News and opinion on the changing world of book publishing
December 2007
PEOPLE Deb Futter has moved to Grand Central Publishing as VP, Editor-in-Chief. She was VP, Deputy Editorial Director at Doubleday. Michelle Rapkin has joined Hachette’s Center Street imprint as Executive Editor, reporting to Rolf Zettersten. She had been VP, Director of Doubleday Religion before leaving there in 2005. Amy Pierpont has been named Editorial Director [...]
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September 2007
Shakespeare may have opined “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” but it is the steady slew of crime-fiction writers who hail from the region that should be credited with doing a bang-up job of keeping the sentiment alive and well. By far the most popular genre in Scandinavia, psychological thrillers and suspense-filled novels [...]
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May 2007
With ads appearing on everything from cup holders to subway risers to (ok, to use an extreme case) people’s skin, books remain one of the last of the ad-free sacred spaces. Other than the occasional unsuccessful attempt at inserts (1970′s cigarette ads) and product placement (Bulgari anyone?), publishing has never looked seriously at advertising as [...]
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April 2007
You could call them secret shoppers. Like the plainclothes informants who check out department stores for a lapse in customer service, publishers who slip on authors’ shoes return from their writing experience armed with anecdotes and tips that market research can’t devine. What many intelligencers see shocks them. Even thirty-year publishing veterans see their industry [...]
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December 2006
PEOPLE November has been a month of moves, the most talked about being Riverhead Co-Publishers Julie Grau and Cindy Spiegel move from Penguin to Doubleday and the subsequent promotion of Sean McDonald to Executive Editor. He was previously Senior Editor and Online Creative Director. HarperCollins announced Justin Loeber has been appointed SVP, Executive Director of [...]
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PEOPLE Will Kiester is returning to the US after 18-months in Australia at Murdoch Books, to become Publisher of Fairwinds Press, an imprint of Rockport Publications. Previously, He had been at Quarto. Kaylee Davis’ position at Bookspan’s Children’s BOMC/KBP was eliminated in a reorganization. The company has decided to focus the club in a more [...]
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October 2006
PEOPLE David Nudo has left The NYT where he was Managing Director of book advertising to become Publisher of Publishers Weekly assuming overall business and editorial responsibility for the magazine. Nudo had earlier worked at Library Journal. PW Editor-in-Chief Sara Nelson tells PT “I am thrilled to have someone of David’s talent and experience as [...]
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September 2006
Sylvia Plath, Puberty, & A Slowly Setting Midnight Sun Everyone knows translation is a losing business. Financial success is anomalous in a market where breaking even is a boon and selling 3,000 copies can be cause for celebration. “It costs around $25,000 to publish a book. For a work in translation that figure is closer [...]
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PEOPLE The Book Industry Study Group has a new Executive Director in the person of Michael Healy, Editorial Director of Nielsen Book Services. He will be the keynote speaker at BISG’s September 8 annual meeting and may be reached at michael@bisg.org. BISG’s previous Director, Jeff Abraham, left at the beginning of the year to become [...]
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April 2006
PEOPLE Brian Napack has been named President of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. In the newly created position, Napack will share general management responsibilities with CEO John Sargent over all of Holtzbrinck’s divisions, including both trade and educational operations. Steve Sorrentino, most recently an author (Luncheonette) has gone to B&N as Director, Author Promotions & Special [...]
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