Among the first named layoffs at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is svp, associate trade group publisher and business development Laurie Brown, who has left the company. Ingram Content Group has added Kelly Arnold as chief legal offficer (she was general counsel at U.S. Xpress Enterprises) and Deanna Steele as chief information technology officer (she was group vice president, IT – Brands at Ascena Retail Group). Nancy Sheppard has joined St. Martin’s as marketing director. Previously she was director of creative marketing services at Penguin Adult. Josh Redlich has been promoted to publicist at Random House Children’s. Laura Kaplan has returned to the […]
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Matthew Daddona has been promoted to editor at Dey Street Books. Megha Parekh has joined Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer as editor. Previously, she was editor at Grand Central Publishing. Former publishing director at Harper Collins in Australia and New Zealand Shona Martyn has joined Lingo Pictures as their book scout. Former editorial director at Harper UK Martin Redfern will join Diane Banks Associates as a nonfiction agent in April. The Books for a Better Life Awards will induct publisher Esther Margolis and authors Gretchen Rubin and Mary Higgins Clark into their Hall of Fame at their April awards ceremony. Robert B. Silvers, 87, founding […]
Houghton Announces Plans for Cost Cutting
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt formally announced plans to cut costs over the next 21 months last Thursday, telling employees and then investors about “certain proposed operational efficiency and cost-reduction actions.” The company said in February after another dismal quarter that included a $139 million impairment charge to expect “strategic cost cutting to simplify the business and help enable the company to reinvest for future growth,” noting they had engaged Boston Consulting Group on “steps to improve its operational efficiency and right-size its cost structure.” Similar language is repeated in the recent SEC filing. Top executives are safe but otherwise they said to expect layoffs, office […]
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Valerie Steiker will join Scribner as executive editor on April 17. Previously, she was the longtime culture editor at Vogue. Reporting to Colin Harrison and Nan Graham, she will acquire and edit fiction, memoir, narrative non-fiction, and lifestyle books. Parisa Ebrahimi joins the Crown and Hogarth fiction team today as editor. She moves over from Chatto & Windus in London and reports to Lindsay Sagnette. Rebecca Marsh has joined Viking/Penguin Books as publicity manager. Previously, she was a senior publicist for Crown Archetype, Harmony, and Three Rivers Press. Forthcoming Audio Robert Caro has written and narrated an audiobook-only title, ON POWER, releasing on May 9, […]
Awards: Erdrich and Desmond Lead NBCC Winners, And More
On Thursday night, the National Book Critics Circle presented their 2016 book awards to: Fiction LaRose, by Louise Erdrich (Harper) General Nonfiction Evicted, by Matthew Desmond (Crown) Autobiography Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren (Knopf) Biography Shirley Jackson, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright) Criticism White Rage, by Carol Anderson (Bloomsbury) Poetry House of Lords and Commons, by Ishion Hutchinson (Farrar, Straus) Separately, shortlists were announced for the UK’s two big children’s book awards, the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. The nominees for the Carnegie Medal are: Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce The Bone Sparrow, by Zana Fraillon The Smell of Other People’s Houses, by Bonnie-Sue […]
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Hollands Diep will publish of the forthcoming books by former president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in Dutch. At Abrams, Melanie Chang has been appointed to the new role of vice president of children’s marketing and publicity. Chang will oversee marketing and publicity for the Abrams Children’s, Amulet, and Appleseed imprints. Liz Fithian has joined as director of franchise marketing for children’s books, reporting to Melanie Chang. Previously, she was director of marketing at Macmillan. SVP and chief marketing officer Steve Tager will transition from overseeing children’s marketing and publicity to focusing on marketing and publicity for Abrams’ adult businesses, including Abrams Plus’ Noterie gift […]