Former Ikea executive Johan Stenebo (who also spent time as personal assistant to company founder Ingvar Kamprad) is among the first to challenge the furniture-retailer’s glossy public image from the inside. Spiegel Online says the tell-all book “has attracted much attention in Sweden. It is the first time in the more than 60-year history of Ikea that negative comments have been made by a senior staff member in public. It’s clear that the book is some sort of payback: a mountain of dirty laundry divided into 14 chapters.” They add “the book claims that common preconceptions about Ikea and Kamprad […]
International News
People
Harper UK publishing director Wayne Brookes is moving to Pan Macmillan as publishing director for fiction, reporting to publisher Jeremy Trevathan.
In Turnabout, Australia to Keep Import Rules In Place
The Australian government has overturned the efforts by the previous Labor government to throw out the country’s parallel importation restrictions on books that protect local publishers. They write: “In the circumstances of intense competition from online books and e-books, the Government judged that changing the regulations governing book imports is unlikely to have any material effect on the availability of books in Australia. If books cannot be made available in a timely fashion and at a competitive price, customers will opt for online sales and e-books.” In concert with the policy change, the government also made it clear it will […]
Awards
Journalist Linden MacIntyre was the surprise winner of Canada’s Giller Prize last night for his novel THE BISHOP’S MAN–the second in a planned trilogy–about corruption in the Catholic Church. Random House Canada controls world rights, and as best we could determine this morning US rights have not been sold yet (though that will likely change soon). Ron Eckel is still handling rights through Random House Canada (in advance of their announced rights sales outsourcing deal). MacIntyre’s primary agents are Don Sedgwick and Shaun Bradley at Transatlantic Literary Agency. The Asian American Literary Award in fiction has gone to Jhumpa Lahiri […]
Sales Still Down at Bertelsmann
In a short (and general) third-quarter trading update, Bertelsmann says that its “strict cost discipline is producing positive fiscal developments.” Sales fell 4.5 percent of 3.6 billion euros, as net income improved to 87 million euros (up from just 15 million euros a year ago). For the the first nine months of their fiscal year, sales are down 6.6 percent and operating EBIT has declined almost 19 percent. No divisional figures were provided.Statement
Erik Engstrom Takes Over at Reed Elsevier After CEO Ian Smith Quits
Ian Smith has unexpectedly left his post as ceo of Reed Elsevier after just eight months on the job, leaving “by mutual agreement” according to a company statement. Chairman Anthony Habgood says “Ian has had the difficult task of leading Reed Elsevier during unprecedentedly turbulent economic times.” Elsevier’s top executive for the past five years Erik Engstrom, 46, takes over immediately as ceo. In a separate release, the company moved up its six-month trading update to today: “The major professional markets, accounting for the majority of Reed Elsevier’s business, are proving more resilient than most but not immune from late […]