President and director of paperback sales at Penguin Norman Lidofsky will retire at the end of 2014 after more than 32 years with the company. In a staff memo, Penguin Random House president and coo Madeline McIntosh praised Lidofsky’s “sales leadership, book passion, and dedication” and called him “a generous and thoughtful colleague, an inspiring leader, and above all—a consummate salesman working unceasingly in support of Penguin’s books, authors, and publishers.” McIntosh added: “[Lidofsky] has led the way in building the trade paperback program into an industry force… He has helped to keep Penguin Classics vibrant, sustaining its presence as one of […]
Authors
People, Etc.
Eimear McBride won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING, published by Galley Beggar Press in the UK and by Coffee House Press in the US in September. Prize chair Helen Fraser called the novel “an amazing and ambitious first novel that impressed the judges with its inventiveness and energy. This is an extraordinary new voice – this novel will move and astonish the reader.” Carl Bromley will join The New Press as editorial director. Previously he was editorial director at Nation Books. In addition, Marc Favreau has been promoted to executive editor. […]
Colbert Gives Amazon The Finger, And Collects Pre-Orders for A Hachette Author
Hachette Book Group author Stephen Colbert used his Comedy Central television show to speak out on the battle between his publisher and Amazon on Wednesday night. “Now I’m not just mad at Amazon,” Colbert said, “I’m mad Prime.” After explaining the standoff to his viewers, Colbert concluded by offering Amazon a special “little package” that ships immediately: He opened the box to reveal his obscured middle finger, and then noted, “customers who enjoy this, also enjoy this” (adding his second middle finger). In the second part of the segment, Colbert brought out another HBG author Sherman Alexie. “You root for […]
People, Etc.
Camille McDuffie is leaving her position as president of Goldberg McDuffie Communications to join the newly-created Columbia Global Reports as publisher, under director Nicholas Lemann. It’s a Columbia University-based publishing project “dedicated to the production of sustained, original reporting and analysis on under-reported global issues for audiences that extend beyond the academy,” and they will produce four to six short books a year, for publication beginning in fall 2015. Also joining the unit as editor is Jimmy So, who was a culture and books editor at The Daily Beast. At William Morrow, Jessica Williams has been promoted to editor. Heather Alexander […]
People: Maya Angelou, 86, Dies
Award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, 86, died at her home in Winston-Salem, NC early Wednesday morning. She had been in failing health for some time, cancelling an awards appearance several days earlier. “She’d been very frail and had heart problems, but she was going strong, finishing a new book,” Angelou’s agent Helen Brann told ABC News. “I spoke to her yesterday. She was fine, as she always was. Her spirit was indomitable.” Angelou was the author of more than 30 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, most notably I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS […]
HBG CEO Pietsch Writes to Authors
Following Thursday night’s removal of pre-order options for many Hachette Book Group titles on Amazon, as first reported by us, on Friday morning Hachette ceo Michael Pietsch dispatched a confirming email to authors, obtained by PL: “I am sorry to tell you that Amazon has now taken preorder capabilities away from Hachette Book Group publications…. There is no preorder button, and some not-yet-published books lack a Kindle page entirely.” Pietsch tells authors: “Please know that we are doing everything in our power to find a solution to this difficult situation, one that best serves our authors and their work, and […]