In papers filed last week, Borders asked a federal bankruptcy court to authorize as much as $8.3 million in bonus payments to company executives – including up to $1.7 million to CEO Michael Edwards. Seventeen executives are covered by the largest bonus program, which could add between $4.7m and $7.1m, while a second $1.2 million bonus program covers 25 “director-level” managers that court papers say are “critical to the debtors’ reorganization and to ongoing business.” The company said that 70% of its top executives have been with Borders for 18 months or less, and that bonuses were not paid at […]
People, Etc.
Derry Wilkins has joined Sourcebooks as publicity manager, children’s & YA. Previously she managed children’s publicity for Sterling. Nancy Fish has joined Cleis Press/Viva Editions as marketing and publicity manager. Previously she was a marketing manager for the Harvard Bookstore and assistant executive director of NEIBA. The Romance Writers of America announced their RITA Award finalists, with the winners to be named on July in New York at their annual convention. Full list Douglas & MacIntyre Publishers will relocate its Toronto office on March 28 to 130 Spadina Avenue, Suite 405, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2L4. Phone numbers and email […]
HMV Confirms Waterstone’s Is For Sale, As Rumors of a Management Buyout Swirl
Weeks of speculation about the future of Waterstone’s after parent company HMV let investors know that it might violate banking covenants – not to mention the possibility that founder Tim Waterstone and minority shareholder Alexander Mamut are interested in buying the chain — has led to today’s announcement that yes, Waterstone’s is on the block, its fate potentially decided in the next four weeks. “In response to press speculation, the board confirms it is exploring strategic options in respect of Waterstone’s and HMV Canada,” HMV said in a statement. “The board also confirms that no discussions are taking place with respect to […]
Briefs: Dorchester Woes Continue; The Brand of Mary Higgins Clark; Penguin Piracy Suit; And More
Dorchester Publishing continues to do its best zombie impression, as a number of authors have learned the ailing company continues to sell digital copies of their work even after they no longer hold the rights, and despite repeated assurances they would stop this practice. Horror writer Brian Keene detailed the situation on his blog, saying that he found unauthorized e-copies of his books under the Dorchester banner selling through various digital outlets. “In the most recent case (iBooks), Dorchester blamed their vendor, Libre Digital, but provided no documentation verifying this. An employee at Apple cast doubt on this explanation. In the […]
St. Martin’s Pays a Reported $2M For Four Books By Amanda Hocking, Self-Publishing’s Reluctant Heroine
This year every week in publishing could be considered eventful, but this week in particular had a special kind of symmetry, as the very publishing house Barry Eisler walked away from to publish on his own brought Amanda Hocking into the fold. Despite sources indicating otherwise a few days ago, St. Martin’s emerged the victor of the auction for Hocking’s new Watersong YA paranormal series, reportedly paying more than $2 million for World English rights (which, of course, includes digital rights, too.) “I’ve done as much with self-publishing as any person can do,” Hocking told the NYT Thursday. “People have […]
Borders Pulls a Distribution Switcheroo: TN Center Stays Open And PA Facility Will Close
Borders announced it would shutter its distribution facility in La Vergne, TN months ago, but yesterday they did an about-face and will keep the center open, which also spares the 300 employees who were set to lose their jobs. But the news was grimmer for workers at Borders’ Northeastern facility in Carlisle, PA. The company has said for months that they can no longer afford to support three distribution centers, and so the nearly five-year-old 600,000-square foot facility will now be shuttered in July or August, with 333 workers set to be laid off. Borders other distribution center in California […]