We were just forwarded an internal announcement that Random House is freezing all pensions at their current levels and will not give pensions to new employees hired as of January 1, and now the news is the subject of an AP story as well. The article notes that “the company will continue to offer matching funds, up to 6 percent, for 401k plans.”AP In another Random House bulletin, their Canadian division has declined to exhibit at the next Book Expo Canada. President and CEO Brad Martin said in an e-mail they “feel the show is no longer effective in helping […]
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Lannan Honorees; New Grand Masters
The Lannan Foundation announced its 2008 literary awards and fellowships: Literary AwardAugust Kleinzahler, Poetry Two-Year Literary FellowshipsCharles D’Ambrosio, FictionKatie Ford, PoetryIlya Kaminsky, PoetryGlenn Patterson, Fiction Notable Book AwardsBlack Mass, by John GrayLiving with Darwin, by Philip KitcherDemocracy Incorporated, by Sheldon S. Wolin Site Separately, James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton were both named Grand Masters of the genre by the Mystery Writers of America.
Imprint News
Candlewick Press will launch their first separate imprint, Templar Books, in spring 2009, in partnership with UK-based Templar Publishing. They’ll issue eight books in the spring and “nearly a dozen” in the fall. (Templar produces the bestselling ‘Ology series that Candlewick already publishes in the US.)
BN: Even Worse Than Expected
Barnes & Noble reported sales of $1.1 billion for their third quarter, and a net loss of $18.4 million. Same-store BN store sales of $971 million were down a big 7.4 percent (and fell 4.4 percent overall), while sales at the online unit rose 2 percent, to $109 million. The loss includes a special after-tax impairment charge of $7 million “to reduce the asset carrying value of certain store locations.” The results are below the company’s previous guidance and analysts’ diminished expectations–the operating loss of .21 a share compares to analysts’ prediction of .16 share. BN reduced their fourth quarter […]
National Book Awards: Matthiessen, Gordon-Reed, Blundell, and Doty
FictionPeter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library)NonfictionAnnette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello (W.W. Norton & Company)Young People’s Literature Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic) PoetryMark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems (HarperCollins). We started sales tracking the winners online as soon as they were announced last night. (Amazon is the first column; BN.com the second): MathiessenStart: 1,321 1,416Now: 265 92 Gordon-ReedStart: 1,100 1,282Now: 317 167 DotyStart: 51,418 38,416Now: 3,391 40,790BlundellStart: 23,200 63,008Now: 3,378 50,756Some quotes from the coverage: Gordon-Reed: “It’s sort of wonderful […]
People
Hachette Book Group has filled the open chief operating officer slot with the hiring of Kenneth Michaels, who joins the company on January 5. He was most recently svp of global business process management for the McGraw-Hill Companies. CEO David Young notes, “he consistently achieved impressive results across many areas of the business including IT infrastructure and strategy, new business development, distribution initiatives, operations, inventory, and leadership development.” He will “focus on finding opportunities for greater efficiency throughout the areas of our business that will report to him: distribution, facilities, fulfillment, IT, managing editorial, production, and strategic publishing operations.” Harper […]