Jared Bland has been named to the new role of publisher, McClelland & Stewart. He has been arts editor at the Globe & Mail since 2014, after joining the paper the year before as books editor (and was an editor at House of Anansi Press before then). One-time president and publisher of M&S when it used to operate independently Doug Pepper — who is now publisher of the Signal imprint — will report to Bland, along with the M&S editorial team and the online magazine Hazlitt. President and publisher, Penguin Random House Canada Kristin Cochrane says in the announcement, “When we began speaking about […]
International News
UK Briefs: Hachette UK to Close Littlehampton Warehouse in 2019; Lost My Name Lays Off 10; and More
Hachette UK will close its Littlehampton Book Services warehouse and offices in 2019 as part of a bigger plan to consolidate and modernize their distribution operations. They will build a new distribution center in Didcot, Oxfordshire, about a mile away from the existing Bookpoint distribution facility, starting in late 2016. “It is intended that Hachette Distribution and its client publishers will begin a carefully phased transition to the new site in 2018,” the company said, and the current Bookpoint warehouse will be maintained for “bulk storage.” Hachette UK coo Chris Emerson said in the announcement: “The retail landscape has changed; people buy […]
People, Etc.
At Scribner, Shannon Welch has been promoted to executive editor. At Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency, Danielle Burby has been promoted to agent and foreign rights manager. Paula Canal will join Indent Literary Agency as a literary agent and foreign rights director. She has spent the past 17 years as foreign rights manager at Anagrama and will continue to handle all foreign rights for the company from her post at Indent. At New World Library, Jason Gardner has been promoted to executive editor. At McGraw-Hill Professional, Cheryl Ringer has been promoted to editor, business group. At the UK’s Folio Prize, executive […]
People: Harlequin Launches Park Row Books Imprint, and More
Harlequin will launch a new imprint, Park Row Books, in summer 2017, with a focus on “thought-provoking and voice-driven novels” that have “mainstream appeal.” Executive editor for the imprint Erika Imranyi told the AP: “We’ve been growing that part of our business for a very long time. It’s a small piece of what we do, but a really important piece.” Park Row Books is named for the street where Harlequin’s offices were once located. Separately, the rebranded HQ imprint in the UK (combining Harlequin UK and Mira UK, as an imprint of Harper UK), has announced the acquisition of their […]
Briefs: Empresa’s New Books Division; Amazon Updates Kindle; and More
Czech media conglomerate Empresa has launched a books division, Publishing Perspectives reports. The company released its first three titles this month and expects to publish 15 titles by the end of 2016. Empresa already owns an online bookstore which sells more than 170,000 titles by over 4,000 publishers. Amazon released its newest version of the 6″ Kindle, retailing for $99.99 (or $79.99 with ads) and weighing 5.7 ounces. The new Kindle features 4 GB of memory, built-in Bluetooth for audio support, and up to four weeks of battery life on a single charge. Separately, Amazon announced its latest fulfillment center […]
Nordstedts Sold to Storytel
Subscription audiobook and ebook streaming service Storytel has acquired Norstedts, Sweden’s oldest publisher, for SEK 152 million (or 16.3 million euros.) Nordstedts has been owned by co-operative union and retail group KF since 1997; the 11-year-old Storytel adds Nordstedts to its expanding roster, having acquired Swedish publishers Massolit and B Wahlströms in 2015 and Danish ebook and audio streaming service Mofibo last month. Storytel, as part of the deal, also acquires Rabén & Sjögren, which has been owned by KF since 1947, as well as Norstedts’ wholly owned subsidiaries Böckernas Klubb, Norstedts Kartor, Kartcentrum i Stockholm, and Gammafon Barnmedia. Storytel also […]