Julia Kardon joins Mary Evans as a foreign rights director and agent. Previously she was an agent at Sterling Lord Literistic. At Hachette Book Group, Sophie Cottrell has been promoted to svp, corporate communications. Amanda Englander has joined Clarkson Potter and Potter Style as associate editor. Previously she was an editorial assistant at Grand Central. At Chronicle Books, Ben Laramie has been promoted to senior industrial designer; April Whitney moves up to senior publicist, Entertainment; and Lisa Tauber has been promoted to associate editor. Bloomsbury UK’s director of trade marketing and publicity Katie Bond has “taken voluntary redundancy and [is] […]
Distribution
Briefs: WBN Adds Twelve Years A Slave, 100 Million Fifty Shades, and More
World Book Night announced that special editions of Solomon Northup’s public domain book Twelve Years a Slave will be given free to schools for distribution as part of World Book Night on April 23. Executive director Carl Lennertz notes, “One third of our half million free books each year go into underfunded rural and urban high schools, and when Dover Publications offered to work with us on this, we jumped at the chance.” In other announcements, Vintage announced that the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has sold 100 million units worldwide. Vintage itself has sold over 45 million units in the […]
People, Etc.
Editor-in-chief of Ace and Roc Books Ginjer Buchanan announced that she will retire in March 2014, exactly 30 years after she was hired by the Berkley Publishing Group, now a division of Penguin Random House. Berkley president and publisher Leslie Gelbman notes: “During her thirty years with Ace and Roc, Ginjer was essential in growing our science fiction and fantasy list and launching the careers of several bestselling authors. Her love for the genre and books in general and dedication to her authors is unparalleled, and she’s a key reason Ace/Roc is one of the preeminent science fiction-fantasy publishers.” Cara Bedick has joined […]
Penguin Random House Will Close the Two Penguin Warehouses By June 2015
Penguin Random House leaders Markus Dohle and Madeline McIntosh announced Wednesday afternoon that the company will “regrettably” close two of their four current warehouse/operations centers by June 2015, in Pittston, PA and Kirkwood, NY. They describe it as part of “the difficult, yet necessary, decisions we have made regarding our future warehouse network.” “Additionally, several support and distribution functions for Penguin currently performed in Pearson’s Cranbury, and Old Tappan, NJ offices will be relocated during this same time frame, as will Penguin’s Inside Sales department.” As a result, all US fulfillment operations will be merged into the Westminster, MD and […]
Specialty Distributor HDA Suspends Business to Restructure
St. Louis-based specialty distributor of books and magazines HDA Inc. has abruptly suspended business, apparently due to a credit squeeze. Many book publishers use the company for distribution to such retailers as Lowe’s Home Improvement (where they are the exclusive category manager for books, magazines and maps); Menard’s hardware stores; Bed Bath and Beyond; Michael’s; Dollar General and other stores. They distribute magazines to those outlets as well, and also publish their own home plan books and magazines. Reportedly, employees were locked out on Monday and given letters indicating their employment was terminated. HDA ceo Bob Ketterer told consultant Linda […]
People
On the events calendar, the Association of American Publishers announced some of the speakers for their annual meeting on March 19 in New York, focused on The Next Chapter in Protecting IP: Policy, Disruption, Innovation and Sustainability. Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Rep. Jerry Nadler will discuss Congress’s first comprehensive review of copyright law since 1976 with AAP ceo Tom Allen. Author Jaron Lanier will speak, as will Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey, with a keynote speaker still to be named. Kim Hovey has been promoted to svp, deputy publisher for Ballantine […]