As predicted last week, Quarto has set a special meeting date for November 7 on the dissident shareholder call to remove Laurence Orbach and replace him with Tim Chadwick. The company’s board has recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal, and that is how board member-controlled stock comprising 15.2 percent of shares (mostly Orbach’s) will vote. The board says that “during a radical period of adjustment in the book publishing industry, the company has managed to build a successful and growing business.” They endorse their own “clear, well thought-out and well-received succession plan,” under which recently-hired coo Marcus Leaver will […]
International News
Initiatives: Pratchett Exploits His Own Multimedia Rights; S&S Seeks to License Author Videos
Author of the Discworld series (and many others) Terry Pratchett has launched a multimedia production company that holds and will exploit exclusive rights to his work for film, TV, merchandising and digital media. Called Narrativia, the company is led by managing director Rod Brown. A writer, director and producer of commercial TV for over two decades, Brown produced the adaptation of Pratchett’s Hogfather and The Color of Magic. The announcement indicates that they company “is already working on a number of Pratchett-related TV and film projects with high profile production partners and scriptwriters.” Among Simon & Schuster‘s new offerings at […]
Quercus Sees Larger Than Expected Larsson Decline, As Digital Grows
The UK’s Quercus reported results for the first six months of 2012, with “a predicted decline in the overall contribution from the Larsson franchise” registering “in a contribution…that fell short of our expectations” and is expected to continue. Sales of £9.24 million were down £2.7 million from a year ago, with £2 million of that gap attributed to lower Larsson receipts. (By our reckoning that means “underlying” non-Larsson sales declined about 7 percent.) Pre-tax profit suffered more, at £.6 million, compared to £3.4 million a year ago. Management reiterates that “Over the past few years we have been reinvesting our […]
VBK To Become Independent; United Agents Negotiates to Acquire AP Watt
There are two big international publishing developments. Dutch and Belgian publishing conglomerate Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) will become an independent company, owned by management and staff, on November 1, buying their freedom from the NDC|VBK Publishing Group. ING Bank is supplying some of the financing and will hold a minority interest in the company. VBK was formed in 2001 with the merger of Peat Publishers Group and Bosch & Keuning, and they merged with Northern Daily Combination (NDC) in 2005. Their units include Ambo Anthos, Atlas-Contact, De Fontein, Kok Ten Have, and Luitingh-Sijthoff, and comprise all of NDC/VBK’s trade publishing […]
People, Etc.
At ICM Partners, Kristyn Keene and Kari Stuart have both been promoted to agent. Keene joined the agency in 2006; Stuart has been with ICM for seven years. Alistair Burtenshaw, who left his positions at Reed Exhibitions earlier this month, will move up to chair of charity Booktrust (where he has served as deputy chair since 2008). The Smoking Gun highlights multiple lawsuits filed recently by Penguin to recover advances from authors who the publisher says never delivered their manuscripts. The suits look to recover advances and interest from: New Yorker staff writer Rebecca Mead $20,000, for a 2003 deal […]
Barnes & Noble Hires Patrick Rouvillos To Oversee International Nook Expansion; Dixons Retail Added As New UK Partner
Barnes & Noble has solidified its plans to expand NOOK beyond the US and the UK with the appointment of Patrick Rouvillois as vp, managing director for international, reporting to Jamie Iannone. Rouvillois, who will work out of Luxembourg, was most recently global cmo and head of eCommerce for Carrefour. “We’re thrilled to have Patrick join the team as we embark on our international expansion of the NOOK brand into the UK and beyond,” Iannone said in a statement. “Patrick brings strong leadership to the role, and his vast background in the retail, consulting, telecom and media sectors will be […]