In Italy, former head of Bompiani Elisabetta Sgarbi’s publishing company The Ship of Theseus, which launched in early 2016, has acquired the renewed version of Baldini & Castoldi. (They bought 95 percent; Filippo Vannuccini retains a 5 percent share.) The publisher says the purchase and recapitalization of Baldini & Castoldi was down “just with [its] own resources” and “without any bank loans.” The Ship of Theseus was started with what Sgarbi said was “five to six million” euros of investment, some of which came from authors, including the late Umberto Eco. Michele Dalai leaves Baldini & Castoldi following the sale. Sgarbi, who serves as president of Baldini […]
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Former publishing executive Dick McCullough, 67, died last week following a battle with brain tumors. Mike Shatzkin has posted a testimonial to “the best leader I ever met in the corporate world.” He notes: “Dick was not an unconventional person, but he loved eccentricity in other people. He wasn’t a brilliant thinker, but he gravitated to people who were. He learned from everybody. He respected everybody. He was relentlessly fair….He inspired us all to be better people. He inspired us all to have a generous spirit. He valued hard work, but he also valued a good time. I have never […]
Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market
Just a day after Bloomberg reported that Amazon had expressed interest in acquiring communication tool Slack at a valuation of $9 billion or more, the etailer itself has announced a larger and more profound actual acquisition: They are buying Whole Foods Market, for cash, in a transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion agreement, paying $42 per share. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. (Amazon is reported have over $21.5 billion in cash on their balance sheet as of earlier this year. There were rumors last year that the etailer was looking at buying WFM.) […]
Bookselling: New Stores, Financial and Legal Updates
After closing last fall, Guide to Kulchur will reopen in Cleveland, OH this month as a bookstore with a “black box space” next door. Founder RA Washington told Cleveland Scene that, with the support of local foundation, he hopes to make the new enterprise a non-profit organization. In addition to bookselling, his goals for the non-profit include “providing books to prisoners; operating GTK Press, a small press for insurgent literature and marginalized voices; and curating speakers and performers in the black box space.” Neighborhood Reads is holding a grand opening in downtown Washington, MS today. And earlier this month, Brick & Mortar […]
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Tracy K. Smith was named Poet Laureate for 2017-2018, starting her role in September. Smith is the author three collections, including Life on Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. The first laureate appointed by new Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, Smith is interested in using the position to reach a broad audience. Hayden said: “The fact that Tracy wants to go into rural areas and talk about poetry is such a great idea and something that really excited me because I think that’s the kind of thing we should be doing as an institution.” Smith succeeds Juan Felipe Herrera. […]
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At Abrams, Alexandra Calamela has joined as publicist for adult trade (previously she was publishing coordinator for Macmillan Audio). Hallie Patterson has joined as associate director of publicity for children trade (previously she was publicity and marketing manager for Hachette Book Group). Nicole Schaefer has been promoted to children’s marketing associate, while Gretta Hehre moves up to sales coordinator and will handle Scholastic Book Club accounts. Rachel Brooks has joined Book Ends Literary as agent, moving her client list with her. Previously she was at the L. Perkins Agency. At this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, Margaret Atwood will receive the German Book […]