At Workman, Laura Marciniak has been promoted to digital production associate for the Workman. Erin Kibby has been promoted to marketing coordinator. Margaret Kelly has joined Sourcebooks as customer service manager. Bonnier Books UK group commercial director Julian Shaw is leaving to pursue other opportunities. He has been with the company since 2014. Carlo Carabba will join Harper Italia as executive editor, Italian fiction starting November 19 and reporting to editorial director Sabrina Annoni. He was most recently editor-in-chief of the Italian fiction department at Mondadori. Pearson has hired Deirdre Latour as chief corporate affairs officer, reporting to ceo John Fallon, starting January 1. She […]
Archives for October 2018
Quad/Graphics Buys LSC in Major Consolidation of Printing
The two largest North American printers are becoming one: Wisconsin-based Quad/Graphics will buy its primary competitor, print services provider LSC Communications (the print spin-off from RR Donnelley). The all-stock deal is valued by the company at about $1.4 billion (perhaps expressing the enterprise value, since the value of the stock exchange looks to be more like $380 million). LSC shareholders will receive 0.625 shares of Quad Class A common stock for each LSC share they own, paying what’s deemed a premium of 34 percent. The acquisition, not expected to close until mid-2019 and pending shareholder and regulatory approval, would nearly […]
WH Smith Comes to the US with InMotion Acquisition; Penguin Random Takes Majority Stake at Companhia das Letras
UK retailer WH Smith is buying Jacksonville, FL-based travel electronics retailer InMotion for $198 million. InMotion sells electronics including headphones, earbuds, mobile power and portable speakers at 43 US airports, further expanding WH Smith’s growing travel division. Perhaps more significantly, WH Smith says the acquisition will “support the launch and growth of WH Smith’s airport format in North America,” signaling their intention to become a bigger player here. InMotion will operate as a subsidiary of WH Smith. They are forecasting 2017 sales of $166 million, and the deal is expected to close by year end. Separately, ss Penguin Random House […]
Barnes & Noble Says Parneros “Made Shocking and Derogatory Comments” That Wrecked Company Sale
Barnes & Noble filed its response to former ceo Demos Parneros’s suit alleging breach of contract and defamation on Tuesday, denying Parneros’s allegations and countersuing “to recover…the substantial damages flowing from Parneros’s breach of his fiduciary duties,” claiming that he intentionally “sabotage[d]” a deal to sell the company. In the filing B&N admits there was a sale in progress, as Parneros asserted in his suit, but they also say his statements about that deal comprise “a breach of [his] confidentiality obligations.” By the company’s account, the potential acquirer first approached chairman Len Riggio in late January with interest and made […]
Call for Season Preview Listings
As always, our forthcoming Buzz Books 2019: Spring/Summer and Buzz Books 2019: Young Adult Spring/Summer samplers each will include extensive seasonal preview/overview listings of notable titles on the way. We compile these big roundups by looking at publisher catalogs, our own comprehensive monthly lists of significant forthcoming books; hints from our substantial flow of deal reports; aggregation of “anticipated books” lists from other publications; word-of-mouth within the industry; and more. If you have notable spring/summer titles you would like to have considered for the preview list — particularly ones you are concerned we might have missed from the regular signals, […]
People, Etc.
Claudia Gabel has been promoted to editorial director at Harper Children’s. Amy Stapp is joining Wolfson Literary Agency as of November 1. She was previously an editor with Macmillan/Tor. Jason Kirk has been promoted to executive editor at Amazon’s 47North and Skyscape imprints. Maria Mann has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as publicity associate. She was previously at Page Street publishing. At Chronicle Books, Julia Marvel has joined as designer, children’s. Previously she was associate designer at Abrams Books. Patrick Rafanan has joined as marketing photographer and visual content coordinator. Previously he was an ecommerce photographer at Randa Accessories. Wendy Thorpe […]