Ruth Dickey will join the National Book Foundation as executive director on May 17. She has served as executive director of Seattle Arts & Lectures since 2013. Former lead Lisa Lucas, who serves on the NBF board now, says in the announcement, “Ruth Dickey’s extraordinary skill set—developed over many years as an exceptional, thoughtful, and dynamic leader in the nonprofit literary space—is precisely what the National Book Foundation needs to charge forward,. Her experiences working across the country help to remind us all that this work is for everyone, everywhere.” David Steinberger, chair of the National Book Foundation’s board of […]
M&A
Firebrand and NetGalley Sold to Japan’s Media Do
Quality Solutions/Firebrand Technologies and NetGalley have been sold to Media Do International, the US-based subsidiary of Japanese ebook distribution company Media Do Ltd. Founder and ceo Fran Toolan will remain on as CEO for a minimum of three years. Media Do has been NetGalley’s reseller partner in Japan since it launched there in 2016. Media Do International ceo Daihei Shiohama says in the announcement, “We are very pleased to bring Firebrand and NetGalley into the Media Do family. We have long respected the works of the Firebrand Group, and are very excited about the prospects of working closely with them […]
People, Etc.
Elle Keck has been promoted to editor for William Morrow/Avon. Ali Herring has been promoted to literary agent at Spencerhill Associates. Dick Duane, co-owner of Pinder Lane & Garon-Brooke Agency, died January 28 of colon cancer. Acquisitions Prospect Park Books sold their assets, including 100 backlist titles and 11 forthcoming ones, to Turner Publishing. (The former was distributed by Ingram’s Consortium; the latter uses Ingram Publisher Services.) Founder Colleen Dunn Bates said, “Those of you who know me know how much effort I put into linking us all, and I’ve so valued every minute of it. But I’ve also worked my […]
Authors Guild and Others Urge DOJ to Reject S&S Merge with PRH
The Authors Guild, the Open Markets Institute, and a number of writers associations have co-signed a letter urging the Department of Justice to reject the plan to merge Simon & Schuster into Penguin Random House. “The deal would bring well more than half of key U.S. book markets under the control of a single corporation, which poses a variety of potential threats to freedom of speech and democracy in the United States. The takeover falls clearly within the standard of illegality set by the Clayton Act and should be summarily rejected,” argues the letter, later offering “five arguments that easily […]
Vivendi Becomes Second Largest Shareholder in Amber-Backed Prisa
Vivendi has built a 9.9 percent stake in education and media publisher Grupo Prisa, which owns El Pais newspaper as well as Santillana, a major educational publisher, particularly in South America. Prisa sold the Santillana trade business to Penguin Random House in 2014 and though lightly reported, last October they agreed to sell Santillana’s K-12 business in Spain to Finland’s Sanoma, an enterprise value of 465 million euros. At the time, Prisa indicated the move would establish a framework to separate its media and education businesses down the road. Vivendi’s position in Prisa is another sign of their broad ambition […]
South Korea’s Naver to Acquire Wattpad for More Than $600 Million
Further to recent reports that storytelling website Wattpad had put itself up for sale, on Tuesday publicly-held Korean internet conglomerate Naver said it would acquire Wattpad for cash and stock valuing the company at over $600 million. (The mix of cash versus stock is not being disclosed at this time.) Korea’s largest search engine, Naver’s properties also include digital comics publisher Webtoon — said to have 72 million monthly active users — which it sees as pairing well with Wattpad’s community. The deal is expected to close some time in the second quarter. Naver has a market cap of roughly […]