After presiding over years of asset sales, waves of significant layoffs, and a significant decline in sales, Pearson chief executive John Fallon has decided to retire in 2020 after a successor is selected. By his account, “Over 75% of the company is now growing, as we work our way through a major industry wide disruption in the other 25% of Pearson – US Higher Education Courseware. All of Pearson is now very well placed to meet the need for affordable and effective learning…. We’re now at the stage where it’s time to transition to a new leader, who can bring […]
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Audible ceo Don Katz will take the role of executive chairman and Bob Carrigan will join the company on January 2 as ceo, reporting to Katz. Carrigan was ceo of IDG and Dun & Bradstreet (and most recently was executive chairman of Genscape) and Katz praises his “rare ability to field big ideas and turn them into customer-centric action. Both companies became far more connected to their customers, to their founding entrepreneurial roots, and both became more meaningful places to work.” Katz will work with Carrigan on “overarching strategies,” and “focus on global content strategy and the company’s extensive social […]
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Rebecca Kuss joins Inkyard Press as editor. She was formerly associate editor/director of recruitment & acquisitions at Glasstown Entertainment. Camille Kellogg has joined Imprint as assistant editor. She was editorial assistant at Harper Children’s. Chloe Puton has been promoted to director of publicity for the Workman imprint. In the UK, Lisette Verhagen will join PFD as an agent for international clients on January 6. She has been head of rights at David Godwin Associates. Former ceo of Harper UK Victoria Barnsley has created The Brideshead Festival, marking the 75th anniversary of publication of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, a three-day event to […]
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Michael Signorelli has joined Aevitas Creative Management as agent. Previously he was managing director at Gotham Ghostwriters and an editor at Holt and HarpeCollins. Awards PEN America announced their 2020 literary award longlists. Best of The WSJ picked their top 10 books of the year, as did People magazine. USA Today has moved on to 20 “must read” forthcoming winter picks. Bookselling Employees of McNally Jackson voted yesterday to join the NYC Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which will represent approximately 90 employees who handle sales, events, stocking and information services. In the union’s announcement, Kathryn Harper, who works at the […]
Briefs
Robin Richardson will join Tommy Nelson as senior director of marketing starting December 18. Previously she was vice president of digital for RFD-TV. The Noble Prize site has posted the text of Olga Tokarczuk‘s Nobel Lecture. The Book Industry Study Group released their 2019 update to the BISCAC codes (the detailed genre/subject codes that tell trading partners and their machines how to categorize your books). Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle shares his annual year-end letter of thanks to company staff. Among the company’s notable accomplishments in 2019 was a string of acquisitions and investments: “As one major priority, we long […]
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Macmillan Learning ceo Ken Michaels has announced plans to resign at the end of January, after running the company since April 2015. General manager Susan Winslow will lead the company after he departs along with the group’s senior leadership team, and all four will report to Macmillan CEO John Sargent. (Update: Following our query the company clarified that Sargent will lead Macmillan Learning going forward, with the four-person management team all reporting to him in that role.) Sargent commented, “Ken has done a great job leading Macmillan Learning, especially in this quickly evolving market. He is a driven leader, a constant […]