sales to Libraries
Hachette Book Group announced it is changing its model for digital product sales to libraries. Starting July 1, the publisher will shift from perpetual ownership of e-books and digital audiobooks to “a two-year metered model.” In their version, those materials can be lent, an unlimited number of times, on a one-user-per-copy basis, for two years before the access expires. (Some publishers limit the total checkouts as well.) HBG says the change “will result in lower prices for the vast majority of our titles to the library market,” though as with other publishers the library pricing will still be significantly higher […]
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that evp and chief learning officer Rosamund Else-Mitchell will leave effective June 28. She will receive a year’s salary, among other benefits. An agreement between the parties “also provides for a release of certain claims by Ms. Else-Mitchell against the company, mutual non-disparagement obligations, certain confidentiality requirements, and non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions for a period of 12 months.” Shannon Donnelly has joined Diversion Books as marketing manager. Kandi Rich has joined Sourcebooks as graphic designer. Molly Koecher will join Longleaf Services as operations manager. She was previously vice president and general manager of Sunrise River Press, […]