Melina Gerosa Bellows has been promoted to publisher of National Geographic Books, adding responsibility for sales, marketing and distribution to her current role as National Geographic’s chief creative officer for Books, Kids and Family. Ken Rhodes has been promoted to managing director, NBN International. Will Lach is joining the American Museum of Natural History as director, licensing and publishing. Previously he was manager of product development, Department of Printed Product, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Ross Harris has been promoted to literary agent. At Harper Children’s, Melissa Miller has been promoted to editor […]
eNews
Scribd Joins the eBook Subscription Race
Scribd has officially rolled out an expanded version of their ebook subscription program, now promoted front-and-center on the site and boasting “the majority” of HarperCollins’ backlist among the available titles. Scribd’s program offers unlimited online access (and up to10 downloaded titles) for $8.99 month — including a free month’s trial. While the current deals are with US publishers, whenever rights are available the books are available to Scribd’s 80 million users across 100 countries. Harper has contributed “far more [titles] than the other two subscription deals that we did, which were about a couple of thousands titles,” ceo Brian Murray […]
People, Etc.
Penguin Random House has formed a cross-company audio group in the US. Amanda D’Acierno will run the group as svp, publisher, Penguin Random House Audio, Fodor’s, and Living Language. Patti Pirooz is senior executive producer and Dan Zitt is vp, content production. Madeline McIntosh indicated in a memo: “Our frontlist and backlist audio titles will continue to be sold by the respective Penguin and Random House retail sales reps who currently sell them. The dedicated audio marketing, library sales, and publicity teams of the former Random House Audio Group will extend their activities to support Penguin’s audio list.” Cookbook author […]
eNews: Penguin Does Allow Direct Kindle Borrowing on OverDrive; Sony Won’t Sell New Reader in US; And More
Just two days after Penguin resumed selling digital library copies to OverDrive, the company has relinquished its requirement that library users who borrow Kindle editions from OverDrive must sideload them via USB. As OverDrive announced in a blog post, Penguin titles will be available for wireless download via OverDrive’s “Get for Kindle” button, which redirects to Amazon’s website. A spokesperson for Penguin declined to comment on what persuaded them to change their policy. Sony‘s latest e-reader, the PRS-T3, will not be sold in the US, effectively signaling the company’s exit from the market here after years of apparent decline and disinterest. […]
People, Etc.
At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Andrew Smith has been promoted to svp, deputy publisher, executive director of New Business Development, focusing on building the company’s licensing program and expanding its digital initiatives. Of Smith’s promotion, evp, publisher Megan Tingley stated: “In the seven years since he joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, the publishing landscape has changed dramatically and Andrew has been a vital and visionary force in developing strategies for success and growth across Editorial, Design, Marketing, Publicity, Subsidiary Rights, and Sales.” Google Play has expanded into nine additional countries in Asia, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, […]
Penguin Resumes Selling Full Digital Library Catalog to OverDrive, Baker & Taylor
More than eighteen months after Penguin withdrew its digital library catalog from OverDrive and severed their selling relationship — leaving libraries with no way to purchase Penguin’s ebooks, until the company re-entered the market in a pilot program with 3M in June 2012 — the publisher has resumed business with the vendor. According to a brief statement, Penguin has re-instated its relationship with OverDrive as well as with Baker & Taylor, effective immediately. The publisher started ebook lending pilot programs with B&T in November 2012. In a blog post, OverDrive said that “more than 17,000 Penguin eBooks are now live […]