People Round-Up, Mid-December 2014

PEOPLE

Meredith Greenhouse will join Perseus Book Group as VP, International Sales and Marketing.  She was Senior Director of International Sales at HarperCollins.

Susan Reich will retire as President of Publishers Group West in March 2015.  She has been president of the company for seven years.  Perseus President and CEO David Steinberger said of her “Susan has done an exemplary job leading PGW for the last seven years. She has a well-deserved reputation as a professional of high integrity and excellent judgment who guides PGW with an endearing combination of directness and wit.”

Kelly Leonard was named Director of Digital Marketing at Regan Arts. She was previously VP, Web Strategies at Hachette Book GroupTracy Brickman will also join Regan Arts as Publicist.  She was previously Associate Publicist at Hachette.

Mark Smith has been named CEO of Bonnier Publishing Fiction in London, merging his company Zaffre Publishing with Bonnier. Previously, he was Founder and CEO of Quercus.

Simon & Schuster VP and Associate Publisher Suzanne Donahue will be leaving the company after 27 years.  She can be reached at tylerhillgirl@yahoo.com.

Christopher Cosgrove is now National Account Manager, Adult and Audio at Simon & Schuster.  He was previously Assistant Manager, Online Sales & Marketing at Penguin Random House.

Steve Bevis joined Bookmasters as Director of Information Technology.  He was most recently Owner and Chief Consultant at Almond Group Technologies.

In children’s publishing, Andrew Karre will join Dutton Children’s as Executive Editor.  Previously, he was Editorial Director at Lerner Publishing Group. . . Mary McCue joined Random House Children’s as Assistant Director of Publicity.  She was most recently Senior Publicity Manager at Simon & Schuster/Gallery/Threshold. . .  Rex Ogle joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Senior Editor of Brand, Licensed, and Media Tie-In publishing.  He was most recently Senior Editor at Scholastic.

At literary agencies, Stephen Barbara is moving to Inkwell Management from Foundry Literary + Media, bringing his 50 clients with him. . . Cindy Whittemore rejoined Alive Literary Agency as Contracts Director.  She was Senior Director, Contracts at Harper Christian. . . Marietta B. Zacker was promoted to Senior Agent at Nancy Gallt Literary Agency.

Susan Murphy will join Harper Wave as Editor.  Previously, she was Associate Editor at Little, Brown.

Barbara Casey is now Partner at Strategic Media Books, where she will oversee acquisitions, company operations, and book production.  She will continue as President of the Barbara Casey Agency.

Kathryn Schulz will join the New Yorker as Staff Writer.  She will write book reviews, web pieces, and features.  Previously, she was Book Critic at New York Magazine.

Kristi Marchbanks is now Senior VP, Global Sales, Marketing, and Customer Experience at ProQuest.

Irv Myers will step down as President and CEO of New Leaf at the end of the year.  He will be opening Myers Associates, a consulting business.  He can be reached at irvmyers@hotmail.com.

Yelba Quinn joined Brookings Institution Press as Marketing Manager. She was previously Associate Director of Books and Electronic Products, Sales and Marketing at American Pharmacists Association.

In religious publishing, Lori Cloud joined HarperCollins Christian Publishing as VP of Marketing for W. Publishing.  She was previously Executive Director of Client Services at G7 Entertainment. . . . Andrew Stoddard joined WaterBrook Multnomah as Editor.  He was previously Acquisitions Editor at David C. Cook.

Darren Gillgrass joined Copyright Clearance Center as Director, Product Management, Rightsholder Products and Services.  He was formerly founder of publishing consulting company Healthcare Consulting Limited.

Molly Quinn will joining Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in January as Director of Public Programming. Previously, she was Production Coordinator for Literary Programs at Symphony Space.

Read More »

Nielsen’s Children’s Book Summit

Nielsen’s first Children’s Book Summit took place at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium on December 12, and attendees claimed it a great success.  The emphasis, not surprisingly, was on media consumption data, but unlike in the past, when Nielsen kept its tracking of media very discrete, this conference brought together information on how children – and parents with children – consume television, books, ebooks, games, movies and even radio.  The focus was primarily on children 6-17, with special attention to the YA market.

Nielsen Book President Jonathan Nowell (who is also presenting at LaunchKids/DBW on January 13th in New York) talked about trends in the children’s segment of the $151 billion global book market (nonfiction sales are growing), followed by Jonathan Stolper, SVP at Nielsen Book America, who covered the US market.  Kristen McLean, editor of Nielsen’s Children’s Books in the Digital World study, also spoke.   To the audience’s delight, 2014 will be a banner sales year for kids’ books, and teens’ purchase of book is the only place in the media landscape where spending is increasing, though the amount of time devoted to reading averages only 5% of their leisure consumption.

Much of the day was spent looking at children’s and teens’ (usually divided into 6-12 and 13-17 year olds) media habits, and how one influences the other.  Kids who read books that have movie tie-ins influence their peers to see the movie; parents and kids watch a lot of tv together, and nonfiction tv (like cooking and other talent shows; nature shows etc.) seems to be at least one factor in the increase in nonfiction leisure reading. Despite the mobilization of media into smartphones and tablets, books are curiously immune to digitization; only 21% of children’s books purchased are ebooks, and teens’ preference for print is increasing yearly.  (The explanation here is that library books are free, and it is easier to share print books.)

Using focus group techniques, two panels attempted to show parents with their children, and teens, talking about media.  The individuals came on stage and were asked about their media consumption habits by a moderator from the research company, Smarty Pants.  As they were primarily from NYC, it’s hard to consider them a representative sampling but the teen (mostly 17 year-olds) panel agreed that they did not like the term YA, though they were intrigued by “New Adult.”  They all seemed to gravitate to print, and said they read ebooks because it’s convenient and many – especially classics – are free.

The takeaway from the day was that books have a place in children’s media consumption landscape and, in some ways, their role is increasingly important, because they provide downtime and an escape.  Interestingly, so do bookstores.  Let’s hear it for retro.

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/8-12/12

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Amazon and Wattpad are about to go head-to-head in fanfiction, but who will come out on top?

Is it time to start treating ebooks like a piece of software?

The average ebook price stays low in the midst of holiday sales.

Will Twitter be the new place to buy books?

Can ebook reading habits ever really be private?

Publicists Contact Sheet 2015

Once again,  Publishing Trends has assembled a contact sheet of freelance publicists. We’ve added some names, and retired some, but the list continues to expand as the need for publicity services grows.

Many firms utilize both traditional and digital approaches to book publicity, and again we have three digital-only firms. To download a PDF of this year’s list, click below.

Click on the image of the chart above for a full PDF version of the 2015 sheet.

Click on the image of the chart above for a full PDF version of the 2015 sheet.

Editor’s note: This list was updated 12/11/14 and 12/19/14.

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/1-12/5

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Has Pamela Paul’s leadership led to a more inclusive New York Times Book Review “100 Notable Books” list?

Is Apple guilty of ebook price-fixing or did prosecutors target the wrong company?

Are debut authors a better choice for publishing deals than known blockbusters?

In a time when bookstores are closing because of real estate costs, should public libraries sell books?

What kids want to read, according to an infographic from Scholastic.

People Round-Up, Early December 2014

PEOPLE

Hachette Book Group EVP, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Evan Schnittman is leaving his position as of December 12th, after two and a half years.  The position was created for him and will be eliminated when he leaves.  Chris Murphy was promoted to SVP, Group Sales Director of Hachette and will join the company’s executive board.  He was previously SVP, Retail Sales.  In his new position, he will oversee all of HBG’s sales groups.  He will report to CEO Michael Pietsch.

Former Rodale CEO Steve Murphy stepped down from his position as Chief Executive at Christie’s after four years at the company.

Bruce Tracy returned to Workman Publishing as Senior Editor after a brief stint at Time Home Entertainment, Inc. as Executive Editor.

Shawna Mullen will join Abrams as Associate Publisher, Adult Trade in mid-December.  She is currently Executive Editor at Taunton Press.

Dan Ruffino was named Managing Director of Simon & Schuster Australia. Most recently, he was at Get Reading! Programme as Creative Director. He will report to Simon & Schuster UK Chief Executive and Publisher Ian Chapman.

Jeanne Reina joined William Morrow and Dey Street Books as VP, Art Director.  She was formerly Art Director at Atria Books.

Vanessa Mobley joined Little, Brown as Executive Editor. Previously, she was Executive Editor at Crown.

Caroline Horn is now Director of Institutional Advancement at The Library of America. Previously, she was Director of Development and Marketing at Midori & Friends.

Leah McLaughlin is now a Freelance Editor and Consultant. She was previously Editorial Director at Oxmoor House.  She can be reached at leahmclaughlin2@gmail.com.

Nick Small joined Grand Central Life & Style as Publicity Manager.  He was previously Associate Publicist at St. Martin’s Press.

Paul Stevens will join Quirk Books as Acquisitions Editor in January.  Formerly, he was Editor at Tor Books.

In children’s publishing, Erin Stein joined Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group as Publisher of an unnamed new imprint.  Previously, she was Editorial Director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.  She will report to Macmillan Children’s President and Publisher Jon Yaged. . . Rachel Lodi is now Associate Digital Publicist at Penguin Children’s. She was previously at Palgrave Macmillan.

Sulay Hernandez launched a book development and editorial consulting company called Unveiled Ink.  It will work with literary agents and writers to prepare manuscripts for traditional and self-publication. She was formerly Editor at Other Press and Touchstone.

Carl Lennertz launched ExpressEdit.net, a service to edit the first 15 pages of a manuscript.  He was formerly Executive Director of World Book Night US.

Ronald J. Domanic joined the Board of Books-A-Million.  He recently retired from his position as SVP and CFO at HD Supply.

Amy Pederson joined the BISG Board of Directors as Board Member.  She is VP at Elsevier.

Ellie Pyle is now Editor at Vertigo, a comics imprint of DC Entertainment.  She was formerly an Associate Editor at Marvel Comics.

Rayhane Sanders will join Lippincott Massie McQuilkin as Agent in January 2015. She was previously Agent at WSK Management.

Kathy Daneman launched Kathy Daneman Public Relations. She was formerly Publicity Director at Portfolio, Sentinel, and Current.

Helen Tobin joined Knopf as Publicist.  She was previously Associate Publicist at Little, Brown.

Meagan Stacey Levinson is Senior Editor of Sociology and Psychology at Princeton University Press. Previously, she was Senior Editor at Crown.

John Leahy joined Cengage Learning as CFO.  Previously, he was Executive VP and CFO of Care.com. Additionally, Bob Gibney joined as Chief Accounting Officer and SVP, Financial Planning and Analysis, Frank Vari as SVP, Tax and Richard Veith as SVP, Treasurer.

In religious publishing, Jessica Wong is now Senior Acquisitions Editor at Nelson Books.

Jennifer Maloney is now Books Report at Arena, the Wall Street Journal’s national arts section. Read More »

International Bestsellers, November 2014

Every month, Publishing Trends runs fiction international bestsellers lists from four territories–France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This month, our four regular territories are joined by two more: Ireland and Switzerland.  Those books that have been published in English are listed with their official English-language title. All others are translated as literally as possible from the original. Where applicable, the US publisher is listed after the local publisher, separated by a “/”. The lists are taken from major newspapers or national retailers, which are noted at the bottom of each list.  

BestsellerNov2014.France2

BestsellerNov2014.Germany

 

BestsellerNov2014 Italy

 

BestsellerNov2014.Spain

 

BestsellerNovIreland2014 BestsellerNov2014.Switzerland

 

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/24-11/28

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

A year-long study in the UK reveals that ebook lending does not increase ebook buying in libraries.

Do independent publishers have greater bibliodiversity than larger publishers?

Could Disney’s new Movies Anywhere initiative provide a new sales model for publishers?

When will ebooks outsell print books?

Do advances in digital printing extend a book’s long tail even further?

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/17-11/21

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

What does Penguin Random House’s refusal to sign with any ebook subscription service mean for the Big Five?

Is the use of aggressive DRM a turn off to readers?

Is the act of trying to keep up with ever advancing technology a futile effort for small publishers?

Do men and women prefer to read books written by their own sex?

Renaissance Learning released its findings on what and how children are reading this year.

Editors’ note: Our People Round-Up, Mid-November 2014 was updated to acknowledge recent changes at HarperCollinsNorton, and Hachette.