Starting November 1, Random House is relaunching their two-day transit program for independent booksellers for the holiday season for their entire list. Orders received by 3 PM ship out of their warehouse “no later than the following business day.” Director of account marketing Ruth Liebmann notes, “Faster replenishment via our 2-day transit program means fewer lost sales and more robust displays.” The program runs through March 1, 2013.
Free
People
Hodder & Stoughton announced a reorganization that creates two divisions within the group, “designed to strengthen the appeal and focus of its publishing and to take advantage of structural changes in the publishing industry.” The new division, called John Murray Press, will comprise John Murray, Hodder Faith, Consumer Learning, Two Roads and Saltyard Books–to be run by former Hodder & Stoughton publisher Nick Davies, who is rejoining the company in January as managing director from his current post as Canongate publisher. The Hodder & Stoughton division, comprising Hodder & Stoughton general fiction and non-fiction, Coronet and Sceptre, will have Carolyn Mays […]
People
At Dutton, Jamie McDonald has been promoted to publicity manager. Gryphon House, which publishes resource books for parents and teachers of young children, will be distributed by IPG as of January 1, 2013. The last surviving Price Stern Sloan co-founder Larry Sloan, 89, died on Sunday after a brief illness. After PSS was sold to Penguin in 1993, Sloan and Leonard Stern started Tallfellow Press, a business publisher now run by his daughter, Claudia. Before becoming a publisher “he played chess with Humphrey Bogart and wrangled PR for Mae West. He helped handle one of Elizabeth Taylor’s weddings, and his own was announced […]
People, Etc.
Zondervan and Thomas Nelson will merge its fiction divisions into a single unit overseen by vp, publisher Daisy Hutton. Though fiction acquisitions will be “managed centrally,” with editors working across both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, the publishers will keep separate offices in Grand Rapids, MI and Nashville, TN respectively. Hutton said in a statement: “This is an era of unprecedented challenge and opportunity for Fiction publishing. The Thomas Nelson and Zondervan brands each have a rich heritage. We intend to build on that heritage by developing more distinctive, stronger identities for each brand. We will use the assets that both […]
Briefs: FBF Trade Attendance Declines Slightly; Retailers Send Mail On eBook Settlement Credits
The Frankfurt Book Fair said that trade attendance decline 1.6 percent–while total visitors including the German public rose slightly, by 0.6 percent. FBF said in their release that “the fact that the number of visitors declined only marginally during the trade visitors’ days reflects the fact that the industry remains optimistic and is well equipped to face its challenges.” As previously announced, major ebook retailers started notifying qualifying customers by email that they will be entitled to unspecified store credits as part of the settlement of the suit by state attorneys general and the three Settlers. Amazon’s mail landed first, […]
Authors Guild Criticizes Hathi Trust Ruling; Will “Announce Our Next Steps Shortly”
The Authors Guild has responded to the court verdict regarding the Hathi Trust earlier this week, saying in a site post that “we disagree with nearly every aspect of the court’s ruling. We’re especially disappointed that the court refused to address the universities’ ‘orphan works’ program, which defendants have repeatedly promised to revive.” Executive director Paul Aiken writes of his concern that “the temptation to find reasons to release these digitized books clearly remains strong, and the university has consistently pledged to reinstate the orphan works program. The court’s decision leaves authors around the world at risk of having their […]