Vp, book production for HarperCollins John Vitale is leaving the company on August 24 after more than 44 years in the business (he began at Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., which was acquired by Harper & Row in 1977.) Replacing him is Tracey Menzies, who is being promoted to vp, production and creative operations and will oversee all print production for the publisher. Also at Harper, Kristine Macrides returns to the sales department as director of sales and retail marketing, overseeing day-to-day operations for the mass merch, club and ID sales channels (she has been director of marketing for Avon). Lillie […]
Bookstores
Mette Jakobsen’s The Vanishing Act Tops September 2012 Indie Next List
The ABA has announced its September Indie Next List, which includes five titles — THE YELLOW BIRDS by Kevin Powers, MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks, JOHN SATURNALL’S FEAST by Lawrence Norfolk, THE ORCHARDIST by Amanda Coplin, and BEA Buzz Book pick THE PEOPLE OF FOREVER ARE NOT AFRAID by Shani Boianjiu — among the featured excerpts in our popular free ebook anthology of selections from over 30 big forthcoming books, BEA BUZZ BOOKS. Most of the excerpted titles release later in the year (and into next January), so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s as […]
Bookselling: Northshire Books May Add Second Location in Saratoga Springs; HMH Offering Refunds for Lehrer’s IMAGINE
Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT is seriously considering opening a second location in Saratoga Springs, NY. Owner Chris Morrow told the Saratogian the bookseller is “very excited about the prospect of coming to Saratoga,” but with plans still tentative, he said he was “he was not at liberty, yet, to discuss other locations under consideration.” The city appealed as a place for a second location for several reasons, Morrow explained, “including proximity to Skidmore College, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the City Center” and that there “seems to be a well-educated, well-to-do populace that would be interested in what we […]
Bookselling: Chester County Books & Music May Close; Borders Australia Rebrands as BookWorld; and More
Chester County Books & Music in West Chester, PA may close now that landlords for the store’s 28,000-square foot space found new tenants. Owner Kathy Simoneaux told the Pottstown Mercury that the lease for the space they have occupied since 1987 expired in January and the store has been renting on a month-to-month basis ever since. The decision to leave was “mutual” as the rent increased too much for Simoneaux to keep paying. While closure seemed likely, Simoneaux says she has been “approached by different parties about continuing to run an independent operation elsewhere” and thus she “started to reconsider” getting […]
At Kepler’s Conference, Participants Pledge to Raise More Capital
Ron Charles at the Washington Post filed three blog reports from the weekend’s gathering of approximately 80 “publishers, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and authors,” designed to help envision the new Kepler’s bookstore and plot the role of a community bookstore going forward. Perhaps most importantly, though, “members of this conference pledged to raise another $250,000” for the store, on top of approximately $750,000 that has already been raised from almost 700 people. As Charles wrote, the event really “isn’t meant to produce a revelatory business plan. It’s meant to make the participants feel personally committed to helping the struggling indie bookstore in […]
People, Etc.
At Italy’s Garzanti Libri, editorial director Oliviero Ponte di Pino has resigned after more than 20 years there. Paolo Zaninoni, who has been editorial director of Rizzoli and BUR since 2003, will take over at a time to be announced. As part of the reorganization director of Garzanti foreign fiction Elisabetta Migliavada will also serve as director of Italian fiction. Nellie Kurtzman will join Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as vp, marketing. She was most recently director of digital and trade marketing at Disney/Hyperion. At PS Literary Agency, Irene Merritt has been named literary assistant. World Book Night US confirmed that their campaign will return […]