As was widely (if not always accurately) reported over the weekend, Harper Lee filed suit on May 2 in New York Federal Bankruptcy Court to recover royalties for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD allegedly still being collected improperly by Sam Pinkus. She seeks all commissions collected by Pinkus since 2007, plus compensatory damages. In a less publicized case, last year a New York State court re-established Lee as owner of the copyright of her famous novel and ordered Pinkus removed as her agent. In the new filing, however, Lee charges that Pinkus is “still receiving royalties from the novel as of this […]
O’Reilly Discontinues TOC Conferences & Website
O’Reilly will end its Tools of Change Publishing conferences after seven years of operating in several cities, including New York, Frankfurt, and Bologna. In addition, the companion website will also close, and TOC co-chairs Kat Meyer and Joe Wikert will leave the company. “The decision to discontinue a popular conference was not one we made lightly,” publisher Tim O’Reilly said in the announcement on the TOC blog, “But after TOC 2013, we realized that a conference was no longer the best vehicle for us to contribute to publishing’s forward movement…Seven years on, ‘digital publishing’ is well on its way to simply […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Longtime Author Solutions ceo Kevin Weiss is leaving the company for a new position (to be announced separately next week). President of Penguin International Andrew Phillips is taking over as ceo of Author Solutions, which Penguin acquired last July. Phillips led the launch of Partridge, the Penguin Author Solutions partnership in India. Penguin chairman and ceo John Makinson said in the announcement: “This is a bitter-sweet announcement because we shall be sorry to lose Kevin, who has provided the stability and clear leadership that Author Solutions needed in the year after our acquisition. But I always recognised that Kevin would seek […]
People, Etc.
As part of an expansion of HarperCollins’ global publishing program, Karen Davies has been appointed affiliate publisher of HarperCollins 360, working with the sales teams on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure the distribution, marketing, publicity and sales of Harper US books into the UK marketplace. “We are committed to ensuring that all books published by any division of HarperCollins around the world are available in print or digital format in all English-language markets,” said president and group publisher for the US and Canada Michael Morrison. “We see this as a great opportunity for our authors.” HarperCollins UK ceo […]
Landlord Pledges to “Work With” The Book House In St. Louis On New Location
Earlier this week Michelle Barron, owner of The Book House in St. Louis, learned that the developer who purchased the historic Victorian property where the independent bookstore has been located since 1980 planned to demolish it this coming July and replace the building with an industrial storage facility. But Bill Barron, who represents the Great Northern Developments company that now owns the building, told the St. Louis Dispatch he’s pledging to help Barron find a new home. “We don’t want her on the street,” he said. “We want to work with her.” Barron said the company “is considering several options, […]
People, Etc.
Brendan Cahill has returned to traditional publishing, joining Random House, Inc. as vp, corporate projects. The company says he “will be working with departments across the company on a variety of internal and externally-directed endeavors, beginning with digital-partnership development opportunities.” He was ceo at NatureShare/Green Mountain Digital and publisher at Open Road most recently. Prior to that he had been an editor at Gotham Books before leaving publishing to attend business school. Founder of MacAdam/Cage Publishing David Poindexter, 59, died April 29 of cancer, just three months after he was diagnosed. Poindexter founded the independent publishing house in 1998, publishing authors […]