Complete

Australian Paper Finds Errors in Beah’s Memoir This weekend The Australian published findings from an extensive investigation into Ishmael Beah’s memoir A LONG WAY GONE, concluding that he was older than he claimed when he was forced to serve in the Sierre Leone army and that he probably only fought for two or three months rather than the two years described in the book. The second page of Beah’s book says, “The first time that I was touched by war I was 12. It was in January 1993.” The paper writes: “But the event he goes on to describe did […]

Personnel News Editorial director of Harcourt’s paperback imprint Harvest Books Tina Pohlman will join Spiegel & Grau as senior editor, hardcovers, and editorial director, paperbacks. Pohlman will start on February 11, reporting to Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau. Pershing Square Capital Management partner Richard McGuire has joined the board of directors at Borders Group. In the international sales department at HarperCollins, Samantha Hagerbaumer has been promoted to associate director, international sales & marketing and Meredith Greenhouse has been promoted to associate director, international sales. Eryn Wade moves over from the children’s marketing department to the new position of international marketing […]

S&S Goes Outside for Editor-in-Chief, and More Personnel News Simon & Schuster’s long-awaited announcement noting their new editor-in-chief for the adult trade imprint has finally gone out, as the house has hired former Time magazine deputy managing editor (and neighbor of Lunch) Priscilla Painton. She says in the announcement, “I look forward to joining one of the truly great and legendary imprints in the publishing business and collaborating with the talented editorial staff on books that will be read not just today, but for a lifetime.”  The editorial staff will report to Painton except for editorial director Alice Mayhew, who […]

Nurnberg Leaves Sterling Longtime Sterling Publishing CEO and publisher Charlie Nurnberg “has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests,” according to a memo sent internally yesterday from parent company Barnes & Noble ceo Steve Riggio. He’ll leave the company some time this week, he told reps in a farewell note: “There is another world out there and I am ready to explore it. As as with all of the best ideas, this one’s time has come.” Marcus Leaver, who joined the company in 2005 as executive vice president and chief operating officer, has been appointed president, “taking full […]

Amazon Will Pay French Fine, and Continue to Discount Books Per our speculation when first noting that a French court would fine Amazon a mighty one thousand euros a day for the sin of exceeding limits on discounting books, the company announced yesterday that it would pay the fines and continue the discounts rather than give in. Director of the French unit Xavier Garambois says, “We are determined to follow every avenue available to us to overturn this law.” Jeff Bezos invited French customers to sign an online petition of support for their appeal and by last night 120,000 people […]

Zagat for Sale The Zagats have hired Goldman Sachs to look for a buyer for their company. The NYT says they sold 5.5 million printed guides last year and claim over 1.5 million registered users at their web site. “Zagat has tried to build its online business, but it has largely remained a paid subscription service, preventing it from becoming a magnet for users and advertisers.” When they sold a stake in the company in 2000, it was valued at $100 million. Now, the NYT guesses, “it is unclear how large a price Zagat will attract. While the company is […]