New ceo Ron Marshall declares “as we address the immediate priority of getting our company’s financial house in order, one of our goals is to more aggressively reduce annual expenses” and to that end the company announced the elimination of six vice-president and 10 director-level jobs, mostly at their Ann Arbor headquarters. Among those whose positions are being cut are evp of US store Ken Armstrong, and svp and CIO Susan Harwood (who was a high-profile hire in 2007), and svp of e-business Kevin Ertell who led the development of Borders.com. VPs of real estae, human resources serivces and creative […]
Filing Supports Higher Price Estimate for AbeBooks Acquisition
When Amazon announced its deal to acquire AbeBooks in August, observers were all over the map in estimating the undisclosed sale price. TechVibes–where former Abe executive (and still director) Boris Wertz is a director and investor–estimated a sale price of $90 million to $120 million, but other posters there argued for estimates ranging from $40 million to $75 million. TechFlash notes that Amazon’s recently filed 10K report declares they spent $432 million on acquisitions in the past year. With Audible valued at approximately $300 million and the other purchases comprising much smaller units–the balance of Shelfari.com, Fabric.com, and IMDB’s acquisition […]
People
At the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Jennifer Rofe has been promoted to agent and Jennifer Mattson has joined the group as an associate agent. he was formerly a book review editor at Booklist and an editor at Dutton children’s books. Ginny Weissman is no longer with Martin Literary Management. In the UK, at Portobello Books, Laura Barber has been promoted to editorial director with immediate effect. She continues to report to Philip Gwyn Jones, publisher of Granta Books and Portobello Books. At Da Capo Press, Katie McHugh has been promoted to executive editor.
BN Discover Finalists
Barnes & Noble announced the nominees for its annual Discover Great New Writers Awards: Fiction Zachary Lazar, Sway (Little, Brown) Gin Phillips, The Well and the Mine (Hawthorne Books) Benjamin Taylor, The Book of Getting Even (Steerforth Press) Nonfiction David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey through His Son’s Addiction (Houghton Mifflin) Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Twelve) Nia Wyn, Blue Sky July: A Mother’s Story of Hope and Healing (Dutton) The winners will be announced on March 4, at a private awards ceremony.
People: Carnicelli to Trident
Matthew Carnicelli, who founded Carnicelli Literary Management in 2004 after years as an editor, is joining Trident Media Group on February 17.
Book Expo Canada Cancelled
Recent assurances from Reed’s Publishers Weekly notwithstanding, Reed Exhibitions announced yesterday that June’s Book Expo Canada is being closed “effective immediately.” Reed executive Greg Topalian says “it has become clear that the dynamics of the publishing industry in Canada is no longer best served by a traditional trade event.”Canadian customers are welcome at BEA in New York: “Our focus on the publishing industry now centers on our event in New York and we look forward to serving the needs of our customers in North America most effectively with a singular event.” BEC will provide full refunds to the small number […]