Perseus Books Group announced what ceo David Steinberger calls “a strategically important new hire that reflects our profound commitment to our people.” Starting today, David Bronstein joins the company in the new position of chief talent officer, reporting to Steinberger. Bronstein has worked previously at Omnicom Media, Universal Music and MTV Networks. HR director Lindsey Pullen will report to Bronstein. He is charged with developing a more systemmatic approach to “attracting, developing and retaining the most capable people at every level of the company,” which currently employees approximately 600 people across all locations. Steinberger says that with “limitless opportunities to […]
People, Etc.
At Dial Books for Young Readers, Kathy Dawson has been promoted to vp, editorial director. Jennifer Gonzalez is joining the Macmillan sales department in the new position of vp, children’s sales, starting March 5 and reporting to president of sales Alison Lazarus. She has been director of sales, mass merchants at Random House, and prior to that she was director of sales, mass market and brand initiatives for Candlewick Press. She will be responsible for all children’s sales from Macmillan Children’s as well as their distributed publishers. Reporting to Gonzalez, Mark Von Bargen is being promoted to senior director, trade sales for […]
eNews: BN Makes Progress In Nook Patent Lawsuit Against Chipmaker; eSales Figures From McAfee, Wilkinson; And More
As part of a separate lawsuit in which Barnes & Noble pre-emptively sued chipmaker LSI to mitigate against accusations that the Nook e-reader line infringed on the company’s patents, Judge Edward Chen of California’s Northern District denied LSI’s motions to dismiss 8 of BN’s defenses, including “non-infringement, invalidity, unenforceability, persecution history estoppel/judicial estoppel, no injunctive relief, license and failure to state a claim.” Chen said BN “had adequately pleaded factual allegations of misconduct by Lucent, LSI’s predecessor, which included failure to disclose rules of standard-setting organizations” and that the conduct could fall under the grounds of unforceability. “Indeed, a contrary […]
Indigo Sales Up Slightly As Profit Falls in Third Quarter; Company President Steps Down
For their fiscal third quarter ending December 31, Indigo reported sales from continuing operations of C$353 million, up 0.5 percent from a year ago, with net profit of C$23.7 million (down from $27 million a year ago), affected by $4 million in non-cash asset impairment charges during the quarter. Superstore comps rose 1.8 percent and smaller-format stores were up 2.5 percent, but physical book sales declined, compensated for by rises in gift, lifestyle, toys, and ereaders. Online sales rose 9.3 percent compared to a year ago, at $31.2 million. Now accounted for separately as discontinued operations, Kobo had sales for the quarter of […]
People
Katherine Furman has joined Reader’s Digest as senior editor for their trade books division, focusing on informative nonfiction, humor, inspirational stories, and other titles that align with the Reader’s Digest brand. She was previously an editor at Sterling. Cara Bedick has joined The Experiment in the newly-created position of editor; she most recently was associate editor at Gotham. Ani Chamichian has also joined the company, as sales director. Little, Brown Children’s announced the publication of the first installment in Lemony Snicket‘s new ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS series, originally expected in 2011, now set for publication on October 23, with an […]
eNews: Open Source Textbooks from Rice University; Author Solutions Adds eBook Distribution Service; Hocking’s Market Share, and More
Rice University has launched OpenStax College, which will offer free, open-source course materials for five common introductory classes in biology, astronomy, and physiology. OpenStax is funded by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the 20 Million Minds Foundation and the Maxfield Foundation, and the program hopes to capture 10 percent of the textbook market that, in turn, would save students $90 million over the next five years. Inside Higher Ed reports that “In the past, open-source materials have failed to gain traction among some professors; their accuracy could be difficult to confirm […]