The Random House reorganization everyone has been expecting under new ceo Markus Dohle was announced this morning. President and publisher of the Bantam Dell group Irwyn Applebaum is leaving the company immediately after 25 years there. Dohle calls him “one of the most successful publishers in our industry. He is widely regarded as a champion of great storytelling, with marketing acumen to match.” The publishing line itself is being absorbed by the Random House group, under Gina Centrello, along with the Spiegel & Grau unit that had been part of Doubleday. It puts the company’s two big mass-market lines together […]
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Layoffs at Nelson
Thomas Nelson ceo Michael Hyatt announced layoffs at the company today via his active Twitter feed and then wrote further on his blog. “Today, was a very difficult day at Thomas Nelson. We informed fifty-four of our friends and co-workers (about 10% of our workforce) that we have eliminated their jobs, effective this Friday. This will affect nearly every department in our company.” In April, the company eliminated “about 60” positions “because we have changed our business strategy.” But “this second round was purely a result of the slowdown in the economy,” Hyatt now writes. He admits, “As recently as […]
Saletan Quits Harcourt Houghton Mifflin
The situation at Harcourt Houghton Mifflin continues to worsen, as the AP reports that svp and publisher of adult trade Becky Saletan has resigned her position as of December 10. There was no further comment beyond confirmation from the company. Saletan (along with others at HMH) has been required to stay silent as the company has stumbled its way through explaining their partial “freeze” on acquisitions of books for adults.AP
Wiley In Meredith Publishing and Distribution Deal
Meredith’s steady pullback from the book publishing business now appears to be Wiley’s gain: the book publisher has just announced a five-year licensing agreement starting March 1, 2009 that gives Wiley the rights to publish books using all of Meredith’s brand names, including Better Homes and Gardens, as well as marks including Family Circle, American Patchwork and Quilting, and Diabetic Living. Wiley will also take over as the exclusive distributor of Meredith’s backlist of about 200 titles, in all channels worldwide. According to Meredith’s version of the press release, they will “continue to create book content” from their offices in […]
Vintage Has Government Book on WMDs & Terrorism
Tomorrow the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, chaired by Senator Bob Graham, will report its findings to President Bush and Congress and Vintage will release the authorized version as a trade paperback, WORLD AT RISK: The Report of the Commission of the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism. The report is designed as “a measure for the next Administration’s national security strategy,” analyzing the current threat of WMD’s and our government’s ability to respond to them. Graham says “my own assessment at this point is the more likely form of attack is going to be […]
Award for Tinti; Honors for Galassi
Hannah Tinti won the 2008 John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize for THE GOOD THIEF The Good Thief, presented last night at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction’s benefit dinner. But the focus of this Bloomberg piece is on Farrar, Straus publisher Jonathan Galassi, honored with the Maxwell E. Perkins Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Field of Fiction. The Mercantile says, “Galassi was chosen in recognition of his career as both an editor and a publisher who has supported and shaped the work of a dazzling array of writers, carrying on the tradition exemplified so well by Maxwell Perkins.” […]