Bookselling A couple of weeks ago Book Expo announced a preliminary count of 7,425 attendees at the mots recent, saying the group was “comprised primarily of booksellers, librarians, retailers and media.” But a new infographic from the show provides a more precise count of 1,289 booksellers & retailers, and 1,597 librarians in attendance. We asked about the composition of the remaining 4,414 attendees tabulated, which included 860 press registrants, and who came from “various categories including Distributors, Educators, Film & TV Professionals, Licensing Professionals, Literary Agents and Wholesalers among others.” The show spokesperson says they will provide further details once the […]
Corporate: Baldini & Castoldi Sold, New Library Digital Content Apps, and More
In Italy, former head of Bompiani Elisabetta Sgarbi’s publishing company The Ship of Theseus, which launched in early 2016, has acquired the renewed version of Baldini & Castoldi. (They bought 95 percent; Filippo Vannuccini retains a 5 percent share.) The publisher says the purchase and recapitalization of Baldini & Castoldi was down “just with [its] own resources” and “without any bank loans.” The Ship of Theseus was started with what Sgarbi said was “five to six million” euros of investment, some of which came from authors, including the late Umberto Eco. Michele Dalai leaves Baldini & Castoldi following the sale. Sgarbi, who serves as president of Baldini […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Keith Wallman has joined Diversion Books as senior editor. He was most recently senior editor at Lyons Press. At Crown Publishing Group, Liz Wetzel has been promoted to publicity manager for Crown, Hogarth, Tim Duggan Books, and Broadway Books. Maya Lane moves up to associate publicist for Crown Archetype, Three Rivers Press, and Harmony. Director of English PEN Jo Glanville will step down as in July, moving on to an honorary visiting fellowship at the Giessen University in Germany. Author Alix Ohlin will become chair of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program as of January 1, 2018. She has been […]
People, Etc.
Nick Amphlett has been promoted to associate editor at William Morrow. Kendra Newton has been promoted to marketing director for Dey Street Books. Eugenia Pakalik has joined Chronicle Books as director of trade sales (she was director of sales and operations and distributions services for Norton). Becca Hunt has joined as senior editor of entertainment (she was a senior editor for Harper Design), and Marie Oishi has been promoted to managing editor for food and lifestyle. Michael Strother will join Little, Brown Children’s as editor on June 26. Most recently, he was an editor at Harlequin Teen. Giovanni Dutto will join Harper Italy as […]
iBooks Best Books of 2017 So Far
Every year we see more “best books of the year so far” lists landing in June, and this year iBooks beats the bellwether announcement from Amazon with their own picks. (Because of the weighting of the publishing schedule towards the fall, many of the “so far” picks get bumped in final “best of the year” competition. Last year, for example, 6 of Amazon’s half-year picks made it onto the final, consensus Very Best Books of the Year lists.) iBooks presents four lists: Favorite Bestsellers, Surprise Hits We Loved, Books We Couldn’t Put Down, and Stories We Can’t Shake. A number of […]
People, Etc.
Former publishing executive Dick McCullough, 67, died last week following a battle with brain tumors. Mike Shatzkin has posted a testimonial to “the best leader I ever met in the corporate world.” He notes: “Dick was not an unconventional person, but he loved eccentricity in other people. He wasn’t a brilliant thinker, but he gravitated to people who were. He learned from everybody. He respected everybody. He was relentlessly fair….He inspired us all to be better people. He inspired us all to have a generous spirit. He valued hard work, but he also valued a good time. I have never […]