William Morris Endeavor’s Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and former real estate developer (now board chair of Greater NY and board president at the Dalton school) Cheryl Cohen Effron have joined the board of the National Book Foundation. Owner of Corvus/Imprint Group Derek Lawrence, co-publisher of Unbridled Books Fred Ramey, and Conundrum Press and Samizdat Creative Caleb Seeling have formed a nonprofit in Denver, Colophon Center, “to celebrate Colorado’s literary legacies and encourage the growth of professional book publishing throughout the West.” The center intends to provide a physical space for events, classes and seminars; co-working space for publishing companies and professionals; a home for libraries of […]
Bookselling: Sales and Comps Decline Again at WHSmith; Sweet Reads Sells Books & Candy; and More
WH Smith reported results for the quarter ending June 4, with high street store sales down 4 percent and comps declining 3 percent compared to the same period last year. (In the European tradition, the quarterly report is provided as a brief “trading update” with no actual figures; those come only twice a year.) The company said they “continue with our profit focused strategy with sales in the period in line with expectations.” Release Sweet Reads, a new store that sells both books and candy, has opened in Austin, MN. Owners John and Lisa Deyo conceived of the concept over the course […]
People, Etc.
At Basic, Betsy DeJesu has been promoted to publicity director. At the Crown Publishing Group, Rebecca Welbourn has been promoted to publicist for Crown, Hogarth, Tim Duggan Books, and Broadway Books, while Hannah Frail moves up to associate publicist for those imprints. In addition, Owen Haney has been promoted to associate publicist/marketer, Crown Business and Crown Forum. JL Stermer has joined New Leaf Literary & Media as an agent, representing adult non-fiction, memoir, comedy/satire, fashion, health & wellness, self-help, and pop-culture, as well as some YA, commercial, and upmarket fiction. Previously she was at UTA. Nina Post has joined Curiosity […]
Hudson to Take Over As DK CEO
DK chief executive officer John Duhigg “has decided he wishes to resign” on June 30 after more than 25 years with the company. (it was reported in April that Penguin Random House was said to be talking to investment banks about the possibility of selling DK, though the company has denied that report.) Succeeding him as ceo is Ian Hudson, who will relinquish his current roles as Penguin Random House International ceo and Penguin Random House UK deputy ceo. Hudson will continue to report to PRH ceo Markus Dohle, who underscores in his announcement that “DK will continue to be a major, […]
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Sloane Crosley will join Vanity Fair as a contributing editor, writing the monthly Hot Type column, as Elissa Schappell leaves the magazine after 20 years of writing that column to work on a book project. Crosley’s first column will appear in the October issue. Graydon Carter says in the announcement of Crosley: “Her years in the literary world and her experience as an essayist and a novelist have given her a bird’s eye view of the industry that will no doubt prove invaluable in corralling the best books out there for our readers.” Katie Zanecchia has joined the Ross Yoon Agency, based in New […]
People, Etc.
Meghan Deans will join Ecco on June 13 as marketing director. She has been at Little, Brown, most recently as director of social media. At Clarkson Potter, Kim Tyner has been promoted to assistant production director. Harper Christian reports that longtime employee and vp of custom product development Joseph “Scott” Harvey, 52, died on Friday after a five-month battle to cancer. Harvey joined Thomas Nelson as a national accounts manager in May 2000. SVP of sales Tom Knight says, “Our friendship surpassed just being colleagues, as did most that ever had the opportunity to work with Scott. In addition to Scott’s larger-than-life personality his business acumen […]