Hachette UK announced they have acquired Neon Play, a British-based mobile games development company. Co-owners Oli Christie, Mark Allen and their team will continue to be based in Cirencester running Neon Play as a stand-alone business under the Hachette UK umbrella, reporting to Richard Kitson. Hachette UK ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson and executives Kitson and Pierre de Cacqueray will join the board of Neon Play. Terms of the deal were undisclosed but Hutchinson told the Bookseller it was a “substantial acquisition designed to lead to substantial revenues”, and was also a “serious first step” for Hachette in a bid to […]
Supreme Court Denies Kirtsaeng/Wiley Attorney Fee Award for Now
Three years after the Supreme Court sided with Supap Kirtsaeng on the matter of whether first sale doctrine allowed him to keep the profits from reselling foreign-language editions of Wiley textbooks, the high court has affirmed lower court rulings (in part) on the matter of whether Kirtsaeng had the right to recover his attorney fees from Wiley. In a 12-page opinion, Judge Elena Kagan remanded the case back to the lower courts, saying they may not have “understood the full scope of that discretion…to make an award even when the losing party advanced a reasonable claim or defense.” In the end, “This Court agrees with both […]
Forthcoming: New Novels from Coehlo, Lamb on November 22; and More
Publication Announcement Bestselling author of The Alchemist and other works Paulo Coelho has a new novel, THE SPY, based on the life of Mata Hari, on the way from a new US publisher, Knopf. Edited by Anne Messitte, the book will be published in the US on November 22, translated from the Portuguese by Zoe Perry. Vintage Español will publish as a Spanish-language hardcover. The book draws on files on Mata Hari released by intelligence agencies in Germany, Holland, and the UK: “I ended up with a mountain of documents,” Coelho says in the announcement, “but also with a question: What did Mata Hari […]
Amazon to Open Third Bookstore Near Portland, OR; Three Lives Contemplates Move
Amazon will open its third physical bookstore approximately 10 miles outside of Portland, OR in Tigard. The store will be located in the Washington Square Mall (which contains an Apple store, among other retail outlets) and Amazon is already advertising job openings. An Amazon spokesperson told Fortune: “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to Washington Square, and we are currently hiring store managers and associates. Stay tuned for additional details down the road.” Portland is, of course, Powell’s country; the Tigard location is about 4 miles from Powell’s Beaverton store at Cedar Hills Crossing. Amazon Books previously opened a store […]
People
Independent literary agent Elana Roth Parker is relocating to Detroit, MI and will work from there for the Laura Dail Literary Agency. In the UK, Kate Stephenson will join Headline as senior commissioning editor on August 4, reporting to Alex Clarke, who is setting up a yet-to-be-named imprint at the division. Previously she was commissioning editor for Avon UK. Abrams announced a number of recent promotions and new hires. Lianne Schmidt has joined as senior contracts associate; she comes from Trident Media. Allison Paige Doscher has joined as associate editor for Calendars; previously she was an assistant editor at Harper Design. […]
People, Etc.
Julie Will has been promoted to editorial director at Harper Wave. Allison Hunter will join Janklow & Nesbit as an agent on July 11. Previously she was an agent at the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency. Erin Simpson has been promoted to senior agent at the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Patti Hughes, vp, distribution publishing and special sales at Macmillan, died June 12 of complications from cancer. Hughes spent 27 years at Macmillan, over two separate tenures. “Patti was a wonderful colleague, mentor and friend,” Macmillan president, sales Allison Lazarus said in a statement. “She was a rare individual who could focus […]