Courtney Young will join Riverhead in December as executive editor. She has been senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and also worked previously at Penguin’s Portfolio, Current, and Sentinel imprints. Jessica Wong will join Nelson Books as senior acquisitions editor on November 24, filling the role previously held by Joel Miller. Lisa Kaufman will step down as marketing director and senior editor of Public Affairs after more than 17 years at the imprint. Her last day is November 28, and publisher Clive Priddle said in the announcement “we are profoundly grateful, and we are fortunate that Lisa will continue to work with some of her […]
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Rachel Lodi joins Penguin Children’s as associate digital publicist. She was at Palgrave Macmillan. Ronald J. Domanico has joined the board of Books A Million. He recently retired from HD Supply, where he was svp and chief financial officer. Former Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Middelhoff, 61, was found guilty of 27 counts of embezzlement and three counts of tax evasion by a German court. (He was also a director of the NYT Company until earlier this year.) “If his appeal fails, Mr. Middelhoff will be expected to serve two years of the three-year sentence before being released on parole. He might […]
Corporate: Opening Sales of Over 1 Million for Wimpy Kid, and PRH Launches Audio App
Abrams reports another strong opening week of sales for the latest Jeff Kinney book, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL. CEO Michael Jacobs says in the release sales “out of the gate have been exceptional and are accelerating briskly. Already more than 1 million copies have sold in the first seven days. He adds, “Our strategy of releasing the new book simultaneously in all the English language territories has shown the global power of Jeff’s books. With eight more countries set to publish The Long Haul before the end of the year, we’re confident that Diary of a […]
Amazon Resumes Limited Hachette Pre-Orders and Restores Some Discounts
For the first time since late May, Amazon customers can pre-order at least some titles from Hachette Book Group — principally Little, Brown books, set for imminent release (such as Kevin Pietersen’s AUTOBIOGRAPHY, publishing December 1) as well as books not scheduled until spring 2015 (including Cathy by John Carder Bush in April, and books by Susanna Gregory in February and March). From our searches Wednesday morning the restored pre-orders apply only to Little, Brown and have not been extended to Grand Central, FaithWords, Orbit or other HBG divisions. In addition, all of the prominent forthcoming releases highlighted on HBG’s own web site (James Patterson’s November Hope to Die and […]
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Becky Nesbitt has resigned from Howard Books, where she was vp, editor-in-chief, “to spend more time with her family as well as pursue opportunities as a freelance editor,” according to the publisher’s announcement. Nesbitt, who will stay with Howard Books through the end of the year as a search for her replacement begins, joined the company in 2009. Katherine Tiernan McCahill has joined Penguin Random House as senior director, digital development. In addition, James Johnston has been promoted to svp, worldwide and US financial reporting, planning, and accounting. Alexis Gargagliano has joined Regan Arts as executive editor, working on fiction and […]
Penguin Random and National Book Foundation Launch National Readathon
January 24, 2015 has been proclaimed National Readathon Day, a “marathon reading” session across the country to raise money in order to help fund the National Book Foundation’s efforts to promote literacy and reading. The “quixotic new event” was created by Penguin Random House, which brought to the idea to the NBF this summer, the Washington Post reports. NBF executive director Harold Augenbraum calls it “a terrific opportunity to broaden the awareness in communities across the country and to infuse funds into our community-based programs.” PRH is joined by Goodreads and Mashable as co-sponsors. Individuals and reading “teams” (which can […]