Let’s Go, the Harvard Student Agencies travel guide book line, has announced a new “publishing and distribution partnership” with Perseus Books Group’s Avalon Travel imprint and their distributor Publishers Group West. (We reported in September 2007 that longtime partner St. Martin’s Press had decided not to renew their contract with Let’s Go when it expired in fall 2009, after 25 years together.) Avalon will print and market the guides, with PGW handling sales and distribution, beginning with the 2010 series. Twenty-six guides will initiate the relationship in November 2009, coinciding with Let’s Go’s 50th anniversary.
Distribution
Wholesaler BookStream Is Closing
In a note posted on its web site, the Poughkeepsie, NY-based wholesaler announces that they will close this Friday. (They are taking final orders today, and will “accept customer returns and process claims for damaged books” until the 23rd.) “A wholesaler, however committed to or respected by its customers, cannot be a wholesaler for very long without books. Over the course of the last year, we have not been able to raise the capital necessary to fund BookStream’s inventory in a way that compensates for never having established, after three years of being in business, trade credit commensurate with the […]
People: Goldberg Named CEO of Lonely Planet, and More News and Announcements
Lonely Planet has appointed Matthew Goldberg as ceo as of March, reporting to BBC Worldwide managing director of Global Brands Marcus Arthur and based in Melbourne, Australia. He was svp, digital strategy & operations at Dow Jones, where he led business operations at the Wall Street Journal Digital Network. (Prior to Dow Jones, Goldberg worked at Bertelsmann.) Arthur says in the announcement that Goldberg “has extensive experience in print and digital media and is a perfect fit for a company like Lonely Planet both culturally and commercially. I’ve no doubt that Matt’s expertise will not only help maintain Lonely Planet’s […]
People, and More
Picking his top ten works of fiction for the year, reviewer Michael Upchurch tells readers “this will be one of my last columns as Seattle Times book critic. Due to changes at the newspaper, I’m moving to a more general arts beat. I plan still to weigh in on books now and then, but it won’t be with the intensity of the past 10 years. (Make that 22, if you count my freelance efforts.)” At Tuttle Publishing, Christopher Johns has been promoted to sales and marketing director. The Music Sales Group has started using Midpoint Trade Books as their distributor, […]
People, Award News, and More
In the marketing and publicity departments at Tor and Forge; Phyllis Azar has bee promoted to executive director of marketing; Patty Garcia has been promoted to director of publicity; Brian Vaughan moves up to the new position of director of publishing operations; Joseph Bendel takes the new position of manager of publishing operations; and Jennifer Kaufler has been promoted to marketing manager. In the UK, Pan Macmillan non-fiction publisher Richard Milner will leave at the end of next week to explore “new opportunities.” In awards, the American Library Association has announced nominees for their new YA debut award for books […]
Wiley In Meredith Publishing and Distribution Deal
Meredith’s steady pullback from the book publishing business now appears to be Wiley’s gain: the book publisher has just announced a five-year licensing agreement starting March 1, 2009 that gives Wiley the rights to publish books using all of Meredith’s brand names, including Better Homes and Gardens, as well as marks including Family Circle, American Patchwork and Quilting, and Diabetic Living. Wiley will also take over as the exclusive distributor of Meredith’s backlist of about 200 titles, in all channels worldwide. According to Meredith’s version of the press release, they will “continue to create book content” from their offices in […]