At Tor/Forge, Alexis Nixon has been promoted to publicist and Leah Withers moves up to associate publicist. In addition, Cassie Ammerman, most recently publicist, has been named digital marketing manager for the imprint. At Kids Can Press, Yvette Ghione has been promoted to editorial director and Karen Li moves up to senior editor. In addition, Allison MacLachlan has been named assistant, brands & new business. Barnes & Noble romance buyer Jules Herbert will contribute monthly recommendations and point to store promotions and other offers on Random House’s romance website Romance@Random, the site spearheaded by former Borders romance buyer Sue Grimshaw. […]
International News
More Briefs: Profits Slide At Bertelsmann, Glad Day Bookshop Finds Buyers
Bertelsmann released preliminary, topline figures for 2011, with their full report due on March 28. Sales from continuing operations nudged up 1 percent, to €15.3 billion, while operating EBIT fell roughly 5 percent, to €1.7 billion. Positive indicators included “rapidly growing e-book sales.” Toronto’s LGBTQ Glad Day Bookshop has secured a future for itself, with news that a group of local supporters have joined together to buy the store. High school teacher Michael Erickson, who led the group of buyers, says that “as individuals, none of us are rich. But collectively, there will be over 20 of us in the […]
HBG USA Rises, As Hachette UK Struggles
Hachette Book Group USA had a sharp turnaround in the fourth quarter, with sales rising 12.8 percent (after falling 8 percent in the prior quarter), riding a “powerful performance” and an easier comparison to a year ago, when Stephenie Meyer sales had declined. But Hachette UK continues to struggle, down 4.5 percent for the fourth quarter (after falling 10 percent in the third quarter). The company blamed “tougher international market conditions (REDgroup’s bankruptcy in Australia),” even with UK rights to the Steve Jobs biography. Lagardere’s publishing division reported overall fourth quarter sales of 537 million euros, down 3.4 percent overall […]
More DBW: Learning How to Sell eBooks All Over the World
Kobo executive Michael Tamblyn provided a look at some of the challenges of taking ebooks global quickly. Among the biggest challenges has been Japan, home of their new parent company Rakuten. “We’ve learned a lot working in Japan,” he said. “They have everything there–it’s just evolved completely differently” than in the rest of the book publishing world. They have no metadata standards, two competing ebook standards, very little simultaneous release in print and digital, file conversion challenges, and very few centralized repositories. In many countries, as Tamblyn underscored, “we see a lot of vertical integration once we get outside of […]
People, Imprints, Etc.
Jonathan Lyons will join Folio Literary Management as executive director of subsidiary rights, and will also serve as the agency’s legal counsel on select issues, including contract, copyright, and estate law. He has been running his own agency and law practice. Molly Jaffa has been promoted to director of international rights, and will continue to develop her client list. Jennifer Doerr has joined Yale University Press as senior publicist. She previously held director of publicity positions at Macmillan Children’s and Skyhorse Publishing. At Random House Children’s, Chelsea Eberly was promoted to associate editor. In the UK, Bloomsbury is launching a new […]
People, Etc.
Publisher of Cormorant Books Marc Côté has also been named publisher of Thomas Allen, effective March 1. He replaces Patrick Crean, who is leaving after more than 12 years with the company. “I feel I have accomplished the goals I set out to achieve…namely to launch and establish a thriving new independent publishing house that is nationally recognized for its award-winning and critically well-received books,” Crean said in a statement. “I also feel that in this time of historic change in the book industry, it is a good moment for me to pause and reflect on the essentials of book […]