Bertelsmann’s New Chief: Grow, or Else Reports from today’s Berlin Bertelsmann conference are just starting to come in, so far with no dramatic announcements about the Direct Group or other assets, though incoming chief executive Hartmut Ostrowski told his executives, “We have to evaluate our business areas and — if necessary — take tough decisions. It goes without saying that we will keep an especially close eye on operations whose business is shrinking.” The target return on sales “is to be enduringly increased to ten percent.” In Bertelsmann’s own posted account, Ostrowski says the only way to grow is through […]

Scholastic Executives Rise Scholastic announced a number of high-level promotions following Ellie Berger’s recent elevation to president of the company’s trade publishing division in place of Lisa Holton. VP of marketing Suzanne Murphy is being promoted to vp, publisher, for trade publishing and marketing, overseeing the division’s editorial, design, and marketing departments as of January 1. Berger says, “Suzanne Murphy is the ideal person to lead our dedicated editorial, marketing, and design teams into the future. Suzanne is universally respected by her colleagues and throughout the children’s publishing industry for her leadership, creativity, and ability to adapt quickly to an […]

Potter Paperback Set for July Bloomsbury will release the UK paperback editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on July 5, priced at 8.99 pounds (printed on 100 percent “ancient-forest friendly” paper). No word yet from Scholastic on their paperback release. Personnel News After seven years as vp, editorial director at Pocket, Maggie Crawford will take a “purely editorial role” to focus on acquiring and editing for Pocket, Threshold Editions and Downtown Press as of next January. Pocket publisher Louise Burke says it “stems from her desire to spend more of her time doing what she loves to do […]

New Bertelsmann Chief May Sell Parts of Direct Group The Financial Times has an article that originated with the German version of the paper looking at incoming Bertelsmann chief Hartmut Ostrowski as he prepares to address a companywide gathering of executives in Berlin this Thursday. The first big rumor is that Ostrowski is considering selling the struggling Direct Group’s book, music and video clubs outside of Germany. A prime target is the US-based unit, recently renamed Direct Group North America and put under the leadership of Random House head Peter Olson. With sales of 1 billion euros it comprises over […]

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 First time novelist Patrick DeWitt’s ABLUTIONS, a dark, literary novel about […]

Personnel News Alibris founder Marty Manley is stepping down after ten years, to start a new company — details of which will be announced next year. Alibris President and coo Brian Elliott will take over as ceo of the online book, music, and movie exchange as of the new year. Manley says in the announcement, “The end of a decade is the right time for me to make a transition that we have been considering for some time. Brian is the right person to lead this company through the next stage of its growth, and I am proud to turn […]