It’s hard to get a clear story on the latest layoffs at Barnes & Noble. As we first reported last Friday, employees were told of some additional reductions last Thursday that included the elimination of the Nook accessories (as well as its leader). We were told informally that some Nook channel sales people were also let go (plus a director not connected to Nook). On Monday, Business Insider ran an erroneous story based on an email from an unidentified person claiming the company “fired its Nook hardware engineering staff” on Thursday. Dutifully ricocheted by most every tech blog in the […]
People, Etc.
After more than two years at HarperCollins, where she was executive editor at It Books, Esther Margolis is leaving the company on February 14 and reclaiming the Newmarket Press. She will establish a new publishing and media venture to agent, package and consult on books, publishing, marketing and cross-media strategies, especially in the film and entertainment area. Margolis founded Newmarket Press in 1981 and sold the company and backlist to Harper in 2011. She will assume full rights to the Newmarket Press name and logo after the fall season launch. At Inkwell Literary Management, Allison Hunter and Lauren Smythe have […]
Bookselling: Chapitre Closes 23 of 57 Stores, Eliminates Over 400 Jobs; and More
France’s bankrupt second-largest bookstore chain Chapitre completed its dissolution with the court approved sale of 8 more stores, and the formal closure of the remaining 23 locations they were unable to sell, out of a total of 57 branches. France’s Les Echos says 434 jobs will be eliminated as a result — including 100 jobs at company headquarters — or a third of their workforce. Chapitre’s owner Actissia announced last summer that it intended to sell the chain outright and, if it could not find a buyer, would close all stores by summer 2014. Eleven stores had closed last December, with […]
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Kate Johnson has joined Wolf Literary Services, where she will focus on adult fiction, based in Scotland. Kate was previously an agent and vice president at Georges Borchardt. Adriann Ranta is now vp and senior agent, and Allison Devereux has been promoted to associate agent and foreign rights manager. Sara Sargent has joined Simon Pulse as editor. Previously she was an associate editor at Balzer + Bray. At Metropolitan Books, Guy Connor has been promoted to assistant editor. Nathan Filer’s Costa Award-winning debut novel, published in the UK as THE SHOCK AND THE FALL but in the US as WHERE […]
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At Gotham/Avery, Lindsay Gordon has been promoted to associate director of publicity. Beth Ineson has been appointed to the new role of executive director, book marketing, sales, and operations at Boston Common Press, starting March 3. Most recently she was head of field sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ineson will oversee expansion of the marketing and distribution of efforts of the Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen, and Cook’s Country lines of cookbooks. Annie Kelley has returned to Schwartz & Wade Books as senior editor. Previously she was youth editor at Booklist. Simon & Schuster UK will combine its adult and […]
Laura McHugh Tops March LibraryReads List
Laura McHugh’s psychological suspense novel THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD leads the March LibraryReads list, with the remaining titles featuring: The Accident, Chris Pavone The Divorce Papers, Susan Reiger The Outcast Dead, Elly Griffiths Panic, Lauren Oliver A Circle of Wives, Alice LaPlante Gemini, Carol Cassella Precious Thing, Colette McBeth Kill Fee, Owen Laukkanen Show Your Work!, Austin Kleon