Smashwords‘ catalog of over 225,000 ebooks will be incorporated into Scribd.com‘s ebook subscription service. As part of the deal, the roughly 70,000 Smashwords’ authors and publishers will receive a free one-year subscription to Scribd’s service. Also, Oyster will include “select titles” from the Perseus Book Group in their subscription service. One of the 2013’s unlikely stars, Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty, will be “on hiatus” in the year to come. Following his anti-gay remarks in a GQ interview, the A&E network “has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.” Robertson tried to ameliorate the situation with a formal statement, […]
Personnel
People
Another executive will depart Penguin shortly. EVP of business operations Doug Whiteman will leave the company as of January 3 to become chief administrative officer of Acelero Learning, an early childhood education company focused on improving the delivery of Head Start services locally. Penguin Random House’s Madeline McIntosh wrote in a memo, “As much as we are all sorry to see him leave after thirty great years of outstanding contributions and service, this move will not come as a surprise to the friends and colleagues who know of Doug’s longstanding philanthropic contributions.” Leslie Stoker will be leaving Abrams, where she is […]
People, Etc
Rosetta Books announced multiple promotions: Nav Khalsa has been appointed digital marketing director; Greg Freed is production and distribution director; Michelle Weyenberg has been named digital marketing and promotions manager; Hannah Bennett is now production manager; and Peter Clark is production manager. Also, the head of Rosetta’s UK office Jonathan Ward will relocate to Beijing in January, where his duties will include supervising a new, exclusive partnership with the China National Publications Import and Export Group to distribute their english-language ebooks catalog to libraries, schools, and other institutional accounts in China. Rosetta ceo Arthur Klebanoff notes that “The market in […]
People: On Richard Gallen, 80
Longtime publishing attorney and investor Richard Gallen, 80, died on December 3 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He began his career in 1961 as an attorney with Dell Publishing. In the 1970s and 1980s, Gallen ran a wide variety of publishing enterprises and he provided financial backing and counsel to Baen Books, Tor, Publishers Group West, Carroll & Graf, and, most recently, in 2008, The Experiment. He also cofounded GSL Publishing Associates, in 1996, with Tony Schulte and David Lamb, which operated until 2011. Those wishing to make memorial gifts are asked to considerthe Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or the […]
People
At Holiday House, Kelly Loughman has been promoted to associate editor and Sally Morgridge moves up to assistant editor. Samantha Ferguson has joined Insight Editions as international sales director and vp, business development. Previously she was director of animation sales at VIZ Media. Colin Wilson, author of over 100 books of fiction and nonfiction who remained best known for his first book, The Outsider, died on December 5 from complications of pneumonia. He was 82. To correct yesterday’s item, Zack Clark has been promoted to associate editor at Scholastic. On Wednesday, Robin Desser at Knopf was presented with the Center […]
People, Awards, and More
The NEA announced 38 recipients of creative writing fellowships, providing awards of $25,000 to each of the writers (or $950,000 in all). Recipients include Percival Everett, Daniel Mason and Justin Torres. Margaret Wrinkle‘s WASH won the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. Scholastic announced a number of recent new hires and promotions. In the editorial department, Anamika Bhatnagar has been promoted to publishing director, Scholastic Press, while Amanda Maciel moves up to executive editor, Scholastic. Emily Seife has been promoted to editor, while Emellia Zamani and Becky Shapiro move up to associate editor. Additionally, Zack Clark and Marisa Polansky move up to assistant editor. […]