BarnesandNoble.com, which has been operating without a chief executive since Marie Toulantis left the position of ceo in August, is getting a new leader. Still with the lesser title of president, William J. Lynch, Jr. will take over on February 2. He was evp of marketing and general manager of HSN.com, and from 2004 to 2008, he was ceo and co-founder of gifts.com. Barnes & Noble ceo Steve Riggio says, “He has experience in product development, brand marketing, relationship marketing and direct marketing; he has managed both a technology start-up company and run large e-commerce organizations.” Sales fell 11 percent […]
Personnel
People and Company News
Nicholas Brealey Publishing has bought Davies-Black Publishing, a line of books about business and career management, from CPP, Inc (formerly Consulting Psychologists Press). The Davies-Black list of approximately 115 books will continue to be distributed by NBN, which also distributes Nicholas Brealey in the US and Canada. Ingram Digital ceo James Gray is moving over to chief strategy officer for all of Ingram’s content groups, as svp Mike Lovett moves up to CEO of Ingram Digital. At Gotham, Patrick Mulligan has been promoted to senior editor. He has been at the imprint for almost six years. Melissa Possick has joined […]
Richard Seaver Dies
Richard W. Seaver, founder and president of Arcade Publishing, passed away unexpectedly on January 5 after a heart attack. A memorial service will be announced in a few days. In lieu of flowers, Arcade reports they would be enormously grateful for any contributions to the PEN American Center. The NYT has an obituary today, calling him “an editor, translator and publisher who defied censorship, societal prudishness and conventional literary standards to bring works by rabble-rousing authors like Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, William Burroughs and the Marquis de Sade to American readers.” In other personnel news, Lerner Publishing Group has hired […]
People: Goldberg Named CEO of Lonely Planet, and More News and Announcements
Lonely Planet has appointed Matthew Goldberg as ceo as of March, reporting to BBC Worldwide managing director of Global Brands Marcus Arthur and based in Melbourne, Australia. He was svp, digital strategy & operations at Dow Jones, where he led business operations at the Wall Street Journal Digital Network. (Prior to Dow Jones, Goldberg worked at Bertelsmann.) Arthur says in the announcement that Goldberg “has extensive experience in print and digital media and is a perfect fit for a company like Lonely Planet both culturally and commercially. I’ve no doubt that Matt’s expertise will not only help maintain Lonely Planet’s […]
Jones Replaced at Borders
Would-be retail turnaround specialist George Jones is being replaced immediately as ceo of Borders Group after two-and-a-half difficult years of failing to bring to the retailer to profitability. Taking over is Ron Marshall, most recently principal of Wildridge Capital Management, a private equity company he founded. Previously, Marshall was ceo for eight years of food distributor Nash Finch Company and prior to that he was evp and cfo at Pathmark. Earlier in his career he worked at Crown Books and BN College. Board chairman Larry Pollock says in the announcement, “it is imperative that the company more aggressively attack these […]
Bookseller Glenn Goldman Dies
The founder and owner of the West Hollywood independent bookstore Book Soup Glen Goldman died on Saturday at 58 of pancreatic cancer. Goldman founded the store in 1975. LAT book editor David Ulin posted a personal remembrance on the book section’s blog. Separately, LA Observed reported right before Goldman’s death that “staffers and friends of Sunset Strip fixture Book Soup are contacting potential buyers.” They add that, “judging by emails circulating in L.A. book circles, the search has become urgent in recent days.” The LAT’s obituary reports that Goldman decided to sell the store on Friday. But Book Soup general […]