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 […]
International News
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 […]
Amazon Is “Required” to “Capitulate” to Agency In the UK, Too; Still Tries to Inspire Customer Revolt
Amazon is apparently not going to resort to buy-button-backlash over the agency model in the UK, but they do still believe it’s a good strategy to get their customers riled. They write in a site note: “It is indeed correct that this group of publishers will require Amazon and other UK booksellers to accept an agency model for e-books. We believe they will raise prices on e-books for consumers almost across the board. For a number of reasons, we think this is a damaging approach for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers alike.” They disingenuously tell their UK customers “most publishers […]
People, Etc.: Janklow Hires NYT’s Julie Just, Phaidon’s New CEO, and More
Children’s book editor of the New York Times Book Review Julie Just will join Janklow & Nesbit as an agent in November. Mort Janklow says in the announcement, “It has been our intention for some time to expand the range of agency services we offer to include in a major way children’s and young adult literature.” Lynn Nesbit calls Just “the ideal person to spearhead this new effort.” Phaidon Press, which recently hired Amanda Ridout as managing director, has now appointed David Davies as chief executive officer, starting November 29 and based in London. He is currently managing director at […]
Plus, The Governor General Awards Nominees
Also just announced this morning was the shortlist for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards. Booker-shortlisted Emma Donoghue is a repeat nominee, and Kathleen Winter is also nominated for Canada’s Giller Prize. (Grove/Atlantic has Winter’s Annabel scheduled for a January trade paperback release through Black Cat; the other three novels do not currently has US pub dates or deals listed.) In the biggest categories, the nominees are: FictionSandra Birdsell, Waiting for JoeEmma Donoghue, RoomDrew Hayden Taylor, Motorcycles and SweetgrassDianne Warren, Cool WaterKathleen Winter, Annabel Non-fictionElizabeth Abbot, A History of MarriageIan Brown, The Boy in the MoonAllan Casey, LakelandKaren Connelly, Burmese LessonsJohn […]