Buck Out, Anastas In as Publisher of Aladdin, Simon Pulse
Mara Anastas has been named publisher of Aladdin Books and Simon Pulse. Since 2008, she has been deputy publisher of the Aladdin Books, Simon Pulse, Little Simon, and Simon Spotlight imprints of the Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. Anastas is succeeding Bethany Buck, who is leaving the company after 11 years with S&S.
Liberty Media Cuts its B&N Holdings
Liberty Media Corp. has sold most of its stake in Barnes & Noble to what the company called “qualified institutional buyers.” Liberty invested about $204 million in B&N in August 2011 to acquire preferred shares, after it explored the possibility of acquiring the company. Upon completion of the stock sale, Liberty’s stake in B&N will be about 2%.
Kobo Names Tamblyn President
Michael Tamblyn, chief content officer at Kobo and a member of the Kobo founding executive team, has been named president of the e-book retailer. Tamblyn, who will retain his duties as chief content officer, will report to newly appointed Kobo CEO Taka Aiki.
Creamer Joins Hachette Books
Stacy Creamer has been named v-p and executive editor of Hachette Books, a newly announced imprint at Hachette, built off of the Hyperion backlist. Creamer was previously the publisher of Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. The new imprint, Hachette said, will focus on the areas of narrative nonfiction, business, pop culture, science, health and wellness, humor, and, to a smaller extent, fiction.
Turner Publishing Buys Hunter House Assets
Turner Publishing has acquired the assets of Hunter House Publishers. The deal involves over 225 titles, including 10 books that have not yet been released. Turner will maintain the Hunter House name as an imprint. Founded by Kiran Rana, Hunter House specializes in a variety of self-help categories.
Readmill to Close
Readmill, a Germany-based company that has a social reading app of the same name, is shutting down July 1. In a letter posted to its users, Readmill said it was unable to create a “sustainable platform for reading,” despite its belief that the reading experience was “meant to be shared.”
