Sub rights director at FSG and Holt Denise Cronin will move over to become directior of sub rights for the Random House Publishing Group in November. At Dial Press, Noah Eker has been promoted to editor. Michael Healy has officially stepped down from his post as executive director of the Book Industry Study Group (where he was working half-time) to work full-time on preparations to establish the Book Rights Registry.
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Bookselling: Elliott Bay Book Co. Faces Financial Trouble, May Relocate
The stories began online, with unconfirmed reports that Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Co. was considering a move to a more upscale part of the city. It took a darker turn when the Seattle Times confirmed the possibility in an interview with owner Peter Aaron, who says his credit line–due for renewal in January, at the same time his lease expires–is maxed out and notes that “finding a lender to keep us liquid is an ongoing battle.” Aaron said “I must refinance, or the loan gets called” and added “until the bank piece is in place, nothing will happen.” The paper […]
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At Penguin Canada, editor Nicole Winstanley will take over as publisher as president David Davidar takes on additional responsibilities as ceo of Penguin International. The unit will also launch an Allen Lane Canada imprint in 2010, with Diane Turbide running the new nonfiction program as publishing director. Managing director Andrea Magyar will give up most of her editorial responsibilities to become vp of business development. Focusing on custom publishing opportunities, she’ll report directly to Davidar. Speaking of imprints, at last week’s Bouchercon Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch mentioned briefly that the house is working on a new crime fiction imprint. […]
Fewer English-Speakers, But the World Still Gathers In Frankfurt
At the official opening press conference for the Frankfurt Book Fair today, show director Juergen Boos noted that “the economic crisis has also left its mark on the Book Fair: particularly our colleagues from the English- speaking world have reduced exhibition space due to economic developments. Eastern European exhibitors are also not present in the same numbers as last year.” But overall exhibition space is down just 2 percent this year, and Boos told the Fair’s own Publishing Perspectives more bluntly, “If you’re talking about an economic crisis, then you have to talk about an economic crisis hitting American and […]
Grove Atlantic Reduces Stake In Atlantic Books, As Allen and Unwin Buys In
Grove Atlantic is selling a portion of its majority stake in the UK’s Atlantic Books, remaining as “a significant minority shareholder,” while Australia’s Allen and Unwin is becoming a “significant” shareholder itself. The company is said to have obtained “substantial” (we don’t know if that’s more or less than significant) new financing as well, in part to help drive the expansion of the Corvus line–all logical developments following Anthony Cheetham’s joining the company earlier this year. Morgan Entrekin will remain on the Atlantic Books board, now joined by Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Ravi Mirchandandi.Bookseller
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Lonely Planet has hired John Boris as managing director for the Americas. He was svp of marketing and interactive for Zagat’s. In a piece about the company, All Things Digital cites new ceo Matt Goldberg reporting that “Lonely Planet’s digital businesses have doubled their revenues to $20 million this year via premium pricing and advertising.” Lonely Planet was an early and successful player in building an online community of their fans/customers (including 700,000 registered members in their Thorn Tree community.) Among their digital initiatives, Goldberg cites “500,000 downloads from around 70 premium-priced apps” on various mobile platforms. ATD says, “While […]