David Patterson has left Holt, where he was an editor, and starts today at Foundry Literary + Media as an agent. Irish bookselling chain Hughes & Hughes declared bankruptcy. Ulster Bank appointed David Carson of Deloitte as receiver. The company blamed a variety of factors, from reduced air traffic which suppressed business at its successful airport bookstores to higher rents and the internet.Irish Times Gordon Wood won the American History Book Prize for Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, which includes the title of American Historian Laureate. Mexican author and guerrilla movement scholar Carlos Montemayor, 62, […]
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People
Simon & Schuster Audio vp audio production Sandy Moore is retiring March 1 after 25 years with the division, since it’s founding in 1984. Christopher Lynch writes, “her vision for how an audiobook should sound literally shaped an industry, and her ability to adapt to the changing times has kept S&S as the standard bearer for quality audio production as we move quickly into the digital age.” Another veteran, Elisa Shokoff, will take over Moore’s position. At Shreve Williams Public Relations, Kathleen Schmidt will join the company March 15 as director of publicity and digital media, part of “a strategic […]
Barnes & Noble Reports Decent Earnings On Declining Sales
Barnes & Noble reported third quarter sales of $2.175 billion for the period ending January 10. Same-store sales at regular BN outlets were down 5.5 percent compared to a year, and fell 4.7 percent overall, at $1.4 billion. College bookstore sales of $566 million were down 1.3 percent. BN.com sales grew 32 percent to $210 million–and were up 67 percent in the month of January, driven by nook sales. (BN’s quarters no longer align following the integration of the College division, but last year in March store comps were down 7.3 percent–so they are underperforming an already-lowered bar.) During the […]
People, Awards and More
Anna Crowe has joined Planned Television Arts as a senior publicist. She was previously at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Random House. Linda Clark Associates has been appointed the book scout for Quercus Books. The LA Times announced nominees for its annual book prizes yesterday in 10 categories, now including an award for graphic novels for the first time. Their first Innovators Award will go to Dave Eggers for “his multifaceted, spirited commitment to literature” and their Lifetime Achievement award is going to Evan S. Connell.Full list of nominees Poets & Writers’ indie bookselling column has a long interview with Michael […]
Important Source for Hiroshima Book Discredited
Yesterday’s NYT page one explained that the late Joseph Fuoco–the source behind two important accounts in Charles Pellegrino’s recently-published THE LAST TRAIN FROM HIROSHIMA–is apparently an “impostor.” Fuoco, and in turn the book, claimed to be a last-minute substitute on a plan that accompanied the Enola Gay on its famous bombing run over Hiroshima. He said there was a “secret accident” with the bomb that caused radiation poisoning and reduced the bomb’s power. Pellegrino “now concedes that he was probably duped. In an interview on Friday, he said he would rewrite sections of the book for paperback and foreign editions. […]
People and Companies
Agent Mary Ann Naples, co-owner of The Creative Culture, has joined startup OpenSky (www.theopenskyproject.com) as vp of development, representing the voices of authors and brands at the company. Former Scholastic UK managing director (and then briefly chief executive of the Headline publishing group) Kate Wilson is starting a children’s book publisher, Nosy Crow, launching in January 2011. The company is focusing on both traditional printed books as well as books as electronic apps. Ralph Munsen joins Hachette Book Group today as svp, chief information officer. He was most recently vp, technology at Clear Channel..He will lead HBG’s technology group, and […]