At Scholastic Trade, Liza Baker has been promoted to vp, associate publisher of Cartwheel Books, Orchard Books and Acorn and Branches; Katie Carella to executive editor of Acorn and Branches; Jessica Tice-Gilbert moves up to associate art director of Cartwheel Books and Orchard Books; Yaffa Jaskoll is now executive art director, trade fiction; Celia Lee to senior editor of Cartwheel Books and Orchard Books; and Alexis Lassiter is sales associate. Scholastic also announced a number of new hires. Angie Mason has joined as senior designer, trade creative services. She was previously at Alex Brands. Ingrid Paredes moves over to trade team from the education division, becoming publishing special projects manager. Katie Fitch has joined […]
Bookstores
Corporate: Australian Online Bookseller to Sell Crowdfunded Stock
Australian online bookseller Booktopia has a new plan to raise investment capital after dropping a plan to go public in late 2016. The company is using crowdfunding platform Equitise to raise between $3 million and $10 million (AU), Books and Publishing reports. They are selling 8.1 percent of the business, which had sales of $113 million in the most recent fiscal year (approximately $83.5 million US), with $1.9 million in profit. Booktopia CEO Tony Nash says, “We have always said that our customers have been our investors because they bought books from us and we used those funds to re-invest […]
People, Etc.
Margaux Weisman has joined Penguin as editor, moving over from Vintage/Anchor where she was editor. Mora Couch has been promoted to associate editor at Holiday House. Lion Forge Comics has eliminated 12 positions, including editor Greg Tumbarello, Bleeding Cool reported. In line with the positioning of other publisher layoffs recently, the company says they fired people to fuel their future: “We are restructuring from the top down, and across departments to ensure that our organization’s size and structure remains in line with our sales, as well as providing support for future increase in title output.” They note: “Lion Forge has experienced a […]
Bookselling: The Quotable Daunt, and More
Waterstones’ managing director James Daunt is adorably, irresistibly quotable at every turn, and this Times profile does not disappoint. “I would rather there was no Waterstones” he says at the top of the piece. He would prefer “lots of nice independents, prospering up and down the high streets. I genuinely believe that. But there can’t be and will never be because it is very difficult to run independent bookshops. They can’t survive; you need the structures and efficiencies of chains.” But the chains have their own problems, in his view. “All chain booksellers in the world right now have got it […]
People, Etc.
James Jayo has joined Penguin as senior editor. Previously, he was at Sterling. Two longtime Penguin Random House sales executives will retire soon. VP, group sales director, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Janet Cooke will leave at the end of the year, and Christopher Dufault is being promoted to that position. SVP, director of adult hardcover sales, Penguin Publishing Group John Lawton is retiring in the spring (having worked for Penguin since 1996), and vp, group sales director Lauren Monaco will expand her oversight to all of the division’s imprints. Additionally, Cynthia Lasky is formally named svp, group sales director for the newly-combined […]
People, Etc.
At Doubleday, Margo Shickmanter has been promoted to editor. Tara Feehan will join Harper Children’s as vp, finance and administration, moving over from the operations & technology finance team, and reporting to Suzanne Murphy. Feehan succeeds Randy Rosema who will retire in January. Shari Black has joined Harper Christian as senior director of marketing for the specialty publishing division. She previously worked in account sales and marketing for Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, and Walmart. At Workman Publishing, Constance Edmonds has been promoted to promotion coordinator across all imprints. Ashley McPhee joins as promotion coordinator for the Workman imprint. She was previous a […]