John Wiley ceo for the past 13 years William Pesce will retire from that position on April 30, 2011. Pesce has led the company during a dramatic period of expansion. As chairman of the board Peter Booth Wiley notes, Pesce has overseen “the most significant changes in its 203-year history, including consummating the company’s largest acquisition; capitalizing on investments in enabling technology to serve customers better; and generating record financial results. Will has contributed enormously to Wiley’s nurturing and supportive culture, which is a tremendous source of competitive advantage for the Company.” Company veteran Stephen Smith will take over as […]
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Laura Dawson has joined Firebrand Technologies as content chief and head of their content services group. Most recently she has been a consultant specializing in publishing technology issues and she is co-chair of the Book Industry Study Group’s Identification and Rights Committees. Dawson replaces Daniel Lee, who is leaving Firebrand to become managing editor at the Bard Graduate Center in NYC. At Simon & Schuster, Lynnette Spence has been promoted to HR Director, staffing. Former senior editor art, design and photography books at Chronicle for 10 years Alan Rapp has started ARstudio, packaging visual books. The Houston Chronicle says an […]
Bookselling: Two Closings, One Opening
Borders is closing their store in Miami-area Aventura next month, even though “locals will tell you [it] always seems crowded” according to the local NBC station. “A Borders spokesperson told us on the phone from the company’s headquarters in Michigan that the Aventura store just wasn’t making enough money to justify keeping it open, especially with rents for such a large space as high as they are for a prime location on Biscayne Boulevard.” Owner of the area’s Books and Books Mitchell Kaplan remarks, “It’s a very precarious marketplace right now for all bookstores and for publishers as well.” He […]
Obama Children’s Book Set for November 16
President Obama has written a children’s book, OF THEE I SING: A Letter to My Daughters, which Knopf Children’s will publish on November 16 with an announced 500,000-copy first printing. Illustrated by Loren Long, the book profiles 13 “groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation–from the artistry of Georgia O’Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington.” The book was both sold (as part of his deal with Crown and Knopf Children’s in 2004) and written before Obama took office in 2009. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to a scholarship […]
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Seth Fishman is joining The Gernert Company as a literary agent. He was most recently at Sterling Lord Literistic, where he worked since 2005. At Profile Books in the UK, Daniel Crewe has been promoted to publisher. The Guardian has an interesting interview with Random UK ceo Gail Rebuck who is careful and measured in her responses–rightfully so, since the paper strains to misconstrue the piece with the headline “How Gail Rebuck turned Tony Blair’s book into a bestseller.” (Rebuck deflects one line of questioning by replying, “We’re not going to go there. You can ask away and I’ll wander […]
Fall Previews: Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirier and Daily Beast Picks
The LAT pairs many of the expected titles with mentions for Janice Shapiro’s debut collection Bummer and Other Stories and the Library of America’s two-volume set of Lynd Ward’s work, Six Novels in Woodcuts.LAT The Philadelphia Inquirer focuses on 20 titles, split between fiction and nonfiction, plus a selection of local authors.Inquirer The Daily Beast goes month-by-month for their list of 20 books “you can’t miss this fall.”Beast