IDPF executive director Michael Smith will leave the organization shortly “to pursue other opportunities in the digital book space.” He will stay on during the search procress and transition to a replacement, which the organization hopes “will be completed by early January 2011.” At Random House UK, Cornerstone managing director Susan Sandon, Ebury managing director Fiona MacIntyre, Random House UK Children’s managing director Philippa Dickinson, and human resources director Neil Morrison have all been appointed to the company’s main board. CEO Gail Rebuck says in the announcement “this new structure ensures that we harness the strengths and talents at Board […]
International News
eBooks Come to Australia
The Australian version of the iBookstore has gone from a display mechanism for public domain works to a genuine ebookstore five months after the iPad launched there. Macmillan Australia, Hachette Book Group Australia, Harper Australia, Wiley Australia, Hardie Grant and Murdoch Books all say their books are now on-sale in the store. Meanwhile, the Austrlian Publishers Association says they are fielding multiple complaints from other publishers who are frustrated about the process of engaging Apple in making deals. But Macmillan’s head of digital Victoria Nash says they only “received confirmation from Apple of the launch 10 days ago.” Separately, dominant […]
Harlequin Continues Pattern: Sales Slide, As Profits Stay Strong
Harlequin parent company Torstar reported that book publishing had “stable results” in their third quarter. Following their recent pattern, sales fell slightly, down $5 million at $117.5 milion (CA) as operating profit for the segment rose $100,000 to $23 million, the seventh consecutive quarter of earnings growth.Release
Bloomsbury Buys Duckworth Academic; Will Distribute Trade Line
Bloomsbury has purchased the Duckworth Academic list outright from Gerald Duckworth & Company, and as an “integral” part of the deal, Bloomsbury will distribute the Duckworth trade list starting in March 2011. Bloomsbury will operate Duckworth Academic, which focuses on books about the ancient world, as Bristol Classical Press, through the Bloomsbury Academic division. Duckworth owner Peter Mayer emphasizes that the deal is driven by the growth of the company’s trade line. Jon Jackson has been named editorial director of Duckworth trade a Ben Slight is sales coordinator (he was a regional manager at Waterstone’s). He says, “With the recent […]
People, Awards, Etc.: Including A Business Book Award; Whiting Winners, UK NBA Nominees
Jocelyn Kalmus joins the Free Press as a publicist. She was an assistant publicist at Harper Collins. At Scholastic Media, Daisy Kline has been promoted to vp of marketing and brand management. Westchester’s Journal News has a nice profile of editor Pam Dorman: “She never gets recognized in New Rochelle, but in the publishing world everybody knows” her. Pop star Taylor Swift played the Scholastic auditorium, “where about 200 grade-schoolers and middle-schoolers, most of them girls, had received a break from class to see Swift talk about reading and writing. The children had been selected by their schools because of […]
Bloomsbury Says Business Is “Resilient”; Book Sales Down 3 Percent at WH Smith
In a third-quarter trading statement, Bloomsbury says their “trading in the UK remains resilient.” They continue to expect the release of the new Harry Potter movie in November to boost book sales. The company writes: “Overall, business is performing well for the group. The outcome for the year is still dependent on the level of consumer and business to business demand between now and the end of the financial year. Major database projects are under consideration which forms part of new business in 2010.” Release Also in the UK, yesterday WH Smith reported preliminary results for the fiscal year. Same-store […]