Indigo Books president Peter Ruis, who joined the company in early 2021, has been promoted to CEO and joins the company’s board as well. Controlling owner Heather Reisman relinquishes the leadership role and takes the position of executive chair, where she will “continue to drive Indigo’s vision and growth strategy while also remaining deeply involved in the business.” Chief customer and digital officer Andrea Limbardi moves up to president. (Limbardi has been with the company for over 20 years.) The company notes, “The Board and its Human Resources, Compensation and Governance Committee have been involved in the entire succession planning […]
Personnel
Booktopia Founder Calls for Removal of the Board Members Who Fired Him
Founder of Australian online bookseller Booktopia Tony Nash has called a shareholder meeting to remove board members who fired him as ceo, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Nash, who owns 14 percent of shares, has proposed to remove two non-executive directors from the board, chair Chris Beare and Su-Ming Wong, as well as anyone else appointed since August 17. He also intends to appoint Abigail Cheadle to the board. “Tony Nash Enterprises Pty Ltd proposes to call, and arrange to hold, an extraordinary general meeting of the company for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, passing the following […]
NYT Names Gilbert Cruz Books Editor
The New York Times announced that Gilbert Cruz will be the new books editor, succeeding Pamela Paul who left for the opinion section in March. Cruz moves over from the culture department. The announcement states that he’ll focus his energy on “three pillars” of coverage: “The first is to reimagine The New York Times Book Review, the nation’s last stand-alone newspaper book-review section, for the digital age. The second is to increase and embolden our reporting on and criticism of ideas and intellectual life, the publishing world and all that lives within it. And the third is to build new […]
“What’s Next?”: Avid Reader Press Diversity Committee Panel
Wednesday evening, the Avid Reader Press Diversity Committee hosted a panel for junior employees and people hoping to break into the industry. The committee was founded in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd protests, “to better understand and reckon with the lack of diversity and equity in publishing.” Avid Reader assistant editor Amy Guay moderated the panel, which was made up of professionals who have been in the business a while, and could speak to what has helped them grow and made them stay. Alia Almeida (telesales representative at HarperCollins), Shida Carr (deputy director of publicity at Atria), […]
Callisto Media Laid Off More Than a Third of Staff
Last week, Callisto Media laid off 140 employees—35 percent of their workforce—sources have confirmed to PL. The cuts were made across departments and levels, in both the New York and Oakland, CA offices. CEO Benjamin Wayne told employees in an all-staff virtual meeting on July 12 that the company, which has been trying to go public or execute a sale, was not yet profitable and it was hard to secure investors during the economic downturn. Callisto needed to reduce spending by $20 million, he said, and 140 positions would be eliminated. Wayne also said that the company would pare down […]
Agent Stephanie Sinclair Named Publisher of McClelland & Stewart
Literary agent at CookeMcDermid Stephanie Sinclair will become publisher of McClelland & Stewart and Hazlitt at Penguin Random House Canada starting October 3, as Jared Bland steps down from his role to the take the new position of vp, communications and community for PRH Canada. Sinclair, who identifies as Cree, Ojibwe, and German/Jewish settler, began her agenting career at Transatlantic Literary Agency in 2012. CEO of Penguin Random House Canada Kristin Cochrane said in the announcement: “The last six years at McClelland & Stewart have been a time of remarkable creative, critical, and commercial success, and while I was surprised […]