As part of their previously announced plan to reduce costs by $25 million to $30 million, Scholastic ceo Dick Robinson has written to employees to explain a four-part workforce reduction “which we believe is balanced and respectful to employees, retains as many jobs as possible, and reflects the spirit of Scholastic while meeting our financial requirements in a difficult economy.” The measures include a voluntary resignation offer for employees over 50 who have been with the company at least 10 years and are “considering retirement or other career options”; a freeze on new hires (openings will be filled from within […]
Brisingr Opening Day Sales
Random House Children’s announced first-day sales of 550,000 copies for Christopher Paolini’s BRISINGR, the biggest one-day sale ever for a book from the division. The publisher says that number is four times the opening day sale of Paolini’s previous title, ELDEST, in 2005. (That book was estimated to have sold 425,000 copies in the first week on sale.) President of RH Children’s Chip Gibson says in the announcement, “We are thrilled with the first day’s sale of BRISINGR: the numbers have far surpassed our projections. We are grateful to booksellers everywhere for this incredible success and look forward with them […]
That Only Took Years: Google Book Search Syndicates to Online Booksellers
Google is finally expanding making Book Search previews available to sites everywhere with simple embeddable code. Significantly, they say that Books-a-Million has already enabled Google Previews on their site, and “in the coming weeks retailers like Borders and Powell’s Books will enable this feature as well.” (It’s already enabled at Blackwell’s site, too, and other bookselling sites internationally.) Which means that “browse inside” functionality is now available to any bookseller (or other site) throughout the range of titles provided by Google’s publisher “partners.” As with books displayed through Book Search itself, users can browse up to 20 percent of a […]
MacArthurs for Adichie, Ross
The latest group of MacArthur Fellows include Nigerian-born novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author most recently of the splendid Half of a Yellow Sun, and music critic and author of The Rest is Noise Alex Ross. Adichie tells the Washington Post, “I really appreciate the recognition.” She adds, “I can write and get well paid for it for the next five years, which is the best possible position for a writer to be in.” Post
People and Distribution
At Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, agent Michael Bourret has been named vice president and Lauren Abramo has been promoted to subsidiary rights director (both started their careers at the agency). Agent Jessica Papin is rejoining the agency after a three-year stint in international rights sales for the American University in Cairo. Dan Ambrosio has left Vigliano Associates to join Wiley as an editor. At Westwood Creative Artists, Jackie Kaiser has become a shareholder in the agency and is now a vice president. She has been at WCA for eight year, representing literary fiction; narrative nonfiction; and selected writing for […]
Penguin Expands eSpecials Under Barton
Penguin Group has given publisher manager Molly Barton the additional new role of associate publisher of eSpecials. A program that started with the freestanding sale of Alan Greenspan’s new epilogue for the paperback edition of The Age of Turbulence, sold electronically for five dollars, the eSpecials will extend beyond Penguin Press as original announced as a “service to writers across all of its imprints.” They say other specials from Christine Feehan, Jan Karon and Patricia Briggs “are already in the works” and that the program will range from “important updates to nonfiction works to unknown novellas by bestselling novelists.”