On Friday, Library Journal abruptly announced the immediate departure of editor-in-chief Francine Fialkoff, after 15 years of running the magazine. Executive editor Michael Kelley has taken over as interim editor-in-chief. “Fialkoff plans to stay in the library world.” At Harlequin, Emily Rodmell has been promoted to editor at the Love Inspired imprint. Ellen Gerstein will join Grand Central as vp, director of marketing, starting September 10 and reporting directly to Jamie Raab. She was the director of marketing in the professional/trade division at Wiley for almost two decades. Alice Rahaeuser has joined Random House Children’s as production associate, reporting to Timothy Terhune. Most […]
Vague Update on EU Antitrust Case Says Apple And Four Publishers Closer To Settlement
The European Union’s antitrust investigation into ebook pricing has long been more opaque than the US case, but a single-source story from Reuters offers a vague update to a previous report of an impending settlement from early July. According to this story, Apple, along with S&S, Macmillan, Hachette, and HarperCollins, “will allow retailers such as Amazon to sell e-books at a discount for two years in a bid to end an EU antitrust investigation and stave off possible fines.” In other words, the EU seems to want nothing more or less than the DOJ and state attorneys general offered and […]
Schwalbe’s THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB Tops October Indie Next List; Guardian First Book Nominees
The ABA has announced its October Indie Next List, which includes three titles — SUTTON by JR Moehringer, IN SUNLIGHT AND IN SHADOW by Mark Helprin, and LIVE BY NIGHT by Dennis Lehane — among the featured excerpts in our popular free ebook anthology of selections from over 30 big forthcoming books, BEA BUZZ BOOKS. Most of the excerpted titles release later in the year (and into next January), so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s as relevant now as it was when we released it before BEA. Pick up the “trade version” at the link above, or […]
Hachette First Half Sales Flat As All Major Territories Decline
What you can say about Lagardere Publishing’s reported sales for the first half of the year is, it could have been worse. Even with “a substantial market contraction in all countries in which the division operates”–from a 2.9 percent decline in French results to a 4 percent drop in US sales and a 7.6 percent decline in the UK–totals sales of 905 million euros were actually up, by a slim 0.5 percent on a reported basis, compared to 900 million euros a year ago. (Apparently “a complex accounting adjustment linked to reserves for returns in education” helped balance out those […]
As Expected, Amazon Acquires Bulk of Dorchester Backlist
On August 28 Amazon Publishing formally acquired the rights to more than 1000 titles published by Dorchester Publishing, ending the drawn-out saga of the mass market publisher’s longstanding financial troubles. Amazon had originally signaled its intentions to buy out contracts still under the banner of Dorchester Books (which owed nearly $3 million to owner John Backe) in a notice of disposition filed on June 27. There were no other bids. As part of the deal Dorchester authors were offered the opportunity to join Amazon Publishing and receive the full back royalties that Dorchester indicated were owed. Any authors who elected […]
People
At Little, Brown, Miriam Parker has been promoted to newly created position of online marketing director for all of the company’s imprints, including Mulholland Books, Reagan Arthur Books, and Back Bay Books. Parker, who has been at L,B for the past 12 years, will be responsible for creating online promotion plans for all imprints, including Mulholland; developing content for imprint websites, including Mulhollandbooks.com; and overseeing online advertising strategy. Online marketing associate Anna Balasi will now report to Parker, and Little, Brown will be hiring a new Mulholland marketing manager/Michael Connelly brand manager to fill Parker’s previous position. In addition, Brittany […]