Wendy Weil, 72, died September 22 at her country home in West Cornwall, CT. Her career as an agent spanned more than 40 years and she was president of the Wendy Weil Literary Agency, which she founded in 1987, counting Rita Mae Brown, Andrea Barrett, Mark Helprin, Alice Walker, Anthony Doerr, Phillip Lopate, and Amity Gaige among the agency’s clients. Donations in her name may be made to Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Plans for a memorial service will be announced in early fall. Emily Forland and Emma Patterson and long-time office manager Ann Torrago remain at the agency and plan […]
People
Mark Krotov will join The Overlook Press as associate editor on October 1. Previously he was an assistant editor at FSG. Nebraska Book Company has hired Bill Zeuch as svp of merchandising and marketing, effective October 3. He is the former svp of merchandising, marketing and sales new channels at Office Max, where he worked for 8 years. Phyllis Bruce is resigning from HarperCollins Canada after more than 20 years with the company, most recently as publisher of Phyllis Bruce Books, to “explore new opportunities.” Her last day is October 4. “It’s completely her decision, and we’re sad that she’s […]
MacAdam/Cage Puts Itself Up For Sale
After years of financial trouble San Francisco-based independent publisher MacAdam/Cage is up for sale. Founder and publisher David Poindexter indicated to Shelf Awareness the 14-year-old company “doesn’t have the resources to continue publishing properly for the long term” and that the ideal purchaser would be “someone like myself 15 years ago, with the drive, commitment and resources who wants to get involved in the literary landscape in America on the publishing side” and who could take over “where we leave off.” The sale announcement comes one week after we reported on a June 20 lawsuit filed by Penguin against MacAdam/Cage […]
Barnes & Noble Hires Patrick Rouvillos To Oversee International Nook Expansion; Dixons Retail Added As New UK Partner
Barnes & Noble has solidified its plans to expand NOOK beyond the US and the UK with the appointment of Patrick Rouvillois as vp, managing director for international, reporting to Jamie Iannone. Rouvillois, who will work out of Luxembourg, was most recently global cmo and head of eCommerce for Carrefour. “We’re thrilled to have Patrick join the team as we embark on our international expansion of the NOOK brand into the UK and beyond,” Iannone said in a statement. “Patrick brings strong leadership to the role, and his vast background in the retail, consulting, telecom and media sectors will be […]
eNews: Google Brings eBooks to Japan; Kobo Adds Portugal; Nook Launches Video; and UK to Appoint eLending Review Panel
After launching Google Play, including ebooks, in Korea, Google will open the service and sell their Nexus 7 tablet in Japan as of October 2, with the device retailing for 19,800 yen ($250.) Reuters reported that executive chairman Eric Schmidt attended the launch, telling a briefing that the continuing growth of the smartphone market would set up a battleground among companies getting into the online shopping space: “It is the defining platform and the defining battle in our industry.” Google Play in Japan will include Japanese-language ebooks. Elsewhere in international expansion, Kobo is extending its partnership with FNAC in France […]
The Rowling Rollout
Two weekend profiles of JK Rowling prepared the ground for Thursday’s release of THE CASUAL VACANCY, offering details on the book as well as the process that has guarded both the author and the book’s contents. Rowling told the Guardian, which ran their piece on Saturday, she dreamed up the idea for THE CASUAL VACANCY on a plane: “And I thought: local election! And I just knew. I had that totally physical response you get to an idea that you know will work. It’s a rush of adrenaline, it’s chemical. I had it with Harry Potter and I had it […]