Author Susan May, writing on behalf of Audiblegate, tells supporters by email that various legal moves are planned as part of authors’ continuing efforts for transparency and fairness in how Audible reports and records royalties. Notably, the group’s “legal team” includes Jonathan Kanter — recently nominated to run the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division — alongside Shaoul Sussman at Pearl Cohen. The two “have begun work on a legal memo” that Shaoul says, “will be a detailed paper on how Audible gained market dominance and maintained that control through the illegal breaches of antitrust laws.” They plan to deliver that […]
Audio
People, Etc.: Dan Frank Dies at 67
Tiffany Liao joins Zando on June 9 as executive editor leading their young readers initiative. She was previously senior editor at Holt Children’s. Alisse Goldsmith-Wissman has joined Convergent as senior publicist. She was previously at Independent Publishers Group in Chicago. Caitlin Morrow has joined the Simon & Schuster special markets sales team as assistant manager. Martha Wydysh has been promoted to literary agent at Trident Media Group. Adam O’Brien has joined Apollo Publishers as an editor. Previously, he was editor at Sterling Publishing. Dan Frank, 67, editorial director of Pantheon since 1996, died on May 24 in Manhattan. Knopf evp […]
People, Etc.
At Delacorte, Kelsey Horton has been promoted to senior editor and Alison Romig has been promoted to assistant editor. Merry Sun has been promoted to editor at Portfolio. Jordan Moblo has joined Netflix in the new role of director of literary, and is expected to hire a team under him. He was co-head of the creative acquisitions department at Disney. Renée Jarvis and Kima Jones both join Triangle House Literary as agents. Jarvis was at MacKenzie Wolf Literary; Jones is the founder of Jack Jones Literary Arts. Grace Ross has joined Acast as content development manager, acquiring new and existing podcast partners. […]
Briefs
Imprints Macmillan Children’s is launching Neon Squid, a new imprint “dedicated to publishing gift nonfiction books that make complex topics – from medicine to archaeology – accessible and exciting for children.” Joanne Clark, Fiona Macdonald, and Sam Priddy will serve as co-publishers, based in London and reporting to Sally Poulson, global operations director at Priddy Books. The first list will launch in winter 2021. Audio Serial Box has been renamed Realm and is expanding to release original audio shows for free as ad-supported podcasts, as well as adding a subscription option. Previously, its audio stories were available to purchase a […]
Digital Briefs: Costco Audiobooks, AAP Opposes Library eBook Legislation
Costco started selling value-priced collections of digital audiobooks recently, playable through their own audiobooks app. For now they offer approximately 175 different collections to members. As Maryland (and other states) considers legislation that would require ebook publishers to also “license the book to public libraries in the state on reasonable terms,” the AAP explains in opposition that such state laws are invalid. “Federal copyright law prohibits this type of regulation of copyrights by state governments,” the organization writes. And such legislation also “raises significant Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause concerns and would likely be found to violate the U.S. […]
People, Etc.
At Quirk Books, Brett Cohen has resigned from his position as president and publisher after 20 years with the company. Quirk Books founder and owner David Borgenicht will return to his role as president. Jhanteigh Kupihea has been promoted to publisher and will lead the creative group. Nicole De Jackmo has been promoted to the new role of svp, sales, marketing, and publicity. Additionally at Quirk, Megan DiPasquale has been promoted to vice president of finance; Andie Reid to art director; Jane Morley to managing editor; Mandy Sampson to senior production and sales manager; and Kelsey Hoffman to senior publicity […]