Ashley Garland has joined Ecco as publicity manager. Previously she was a publicist at the Random House Publishing Group. At Riverhead Books, Claire McGinnis has been promoted to publicity manager; Liz Hohenadel is now senior publicist; and Glory Plata is now publicist. Klaus Wolterstoff was recently promoted to vp, content and technology at Wm. B. Eerdmans, where will continue to supervise the company’s production department and manage information technology while also taking a more active leadership role in Eerdmans’ ongoing transition into the ebook market. Wolterstoff has also joined the Eerdmans executive leadership team and board of directors. Fiction writers […]
Hackers Steal Credit Card Information From 63 Barnes & Noble Stores
Barnes & Noble revealed Wednesday (after multiple outlets reported the news the previous evening) that hackers gained access to customer credit cards used at 63 store locations in nine states, including at least nine stores in the New York City area. The company said the hackers “planted bugs in tampered PIN pad devices, allowing for the capture of credit card and PIN numbers” in these stores, and the PIN pads have since been removed and will not be reinstalled. Purchases at BN College stores and online through BN.com or the various Nook platforms were not affected. BN learned of the […]
People: Pinsker Named President of Scholastic’s Klutz
Jeff Pinsker has been named president of Scholastic’s “books plus” imprint Klutz, effective December 3 (and vp of Scholastic, Inc.). Pinsker, who will report to Scholastic president of trade publishing Ellie Berger and was most recently ceo of educational toy company Infinitoy, will lead the creative, sales, and marketing direction of the Klutz business and will manage the strategic development of the Klutz brand. Pinsker is also the author of 13 books for children, including the QUIZMO Series and entries in Spinner Books’ Armchair Puzzlers Series. He fills the slot that has been vacant all year, since the departure of […]
Judge Cote Resists Efforts to Postpone June 3 Trial Date
In an order issued late last week Judge Cote reaffirmed the June 3, 2013 trial date for the DOJ’s ebook lawsuit against Apple, Penguin, and Macmillan, after Justice had asked for a three-month extension for “fact and expert discovery” and requested that “other deadlines to be extended accordingly.” Judge Cote asked all parties to submit a new joint scheduling order by noon on Thursday, October 25 that would enable the trial date to stay put, with a telephone conference to follow the following day at 11 AM.
People, Etc.
Jane Harris will join Quercus as executive director, sales and marketing, on January 3, 2013. Previously she was sales and trade marketing director at Walker Books. The FT reaffirms previous reports that Bertelsmann is considering buying back into Springer Science as the current private equity owners evaluate options for reducing their stake or selling entirely. Bertelsmann is said to have “said to have signaled firm intent earlier this year.” THE BURGESS BOYS, Elizabeth Strout‘s first novel since winning the Pulitzer Prize for OLIVE KITTERIDGE, has quietly sat on bookselling sites since at least August, and now it has been “announced” […]
eNews: Guardian Highlights Harsh Amazon UK Kindle Contracts; Bertrams Partners on Online Bookseller Wordery; and More
The Guardian reports on a UK Amazon contract they have seen that seeks to account for 20 percent VAT before calculating the publisher’s share of digital list price–even though Amazon sells ebooks via their Luxembourg subsidiary and only pays 3 percent VAT at the moment. (That said, by 2015 EU law will change and the loophole will be closed–VAT will be applied based on where the purchaser resides, rather than the country pretending to sell the goods.) Former IT director of the Book Depository Will Jones is launching another independent online bookseller, Wordery, with titles supplied by Bertrams. The platform […]