Continuing an active year of acquisitions, Rizzoli International Publications has agreed to acquire the assets of Welcome Books, the publishing imprint of Welcome Enterprises. A publisher of illustrated books in the fields of art, photography, food & wine, parenting, history, travel, pets and social & popular culture, Welcome Books began publishing in 1995, and Rizzoli will continue to publish books under the Welcome imprint. All titles will continue to be sold and distributed domestically by Random House Publishers Service (which represented both companies), and internationally by Rizzoli. Rizzoli associate publisher Jim Muschett will “manage the acquired assets, revising and re-launching key titles, and publishing […]
Finance
McGraw-Hill Trims Output, Cuts 18 Jobs
The McGraw-Hill Professional division laid off 18 employees this week — more from the Chicago office, we are told by someone at the company, but with additional reductions from the New York office. President of McGraw-Hill Education Professional Philip Ruppel confirmed, in answer to our query, the “elimination of positions in editorial, marketing, and production.” He noted by email: “we are announcing a portfolio shift of our front list publishing to our employees this week. The changes impact our general interest publishing of new titles for the foreseeable future and have resulted in” those layoffs. Ruppel added: “As the normal course of […]
Approximately 25 Let Go at Globe Pequot & Lyons Press
Two months after Rowman & Littlefield acquired Globe Pequot Press from Morris Communications, the Guilford, CT-based publisher has let go approximately 25 staffers, including a number of people from editorial and sales. Four Lyons Press editors and a manager were let go, as were the managers of Globe Pequot Press and Falcon Guides. In their places, Amy Lyons has been promoted to editorial director at Globe Pequot Press and Katie Benoit has been promoted to editorial director of Falcon. Keith Wallman has been promoted to editorial director at Lyons Press and will hire “new editors to assist him in rebuilding the Lyons program in its traditional areas of […]
On The Authors Guild, Amazon, and Sincerity
Authors Guild president Roxana Robinson had already responded informally to Amazon’s offer to join with Hachette in providing an ebook “windfall” to authors affected by the standoff between the two — and on Thursday, novelist and AG vice president Richard Russo posted a more formal response. Russo’s tone was the same as Robinson’s: “While Amazon claims to be concerned about the fate of mid-list and debut authors, we believe their offer—the majority of which Hachette would essentially fund—is highly disingenuous. For one thing, it’s impossible to remove authors from the middle of the dispute. We write the books they’re fighting […]
Torstar Shareholders Approve Harlequin Sale
Torstar reported that its class a shareholders have approved the proposed sale of Harlequin to HarperCollins after a special meeting. In May the two companies said they expected the transaction to close by the end of September, and in Torstar’s announcement, they reiterate: “The transaction remains subject to certain customary approvals and closing conditions, including certain regulatory approvals. The parties continue to work towards satisfying these conditions and obtaining the necessary approvals.”
Penguin Random House Completes the Santillana Spanish-Language Acquisition
Penguin Random House announced Tuesday it has completed the acquisition of the Santillana’s trade book business Santillana Ediciones Generales from PRISA for 72 million euros. (Note: This was the price in Prisa’s press release; Bertelsmann’s annual report for 2014 later stated, “The consideration transferred amounted to €53 million and was fully paid in cash”; it’s possible that Prisa’s figure included the Brazilian unit, while Bertelsmann’s statement applied only to “activities in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.”) One component of the deal — the acquisition of Objetiva, Santillana’s Brazilian trade business, is still pending, and “expected to be completed later in […]