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Seale Ballenger will join Scholastic as vp, publicity on February 28, reporting to svp of marketing Erin Berger. He was previously publicity director at Disney Publishing Worldwide.
Imprints: Penguin Young Readers Launches Rocky Pond Books
Penguin Young Readers will launch Rocky Pond Books, led by Lauri Hornik, who has been publisher at Dial Books for Young Readers. The imprint will publish fiction and nonfiction for age two through teen “with a focus on mental health and social-emotional learning and on seeking out exceptional debut authors and illustrators.” Rocky Pond’s first list will publish in spring 2023. “Above all, I am committed to publishing mental health content – books that start conversations, that provide a step toward healing, and that show readers they aren’t alone,” Hornik said in a release. “I’m so excited to now be dedicating myself […]
Follett Sold to Private Investors
College bookstore operator Follett Higher Education (and parent corporate entity Follett Corporation) has been sold to a group of private investors led by Jefferson River Capital, a private investment firm that is the family office of Tony James, recently retired executive vice chairman of Blackstone. Terms of the deal were not announced. Just as reported last August, the entirety of Follett has now been sold, with Morgan Stanley as financial advisor. In September 2021, Follett School Solutions was sold to Francisco Partners. The company said they would close the Follett Book Fairs, which were recently sold to Literati instead. Then in November, […]
M&A: Hachette Livre Buys Out Bragelonne; Toon to Astra; Infosec to Cengage
Hachette Livre has acquired the remaining shares of genre publisher Bragelonne and Bragelonne Games, building on their minority investment from 2019. The terms of the deal were not announced. Founded in 2000, Bragelonne has a catalog of over 4,000 titles — including Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books. Hachette will make Bragelonne part of their illustrated division, led by Isabelle Magna. Astra Publishing House has acquired children’s comics publisher Toon Books, which will become an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. Publisher, editorial director and senior designer Françoise Mouly founded Toon in 2008. Astra is distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher […]
Distribution: Fabled Film Press
Children’s and young adult publisher Fabled Film Press will be distributed by Simon & Schuster, which will handle worldwide sales and distribution.