University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe apparently surprised staff with the announcement Thursday that the UM Press will close. Started in 1958, it currently publishes about 30 titles a year, and has issued approximately 2,000 books since its founding. Wolfe said they “take seriously our role to be good stewards of public funds, to use those funds to achieve our strategic priorities and re-evaluate those activities that are not central to our core mission.” The Press has been receiving a $400,000 annual subsidy. A phase out of operations will begin this July. “Ten employees will be affected,” the Columbia Daily […]
New Imprints
People
Maris Kreizman will join Barnes & Noble as director of editorial content for BN.com on June 4. She was most recently audiobooks editor at eMusic. At S&S Children’s, Bridget Madsen has been promoted to managing editor and Ellen Grafton moves up to assistant managing editor. In addition, Jenica Nasworthy moves up to senior production editor, and Craig Adams has been promoted to production editor. Author, publishing consultant, music producer, and co-founder of the Rock Bottom Remainders Kathi Kamen Goldmark, 63, died Thursday morning of cancer. She founded Goldmark Media Escorts in 1983, which handed more than 500 authors touring the […]
Corporate: Macmillan New Ventures Buys EBI; Gallimard Last and Only Bidder for Flammarion
The sale of French publisher Flammarion by RCS appears to be down to a single contender, Les Echos reported, after bidding partners Albin Michel and Chequers Capital dropped out when they refused to increase their offer. The lone publishing house still in contention to buy Flammarion is Gallimard, which reportedly is working to raise their original offer of approximately 200 million euros. The RCS board of directors, which waffled its way into the sale offer in the first place, has indicated it might cancel the sale if the offer is not improved sufficiently–which is about the only tool available to them […]
Christian Literary Agency Alive Communications Launches ePublishing Company, Bondfire
Leading literary agency for Christian and inspirational books Alive Communications has announced a separate “sister” epublishing enterprise, Bondfire Books. In the vein of Diversion Books (Scott Waxman), Bedford Square Books (Ed Victor), Paperless Publishing (Objective Entertainment), and Rosetta Books (Arthur Klebanoff), Bondfire is a standalone epublishing company. Following the model of other epublishing start-ups, founder Rick Christian says in the announcement they are paying “a 50 percent net royalty” and “five-year renewable terms.” (Other formal enterprises involving literary agencies include Pan Macmillan’s Bello in the UK, a revival line which launched in partnership with Curtis Brown UK, and the back-in-print […]
Pocket Star Relaunches as Dedicated eBook Imprint
Pocket Books will relaunch its Pocket Star mass market paperback line as a dedicated ebook imprint, continuing to feature bestselling and debut authors in women’s fiction, romance, thrillers, urban fantasy, and mystery. Executive editor at Pocket Lauren McKenna will oversee all content for Pocket Star as editorial director. The move comes after Pocket published Kresley Cole’s novella WARLORD WANTS FOREVER as an ebook, selling 60,000 copies. The relaunched imprint will draw from its spring and summer list of titles by V.C. Andrews, Nathan Dodge, Cindy Gerard, Laura Griffin, Sabrina Jeffries, Carrie Lofty, and Michael R. Underwood, among others, and Pocket […]
People, Etc.
Liz Egan has joined Amazon Publishing’s New York imprint as senior editor, focusing on fiction, memoir, and parenting. Previously she was the books editor at Self magazine for seven years. Tattered Cover manager of operations Neil Strandberg is joining the ABA’s staff in the new position of director of member technology. Relocating to New York, he starts on May 7. Eric Brandt has joined Yale University Press as senior editor, Humanities. He was most recently senior editor at Harper One. At Random House Children’s, Dominique Cimina was named director of publicity and corporate communications; Casey Lloyd and Elizabeth Zajac have both moved up to […]