The latest acquisition in a busy year for M&A, Hachette UK has purchased illustrated reference book publisher Ilex and will make it part of Octopus. Alastair Campbell, who co-founded Ilex 15 years ago, is retiring from the company, but the rest of the publishing staff will be retained and transferred to London. The Bookseller says that Nielsen Bookscan shows Ilex as having sales of approximately £700,000 in 2013. Their specialty is books on photography and visual media. Octopus chief executive Alison Goff says in the announcement: “We have long-admired the Ilex list for its quality and creativity. The titles Ilex publish are essential reference […]
International News
People, Etc.
Obituaries Novelist Kent Haruf, 71, has died, his editor Gary Fisketjon confirmed to the Washington Post on Sunday. The new issue of Granta has an autobiographical essay by Haruf, and his novel OUR SOULS AT NIGHT is due to be published next year. Fisketjon said, “Kent had finished all his revisions and even gone through the copy editing. We had it scheduled for May, though I haven’t yet processed how this tragic news might alter those plans.” PD James, 94, the British crime writer and member of the House of Lords, died Thursday morning at her home in Oxford. She was the author […]
Corporate: Reviving Scribner’s Magazine Online, Open Road Espanol, and Courier’s Brazilian Buy
The latest consumer-facing website launched by Simon & Schuster revives an old magazine name: Scribner Magazine, inspired by (but dropping the apostrophe of) the publisher’s long-ago sister publication Scribner’s Magazine, which published from 1887 through 1939. The new site will act as a general-interest literary magazine featuring “contributions from Scribner authors, editors, fellow S&S imprints, and other voices in the literary community.” Pieces already online includes an essay from Anthony Doerr on his new novel ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, up for a National Book Award Wednesday night; rare Hemingway photos from the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s THE SUN […]
People, Etc.
Erin Stein will join Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group as publisher of a new, yet-to-be-named new imprint on December 1, reporting to Jon Yaged. Her imprint will focus on branded publishing and new content creation, as well as acquiring original commercial fiction and picture books. Previously she was editorial director of branded, licensed, and media tie-in publishing for Little, Brown Children’s. “MCPG has enjoyed fabulous growth over the past several years, and we are always exploring new ways to accelerate our growth. Erin’s phenomenal track record with licensed publishing and new content creation makes her the perfect fit for us. I could not be […]
Bertelsmann Sales Are Flat In Third Quarter, As Asset Changes Weigh On Profits
Bertelsmann issued a brief third quarter trading report (in the European style), indicating that sales for the first nine months of the year rose 4.3 percent to €11.82 billion — “their highest level in seven years” — but profits have declined sharply, due in large part to recent rearrangements of their portfolio of assets. “An impairment loss on RTL Group’s TV activities in Hungary, where the parliament passed a special tax on advertising in the summer, negatively impacted the 2014 figure,” the company explained. “There were also losses from the sale of the Be Printers’ Italian printing plants and the Club businesses in […]
People
Doubleday vp, executive director of publicity Alison Rich will take on the additional role of associate publisher, Nan A. Talese Books, continuing to report to Suzanne Herz. In her new role Rich will be responsible for providing additional marketing and publicity support and “building social media followings and digital promotion” for the imprint. At Random House Canada, Lynn Henry is moving from Doubleday Canada to the new role of publishing director at Knopf Canada, reporting to Anne Collins. Amy Black will become associate publisher at Doubleday Canada, reporting to Kristin Cochrane. (Nita Pronovost and Tim Rostron will report to Black). Martha […]