As noted last fall, Penguin filed multiple lawsuits to recover advances from over a dozen authors whom the publisher says never delivered their manuscripts. With the merger with Random House completed last week, we wondered about the status of these lawsuits and discovered Penguin dropped more than half the complaints “with prejudice” – meaning each side was responsible for any legal fees incurred. (When reached for comment a Penguin spokesperson said “As was Penguin’s desire, many of the lawsuits have been settled amicably.”) New Yorker staff writer Rebecca Mead was sued for $20,000 over a 2003 deal to collect her […]
People, Etc.
Former vp, director of publicity at Simon & Schuster’s adult trade imprint Tracey Guest has joined Penguin as advising director of corporate communications. In her new role she will work closely with Stuart Applebaum, head of Global Communications for Penguin Random House, and Claire Von Schilling on integration and related matters. Christine Ball, who previously held the advising director position on an interim basis, will be returning to her full-time position as vp, associate publisher of Dutton. Erica Glass remains senior manager, corporate communications at Penguin. Emma Parry has joined Janklow & Nesbit as a literary agent, five years after […]
July Bookseller Picks
Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s “best books of July” lists both feature Ivy Pochoda’s Visitation Street, the second selection for the Dennis Lehane Books imprint. The other picks from each retailer include: Amazon The English Girl, Daniel Silva The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, Andrew Sean Greer I Wear the Black Hat, Chuck Klosterman The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin Extence Five Star Billionaire, Tash Aw Coming Clean, Kimberly Rae Miller Lost Girls, Robert Kolker Sisterland, Curtis Sittenfeld My Education, Susan Choi Fiend, Peter Stenson Barnes & Noble Topsy, Michael Daly The Night Gwen Stacy Died, Sarah Bruni Fin & […]
People, Etc.
Julie Trelstad has joined Writers House as director, digital rights. Previously she was an independent consultant and founder of Plain White Press. At Harlequin, Emer Flounders has been named publicity manager, fiction. Previously he was a senior publicist at Simon & Schuster’s adult trade imprint. In addition, Lauren Jackson recently joined as associate publicist. Previously she was a publicity assistant at Tarcher. At eBound Canada, Krystyna Ross has been appointed Interim chief executive officer, replacing Robert Hayashi who left the organization earlier in the year. Most recently an independent publishing consultant, Ross has held executive positions with McClelland & Stewart […]
People: Redmayne Appointed HarperCollins UK CEO As Barnsley Exits
After 13 years as ceo of HarperCollins UK, Victoria Barnsley is leaving the company at the end of the week following a restructuring of Harper’s international business. Under the new structure, the management of HarperCollins Australia, HarperCollins New Zealand and HarperCollins India will be transferred from the UK to the US, where they will now report directly to Brian Murray. Replacing Barnsley as ceo is Charlie Redmayne, the company’s former chief digital officer who left in 2011 to serve as Pottermore’s chief executive officer. Redmayne starts back at Harper UK on August 5 and will report to Murray. In a […]
With The Merger Complete, Some of Penguin Random House’s Next Steps
Following the merger of Penguin and Random House into a single global entity, a new corporate website is already live, complete with a merged company history and new @penguinrandomhouse.com email exchanges (though the company says the “immensity and technical complexity of the project” means US and Canadian staffers won’t switch over to the new email addresses for months.) In a letter to US staff, Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle said he has “learned a lot” from meetings and conversations since the merger announcement eight months ago. “You have delivered a strong performance over the past eight months, during a time when […]