Laura Hazard Owen | March 2010
“If you don’t eat your own children, someone else will”: That’s how Michael Mace, Principal of the Silicon Valley–based Rubicon Consulting, began his presentation, “Check Out My Scars: Seven Lessons from the Failure of E-Books in 2000, and What They Mean to the Future of Electronic Publishing,” at the 2010 O’Reilly Tools of Change [...]
People Roundup
Lots of movement at Barnes & Noble: Liz Scheier has joined Barnes & Noble.com as Editorial Director, working with publishers to create “unique, exclusive content digital opportunities throughout our digital distribution platforms, including in store programs” and reporting to Theresa Horner, VP Digital Products. She was most recently Director of Publishing Relations at ScrollMotion [...]
Peter Hildick-Smith is Founder and President of the Codex Group.
2009 will be remembered as the beginning of the digital tipping point for book publishing, the year our industry took its turn as the last of the major media to enter the digital transition, following in the highly challenged footsteps of the music, newspaper, magazine, [...]
Laura Hazard Owen | December 2009
“I don’t know why, but there are often naked persons in French comics,” said Sylvain Coissard of the Sylvain Coissard Agency. He was one of the panelists at the French Publishers’ Agency’s “From Bande Dessinée to Graphic Novel: Drawing Two Traditions Together,” which took place in November at NYU’s Maison Française. Coissard was speaking about [...]
PEOPLE ROUNDUP
As summer wanes, change remains the constant: Former Simon & Schuster President of Sales and Distribution Larry Norton has joined Borders as SVP, Merchandising and Distribution, reporting to EVP Anne Kubek. Norton will lead the merchandising team and will work out of his Connecticut home. Earlier it was announced that Dave Marsico has been [...]
PEOPLE ROUNDUP
Rodale CEO Steve Murphy is leaving the company and will be replaced by Maria Rodale, who also continues in her role as Chairman of the Board.
Don Linn, SVP and Publisher of the Taunton Press, is leaving to launch a digital publishing house, Quartet Press. Linn will have principal responsibility for Quartet Press’ Finance, Administration [...]
Growth, Opportunity, Piracy, Censorship
Katie Lee Hull | July 2009
While the rest of the world suffers the economic squeeze, the government-run Chinese publishing industry has counterintuitively managed to cultivate opportunity for expansion both for local entrepreneurs and international publishers. Talk of less state interference and mounting interest from foreign markets is encouraging some publishers to brave the censors, fears of piracy, and the cultural [...]
PEOPLE ROUNDUP
Crown Publishing Group President and Publisher Jenny Frost announced the appointment of Diane Salvatore, who was most recently Editor-in-Chief of Ladies’ Home Journal, as VP, Publisher of Broadway Books, a new position following the realigning of Broadway and Doubleday within the Random House Group.
Margaret Milnes, VP, Licensed Publishing, Nickelodeon, has resigned after 10 [...]
PEOPLE
There are so many changes to report this month that we are highlighting only some of the moves and, where available, contact information. Rebecca (Becky) Saletan has been appointed Editorial Director of Riverhead, reporting to Publisher Geoff Kloske. She was most recently SVP and Publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Her appointment is effective March 2; [...]
PEOPLE
Doubleday has eliminated 16 positions across all of the group’s imprints, in the editorial, marketing, publicity, art, and ad promo departments. Those leaving include editor Jennifer Josephy; Janet Silver, Nan Talese, Editor at Large; and from Spiegel & Grau, senior editor Tina Pohlman, Director of Publicity Gretchen Koss, Director of Marketing Megan Walker, and Walker’s [...]