Conferentially Speaking

Laura Hazard Owen | July 2010

The 3 million iPads sold as of June were a major topic of discussion at two conferences this month: The Big Money’s Untethered 2010: Profitable Media in the Tablet Era, and the Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference. Untethered was aimed more directly at book publishers, and its “Future of Book Publishing” panel included publishing head [...]

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Book View, February 2010

February 2010

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 [...]

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Bookview, August 2009

August 2009

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’ [...]

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Distribution 2009

Laura Hazard Owen | June 2009

Though nobody’s immune to the bad economy, distributors haven’t taken as much of a hit as other groups in publishing this year. “It’s easier in this economy to be working with a large distribution group,” says Eugenia Pakalik, Director of Sales and Marketing Distribution Services at Norton. The ideal IPM client, says Jane Graf, Director [...]

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What’s New at BEA 2009

Laura Hazard Owen | May 2009

Last fall, BookExpo America formed its first-ever Conference Advisory Board and decided to increase the show’s focus on content and programming. “In the past, we had too many sessions that were all over the map and that were trying to be all things to all people,” says Courtney Muller, Group Vice President of BEA. In [...]

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Here Come the E-Readers

Laura Hazard Owen | November 2008

They’re not yet ubiquitous on the subway. And the “paperless office” is still a dream at this point. Our second annual industry survey of industry professionals found that 70% of respondents had never read an e-book. It’s unlikely that entry-level employees will receive shiny new Sony Readers with their company handbooks any time soon. Still, [...]

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Bookview, October 2007

October 2007

PEOPLE The big news this month was the long-anticipated promotion of Carolyn Reidy to the position of President & CEO of S&S, following Jack Romanos‘ retirement announcement. Following that move, Michael Selleck has been promoted to the newly created position of EVP, Sales and Marketing for S&S Inc.. He was SVP Sales & Marketing for [...]

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The effects of one independent bookstore closing are felt throughout the delicate ecosystem of publishing, and independent reps are bellwethers for what’s in store for the rest of the industry. When Publishing Trends checked in with commission reps three years ago (see PT Nov 04), the prevailing mood could be called reservedly optimistic. Since then, [...]

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PEOPLE In a reorganization of the books group, Linda Cunningham, Editorial Director at Meredith has been laid off along with 15 other people. She can be reached at 215.752.2664, or at lindacunningham1@hotmail.com. HarperCollins has hired Steve Ross as President and Publisher, Collins, reporting to Brian Murray. He had been Publisher of Crown. George Bick, SVP [...]

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The distribution terrain underwent a few sizeable rumbles last year, not to mention the major quake of the AMS bankruptcy that sent PGW flying to Perseus after a tussle with NBN, resulting in Perseus’ coopting of the indie publisher distribution biz. As the dust settles, smaller distributors are poised to grab the trickle down of [...]

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