At Macmillan Children’s, Kate Avino has been promoted to assistant editor, Odd Dot; Foyinsi Adegbonmire to associate editor, Feiwel and Friends; Samia Fakih to assistant editor, First Second Books; Kiara Valdez to associate editor, First Second Books; Trisha de Guzman to editor, FSG Children’s; Allegra Green to marketing manager; Dawn Ryan to executive managing editor; and Aurora Parlagreco to associate art director. Miyako Singer has been promoted to publishing operations associate at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press. Awards The ALA’s Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence were given to Deacon King Kong by James McBride and Fathoms: The World in the Whale! by Rebecca Giggs. […]
Legal
Bonnier Books UK Sues Former Accounting Firm for £90 Million
Bonnier Books UK has finally gotten to the bottom of their disastrous years of believing that overspending to buy growth would work — which ended in big layoffs, the abrupt dismissal of the executive that led the spree, and recapitalization from the parent company of £51 million. It now turns out the whole thing was the accountants’ fault, and the publisher is suing its former accountants for £90 million, alleging the firm was negligent in auditing its financial statements. The publisher admits in their lawsuit, filed against Haysmacintyre LLP in London’s High Court January 21, that their growth strategy was […]
Authors Guild and Others Urge DOJ to Reject S&S Merge with PRH
The Authors Guild, the Open Markets Institute, and a number of writers associations have co-signed a letter urging the Department of Justice to reject the plan to merge Simon & Schuster into Penguin Random House. “The deal would bring well more than half of key U.S. book markets under the control of a single corporation, which poses a variety of potential threats to freedom of speech and democracy in the United States. The takeover falls clearly within the standard of illegality set by the Clayton Act and should be summarily rejected,” argues the letter, later offering “five arguments that easily […]
McGuigan Sues Former Partner Gendell, Alleging “Criminal Embezzlement” of Funds
On Thursday, literary agent Peter McGuigan filed suit on behalf of himself and the literary agency Foundry in New York Supreme Court against former business partner Yfat Reiss Gendell, charging breach of contract, conversion of funds, intentional fraud and fraudulent conveyance, negligent misrepresentation, and more. Alleging “criminal embezzlement,” the suit says that Gendell illegally transferred over $800,000 from Foundry accounts to herself and to cover expenses related to her new agency YRG Partners. It also alleges that over $45,000 in unlawful charges were made to company credit cards on Gendell’s behalf; that she hired some former Foundry employees in violation […]
Bolton Permitted Discovery to Show Government Acted Unfairly
Former national security John Bolton can go forward with discovery to fight the government lawsuit claiming he violated nondisclosure agreements by publishing The Room Where It Happened. US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth denied the government’s motion for summary judgment, arguing that Bolton should be allowed to gather testimony and documents to prove his claim that the government acted in bad faith. “Because Bolton argues that the government acted inequitably, the Court must be satisfied that the government has clean hands before it can impose a constructive trust. For Bolton to support that argument, he must be allowed limited discovery,” […]
Hagens Berman Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon Over eBook Monopoly
Following news of a longstanding investigation of Amazon’s control over the ebook market by the Connecticut Attorney General, class action law firm Hagens Berman sued Amazon in the US District Court of New York’s Southern District. They allege antitrust violations of the Sherman Act. The filing is both fascinating and bizarre, a kind of deja vu all over again that also sees the law firm now complaining about what they themselves helped wrought. Hagens Berman was the first mover in the earlier lawsuits against book publishers and Apple over the introduction of the agency model for pricing ebooks, filing the […]