Oprah Winfrey’s revamped, Occasional Book Club 2.0 has selected Ayana Mathis‘ debut novel THE TWELVE TRIBES OF HATTIE (Knopf) as its second choice. The book was originally set for publication in mid-January but has been moved up to release today instead. As part of the announcement Oprah said: “The opening pages of Ayana’s debut took my breath away. I can’t remember when I read anything that moved me in quite this way, besides the work of Toni Morrison.” Oprah had picked Cheryl Strayed’s WILD in June, following the book’s publication in March. At the time, she said the OBC2.0 would feature “several […]
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Mark Bloomfield has joined Regnery as director of sales. Previously he was associate publisher at Harvard Business School Press. Deputy publisher of Gallery, Threshold and Pocket Anthony Ziccardi has left the company after seven years. His last day was December 3. Going forward, Ziccardi’s responsibilities will be handled by an associate publisher and a marketing director, both of which will be newly created positions within the group. Colin McGee is no longer with Sellers Publishing. He can be reached at colinmcgee@maine.rr.com. Longtime literary agent Robert Lescher, 83, died November 28. Christopher Davis, 71, who worked at Dorling Kindersley since its […]
Meet the New News Corp., As Publishing Spinoff Looms
News Corp. set many of the wheels in motion to spin off a separate publishing company sooner than previously expected, announcing this morning the new unit will keep the News Corp name while the entertainment division will go forward as The Fox Group. Robert Thomson will be ceo of the new publishing-focused News Corp., which will include HarperCollins, as of January 1. He has spent the past five years as Dow Jones editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. As previously announced, Rupert Murdoch will be chairman of the new News Corp. while also remaining ceo and chairman of […]
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Patrick Mulligan has resigned from Gotham Books, to work full-time for Pop Chart Lab, a design startup he cofounded in 2010. He can be reached at patrick@popchartlab.com. Mark Short joins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as svp and head of international markets. He was at Pearson. The Bookseller has updated their piece on United Agents’ acquisition of AP Watt: 12 of 16 AP Watt staffers are joining UA as part of the merger. In the UK, Christian publisher Lion Hudson will publish crime and women’s fiction aimed at a broader audience through a new imprint, Lion Fiction, set to launch in spring 2013. […]
International: Random House Mondadori Buyout Completed; Harper Takes Full Control of India Division
Spanish antitrust authorities gave swift approval to Bertelsmann’s purchase of Mondadori’s 50 percent stake in the Spanish-language publishing company Random House Mondadori. The transaction officially closed Friday. As previously announced, Random House Mondadori will retain its corporate name for now, with no changes to its leadership, organizational structure, and publishing programs. HarperCollins announced it has taken full control of Harper India after nearly ten years of operating the division as part of a joint venture with English-language publisher Living Media India. The company says the move “marks a commitment to expansion by HarperCollins into the Indian market” and to “making […]
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Midas Public Relations CEO Jacks Thomas will join Reed Exhibitions UK in January as senior exhibition director for the London Book Fair. LBF has been a Midas client for 10 years, and will remain so in the future. Kelly Welsh will join Putnam and Amy Einhorn Books as senior publicity manager on December 3. Previously she was publicity manager at Simon & Schuster’s trade imprint. Author and motivational speaker Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar, 86, died on Wednesday. Best known for his 1975 book SEE YOU AT THE TOP, the WSJ notes he “preached in the tradition of American self-help that stretched back […]