Beth Lamb will join Vintage/Anchor on June 19 in the newly created position of vp, associate publisher, reporting to Anne Messitte. Previously she was associate publisher, trade books at Rodale. Messitte said in the announcement that Lamb “very much shares our belief that paperback and digital publishing today require creativity, innovation, and flexible strategies, that our authors are the center of all that we do, and that successful publishing relies on a deep understanding of the marketplace and consumer interests. Recognizing the potential of a robust backlist — sensing opportunities and acting on them — is a part of Beth’s […]
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Tim Ditlow has left Amazon Children’s, where he was associate publisher (after working for Amazon-owned Brilliance Audio since 2008). Michelle Nagler will join Random House Children’s Books on July 15 as associate publishing director for the Random House/Golden Books group, reporting to Mallory Loehr. Nagler is currently editorial director at Bloomsbury Children’s. Editorial director for Stepping Stones Jennifer Arena; executive editor Shana Corey, and associate editor and Chelsea Eberly will report to Nagler going forward. Harper Christian has created a Zondervan Gift Books unit, which “indicates Zondervan’s intention to place a strong focus on inspirational gift books, devotionals and journals. […]
Springer Decides on IPO; Pottermore Offers More
The longstanding efforts by private equity owners EQT and the Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund to sell Springer Science have taken yet another twist. They will walk away from BC Partners’ recent offer to buy the entire company for approximately €3.1 billion, and instead will go ahead with the long-contemplated IPO. The WSJ says that share offering “could value Springer Science at more than €3 billion, people familiar with the matter have said previously” — as well it should if they turned down that sum as a full buyout. They have been trying, since last fall, to get a valuation of closer […]
Closing: Harper’s New Zealand Warehouse and Audible’s Author Services Bounty
Consistent with HarperCollins’ “investor day” presentation we cited recently showing the company plans to have just four warehouses worldwide by 2014, the publisher is closing their New Zealand-based warehouse and switching distribution and support services to the company’s distribution center in Australia. The number of job losses was not clear, though general manager Graham Mitchell will leave the company after a transition period. Harper Australia chief executive James Kellow said in a statement the company “remained committed to publishing New Zealand books for New Zealand readers and looked forward to maintaining a local publishing programme in the future.” He added: […]
Canada’s McArthur & Company to Close; Founder Creates New Agency
Another independent Canadian publisher is exiting the business. McArthur & Company, which has been facing financial problems, announced Friday it will close. (Their last reported deal at PM was in mid-2011.) Founder Kim McArthur is partnering with Miron Blumental (who was an attorney and film/tv producer for the late Maeve Binchy) to create a literary and creative agency, McArthur Blumental Creative, the Toronto Star reports. McArthur called her time as an independent publisher “a mostly grand 15-year run.” She told the newspaper, “We are hoping to make this as seamless a transition for the authors as possible, as we did […]
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Bill Harris has joined BookEnds Literary Agency as director of digital content. Formerly a senior managing editor at Penguin, he has most recently been a freelance editorial and web development consultant. In addition, Beth Campbell has been promoted to literary assistant and rights coordinator. Skyhorse and Start Publishing have finalized their joint acquisition of Night Shade Books, an agreement reached “following a spirited and public debate” among authors, agents, fans, and publishers. According to a statement, Night Shade had net sales in 2012 of approximately $1.5 million. In Denmark, Lindhardt and Ringhof has acquired independent Danish literary house Per Kofod […]