At Penguin Random House in the US, Tom Cox has been promoted to vp, adult mass merchandise and distributor sales, the company’s newly formed cross-company division, reporting to Jaci Updike. In addition, Penguin vp, director of distributor sales Ken Kaye will retire at the end of 2014 after more than 45 years in the industry. International sales director Simon Littlewood is leaving Random House UK, where he has worked since 1997, by “mutual agreement.” Deputy ceo of Penguin Random House UK said Ian Hudson said, “Sadly, after much discussion we have been unable to find a mutually suitable role for Simon within Penguin […]
Authors
Open Road Says Harper Looks to Intimidate Other Authors
On Friday Open Road filed their reply to HarperCollins’ demand for the maximum statutory damages, over $1 million in legal costs, and a permanent injunction following the District Court’s finding that Open Road’s digital edition of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES infringed Harper’s rights. Open Road argues that Harper “overreaches in its attempt to leverage the Court’s narrow ruling concerning a single work into remedies that would be grossly unfair and unwarranted to Open Road, and which would unduly prejudice the rights of many authors.” First and foremost, they object to the request that the court block Open […]
People, Etc.
Paul Crichton is leaving Simon & Schuster Children’s, where he is vp, executive director of publicity, on June 27, after more than nine years. Crichton plans to “to take some time off this summer and literally travel around the world as he mulls the next steps in his career.” President and publisher of S&S Children’s Jon Anderson commended Crichton in a statement for “garnering a significant amount of attention for our titles” by the likes of Scott Westerfield, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Renee Russell, John Lithgow, and Ellen Hopkins…His contacts with the press, his reputation within children’s publishing, and his relationships […]
People
Stacy Lellos returns to Scholastic, as svp and general manager overseeing Klutz, reporting to Ellie Berger. Lellos has been vp of marketing at Toys R Us since 2013, prior to which she held a variety of publishing and marketing positions at Scholastic since 2000. Director of marketing and publicity at Soho Press Paul Oliver is launching Syndicate Books this fall as a sideline, focused on out-of-print mysteries and crime fiction. Soho will distribute his line (and they are distributed by Random House), and he aims to publish 5 to 10 titles a year, starting with Ted Lewis’s Get Carter (originally called Jack’s Return […]
People: Mundy Resigns from Atlantic Books
The UK’s Atlantic Books announced Thursday that founder, ceo and publisher Toby Mundy has resigned from the company after 14 years, and will leave on June 30. He said in the announcement, “Everything must come to an end and I feel sure that the time is right to pursue new adventures in this exciting, unpredictable industry. Our authors could not be in better hands and I look forward to toasting their future triumphs.” Atlantic “will announce plans for his replacement in due course.” Allen & Unwin purchased a majority stake in the company in January after a few years of significant […]
People
Simon & Schuster vp, business information and data operations Helene Green died Tuesday after a long illness. She began her publishing career at Macmillan in 1987 and joined S&S’s children’s division, responsible for inventory, in 1994 upon the acquisition of the company (which owned Scribner), after which she moved over to the supply chain division. Green also represented S&S on various AAP and BISG committees. VP, business operations Frank Nunez said: “Helene will be remembered as a consummate colleague: knowledgeable, passionate about the work we do and eager to do a good job, loyal to her staff and a great teacher to […]