Former Holt chairman Stephen Rubin has joined Simon & Schuster as a consulting publisher, reporting to Jonathan Karp. Rubin will acquire fiction and nonfiction for all of the company’s adult publishing imprints. Karp says in the announcement, “Steve has an extraordinary eye for talent and keen judgment as a publisher on both sides of the Atlantic. He’ll be a valuable adviser and a rainmaker.” Rubin adds, “Jon and I have had a mutual admiration society since we met more than two decades ago. The opportunity to discover and champion notable authors, the great joy of my career, and publish them […]
International News
Apple Tries to Block Just-Released German Book About Their App Store
Apple is inadvertently promoting a book just released in Germany by the former head of their German app store business: APP STORE CONFIDENTIAL, by Tom Sadowski, from Murmann Verlag. (They are a small business publisher, founded in 2004, and seem to do custom publishing as well.) The company’s lawyers reportedly wrote to Sadowski and his publisher to demand that they not “deliver the book” and “recall all copies of the book already in circulation and…destroy all book manuscripts.” Apple says Sadowski “violated his employment” agreement in writing the book and alleges that the book contains “business secrets” that are “of […]
UK Publisher Haynes Announces Sale to Infopro Digital
UK car manual publisher Haynes will be acquired by Infopro Digital, its Netherlands-based competitor, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately £114.5 million. Founder and executive chairman of Infopro Digital Christophe Czajka said, “We are committed to working together to create a company that will continue to help define the future of automotive data.” Haynes’ board voted unanimously for the sale, which comes three months after the company announced a search for a buyer. Shareholders will vote on the deal at the next general meeting in March or April 2020. According to the board, almost 82 percent of shareholders have […]
Corporate: Barnes & Noble “A Big Mess”; A Big Charge At Luebbe; Booktopia Adds Funding
Barnes & Noble ceo James Daunt, speaking to inews.co.uk following the release of Waterstones’ results, declares of BN, “We had a pretty awful Christmas over here.” He adds, “But that was because there are parts that I’ve abandoned.” More broadly, he says BN is “as Waterstones was in 2011, which is: not very good bookshops, not looking very nice. It’s a big mess.” While publishers like Lagardere are investing in games, Germany’s Luebbe is taking a big charge after a misadventure there. The company said it will take an impairment loss of between 12 and 14 million euros against its […]
Jeffrey Archer Sues Curtis Brown UK For Alleged Underpayments, Breach of Duty
Earlier this month, author Jeffrey Archer filed suit in London’s High Court against his former literary agency, Curtis Brown UK, claiming they owe him £538,486 in alleged underpayments since they began representing him in 2002, plus interest on those funds of over £250,000. Archer also seeks damages for breach of duty, and a formal declaration that his representation by Curtis Brown UK ended last March. The Evening Standard ran the first report on the case six days ago. Archer’s attorney James Ramsden QC tells the court the issue was first discovered during a 2018 audit by Mitchell Rights Management. He […]
Quarto Turned Down A £20 Million Cash Buyout Offer
Debt-ridden Quarto Publishing turned down a buyout offer from US investor and former hedge fund executive Richard Hurowitz multiple times last year, rejecting his proposals in early October and again in mid-November, the FT reported. Hurowitz offered 100 pence a share, or approximately £20.5 million, and was advised by investment bank Greenhill. Though desperate for funds, Quarto rejected his offer without notifying their public investors. Hurowitz’s offer was — and remains — well above Quarto’s stock price, since the market doubts whether the company is viable. Quarto has roughly $54 million due in bank debt and another $13 million short-term […]