Judge Sides with CIA A federal judge ruled in favor of the CIA in Valerie Plame and Simon & Schuster’s suit over her forthcoming manuscript. Judge Barbara S. Jones said that the information about how long Plame worked for the agency “was properly classified, was never declassified and has not been officially acknowledged by the CIA.” The judge acknowledges that the agency “does not contest that the information is, in fact, in the public domain” and that “the public may draw whatever conclusions it might from the fact that the information at issue was sent on CIA letterhead by the […]

Temporary Head for HM Trade, and More Personnel and Distribution News Gary Gentel has been promoted to interim president of Houghton Mifflin’s Trade and Reference Division, effective immediately. HM ceo Tony Lucki told employees today that “Gary will lead the division’s strategic direction with the support of the trade and reference management team, who will report directly to him. He will also be an instrumental part of planning the integration of Harcourt Trade with Houghton Mifflin Trade and Reference.” Gentel has been corporate vp, director of sales for the past four years. Prior to joining Houghton, he was vp of […]

Penguin Results Dampened by Pounded Dollar; Lagardere Grows; and More Corporate News Pearson reported results for the first six months of their fiscal year, with a one percent gain in “underlying [e.g. currency neutral] sales” at Penguin more than wiped out by the declining value of the dollar (as Pearson takes in two-thirds of sales in the US). Sales were down five percent after being converted into British sterling, at 367 pounds, versus 387 pounds a year ago. Profits, which improved significantly on an underlying basis, up 11 percent, were flat in actual currency at 18 million pounds. The company […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up   FICTION Debut Steven Galloway’s THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO, about the endurance of the […]

Bennett and Simonoff Rise, and More Personnel News Tina Bennett and Eric Simonoff have been promoted to directors of Janklow & Nesbit Associates. Bennett joined the literary agency in 1994 and Simonoff has been there since 1991. Senior partner Morton Janklow noted in announcing the news, “Tina and Eric have established themselves as leading figures in the publishing industry and we are pleased to have this younger generation of agents integrated into the operations of the agency, assuring seamless continuity in the future.” Lynn Nesbit adds, “Both Tina and Eric have spent substantially all of their careers at Janklow & […]

Personnel News After being shuffled around following the Perseus purchase of Avalon Pubishing Group, former publisher and editorial director of Carroll & Graf and Thunder’s Mouth Press (turned Da Capo executive editor) Will Balliett will go to Hyperion as editorial director, as of August 8. Also at Hyperion, Beth Gebhard will be promoted to executive director of publicity, as of July 30. She will take on the daily management of the department and all publicity staff will report to her. Neal Maillet has returned to Timber Press (where he once was executive editor) as publisher. He takes over from Jane […]