At McGraw-Hill, Donya Dickerson has been promoted to associate publisher of the business group, and Amy Li has been promoted to associate editor of the business group. Kate Meltzer has joined Roaring Brook Press as editor. She was formerly an editor at Penguin Children’s. Kirk Benshoff has joined First Second Books as art director. Previously, he was art director at Scholastic. Mary Altman has been promoted to senior editor, Sourcebooks Casablanca. Mary Duke has joined Chronicle Books as a marketing manager for children’s. Previously, she was marketing associate at Harper One. Pat Conte has joined Bear Manor Media as foreign […]
International News
People, Etc.
Karen Murgolo has joined Aevitas Creative Management as an agent. Previously she was editorial director at Grand Central Life & Style. At Sourebooks, Heather Hall has been promoted to associate managing editor and Cassie Gutman to senior production editor. Twenty-First Century Books editorial director Domenica DiPiazza is retiring on March 29. She has been with the company for more than 27 years. Also at Twenty-First Century Books, Shaina Olmanson is being promoted to associate editorial director starting April 1. Copyright Law With a vote of 348 to 274, the European Parliament has passed the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, […]
People, Etc.: Teicher to Retire From ABA
American Booksellers Association ceo since 2009 Oren Teicher announced Monday that he will retire at the end of the year. The ABA board has retained the search firm of Isaacson, Miller and has appointed a search committee, intending to complete the search process by September 30. Teicher said, “To say the least, this was not a decision I reached lightly, as I have cherished every single day over the last 30 years that I have worked at ABA. But the time has come, and I firmly believe it’s the right decision for me, and for ABA. There are also a number […]
Corporate, Etc.: Pearson Sells K-12 Textbook Group and More
Pearson announced the $250 million sale of its K-12 courseware division to private equity group Nexus Capital Management, a sale which the company had been pursuing for at least a year as part of its simplification strategy. Chief executive John Fallon says it “frees us up to focus on the digital first strategy that will drive our future growth.” Nexus will pay just $25 million now, with the remainder due in an unconditional $225 million vendor note “expected to be repaid in three to seven years.” Thereafter, Pearson will continue to receive 20 percent of all future cash flows to […]
People, Etc.
Cassidy Sachs has been promoted to assistant editor at Dutton. At Cooke International, Hana El Niwairi has been promoted to subsidiary rights associate. Co-founder with her husband Ian Ballantine of Ballantine Books and Bantam Books Betty Ballantine, 99, died on Tuesday at home in Bearsville, NY. Random House president and publisher Gina Centrello said in a statement, “We mourn the passing of Betty Ballantine, who with her husband Ian was a trailblazing contributor to the growth and development of book publishing and to the careers of countless authors and editors. We proudly carry forward the Ballantine legacy with this eponymous imprint […]
By the Actual Numbers, Sales and Profits Fell Slightly at Waterstones
As we’ve observed before, the UK press and the UK trade love the survival/revival story of bookselling chain Waterstones, regardless of what the numbers say. In the British tradition, the chain recently filed annual results for the fiscal year ending April 28, 2018 — prior to the sale of a controlling stake to Elliott Advisors — and the data shows another year of a small slide in both sales and earnings. Sales for the main group were £385.7 million, down £2.3 million, and all profits measures fell slightly as well. Operating profit was £24 million (down £.44 million), and after-tax […]