Bankrupt German book wholesaler KNV (Koch, Neff and Volckmar) was auctioned by the trustee to Berlin-based privately owned logistics company Zeitfracht. The sale price was not disclosed, but the creditors’ committees have approved the purchase agreement. Zeitfracht says it will retain all employees — approximately 1,600 jobs — and continue to operate KNV’s three locations. Press release Subscription service Scribd is formally rolling out Snapshots (which launched in beta in February), “designed to offer key insights of a book in about 15 minutes to spark subscribers’ interest in reading the book in its entirety.” It’s “the literary equivalent of a […]
New Imprints
People, Etc.
Digital director and publisher at Bloomsbury Publishing Stephanie Duncan leaves the company this week: “I’ve loved working at Bloomsbury, it’s been challenging, fun and great to work with such brilliant colleagues, authors and books. After over twenty years here, it’s time for me to do something new, somewhere new.” She oversaw the first official Harry Potter website, Bloomsbury’s global ebook operations and the digital-first imprint Bloomsbury Reader. She can be reached at stephanie@duncan.uk.com Arcadia Publishing has hired Shane Hennigan as sales specialist; and Ashley Hill and Hayley Behal as production editors for History Press. Katelyn Jenkins returns to Arcadia as acquisitions […]
Briefs: Realignments, Initiatives, and More
Realigning Two UK publishers announced internal realignments. Ebury is adding “self” and “lifestyle/BBC” publishing “hubs” to the smart and entertainment hubs they created earlier this year — and now publicity and marketing are being brought closer together. It seems publicity is now called “campaigns,” with Joanna Bennett promoted to head of campaigns for the Smart hub, Tessa Henderson is head of campaigns for Entertainment; Stephanie Naulls has that position for Lifestyle/BBC; and they are recruiting someone for self. Separately, marketing becomes a Marketing, Insight & Digital centre (not a hub, or even a spoke), and will “share new digital resources […]
Andrews McMeel to Print Epic’s Digital Originals; Octopus Acquires Short Books
Andrews McMeel will publish a new line of printed children’s books based on digital originals from the children’s subscription service Epic!, which says it is “used by more than 10 million children in homes and schools.” (In March, Epic! said they had over 1.7 million subscribers.) Those Epic! Originals have drawn over 8 million reads through the service “in just a few short months,” with one title, “My Pet Slime,” read over 1 million times in just eight weeks. That will be one of the first five titles published in print starting this fall. AMP publisher and president Kirsty Melville […]
Imprints & Forthcoming: Penguin Adds Life; Little, Brown Is Voracious; Mattis Book Publishes Soon
Imprints Penguin Publishing Group will import their version of the Penguin Life line in the UK, across three imprints: Starting in January 2020, titles that focus on inspiration, personal development, lifestyle, and healthy living will come from Viking Life, Penguin Life, and Pamela Dorman Books. Starting with will four titles, together the lines expect to publish 15 “life” titles in 2020. As Viking says in the release, “The editorial, publicity, and marketing groups at all three imprints have been deeply involved in lifestyle and wellness books to great success, and the time has come to define these books within a […]
People, Etc.
Angela Man has joined Orbit as associate publicist. She was previously at Diversion Books. Cassandra Fernandez has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s as marketing associate. She was previously marketing assistant at Random House Children’s. Sarah Homer was promoted to assistant editor at Harper Children’s. Imprints Skyhorse will launch a crime fiction imprint, Arcade CrimeWise, starting this fall and publishing 6 to 8 titles a year, including mysteries, thrillers, noir, procedurals, and spy novels. Arcade has previously published genre fiction as part of their overall line. The OTT live trial network backed by Dan Abrams and A&E Networks Law&Crime is starting […]