Penguin Random House announced to US employees a new Student Loan Repayment Assistance Program that starts in January. The company will provide all full-time employees who have been employed at least one year with a student loan repayment of up to $1,200 annually — for up to seven and a half years — totaling a maximum of $9,000. CEO Markus Dohle writes: “I know all too well that student loan debt burdens a great deal of our colleagues…. We have always believed in doing our part to tackle broader societal challenges by starting within our own communities. We want to honor the investments you […]
Kelly Denies Her Book SETTLE FOR MORE Says What NYT Reported
In advance of the book’s publication on November 15, NYT book critic Jennifer Senior also obtained a copy of Megyn Kelly’s SETTLE FOR MORE — first written about by Radar — and ran an early review (rather than a news story). Senior writes about Kelly’s accounts of president-elect Donald Trump’s behavior towards her, and adds to the story of Kelly’s allegations against ousted Fox chief executive Roger Ailes. She writes that Ailes “engineered hit pieces about me online” after she declined to defend him this summer, presenting her with this option: “I could ensure that the owners of Fox News Channel — […]
Amazon Changes Third-Party Seller Rules
Amazon instituted new selling and shipping rules for third party media sellers that will increase the fees reaped by the etailer, and effectively end of the economic viability of selling so-called “penny books” on the site. As of March 1, 2017, the fees for selling media products, including books, will rise in two ways. The per item fee will increase to $1.80, up from $1.35 per item, and going forward “will be a fixed fee rate and not variable.” Additionally, the referral fee they charge will go from 15 percent of the item price to 15 percent of the total sales (including […]
Denmark’s JP/Politikens Forms Swedish Publishing House, Polaris
Denmark-based publishing company JP/Politikens will launch a new publishing house in Sweden, Polaris Förlag, concentrating on literary fiction, crime and thrillers, and popular nonfiction, in the second half of 2017. Polaris, which will operate as an independent unit of JP/Politikens and based in Stockholm, will be overseen by Jonas Axelsson, most recently director of Bonnier Group and ceo of Partners in Stories. JP/Politikens managing director Lene Juul said in the announcement: “The Swedish book market is interesting as we currently see a positive market development. And with Jonas Axelsson we have found the right person to start our new business […]
Book Sales Improve in Indigo’s Second Quarter
Canadian “book, gift and specialty toy retailer” Indigo reported results for their fiscal second quarter, ending September 26. Sales rose 5.4 percent, or $11.2 million, to $216.9 million (CA) for the quarter, driven by “continued double digit growth in the general merchandise business, and growth in the core book business enhanced by the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which balanced the downward sales slide of adult coloring books. Total book sales were up 5.1 percent (3.8 percent in superstores and 4.9 percent in small format stores) on a same-store basis, though they operated one less superstore and two fewer small-format stores than […]
People: Thien Wins Giller Prize
Madeleine Thien won the Giller Prize for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Norton/Knopf Canada), which was shortlisted for the Booker and also won the Governor General’s Prize for Fiction. Thien will receive $100,000 (CA) along with the prize. Christine McNamara has been appointed to the new position of vp, marketing strategy at the Penguin Publishing Group. Previously she was vp, partnerships & content marketing at Penguin Random House’s consumer marketing development group, which announced its own round of promotions: Katherine McCahill moves up to vp, director, partnerships, consumer events, and apps; Lilly Kim is promoted to director, partnerships; […]