Feiwel Leaving Scholastic
Jean Feiwel will step down as a Scholastic senior v-p and publisher of the trade division at the end of the month. Feiwel, one of the most well-known people in children's publishing, has been with Scholastic for 22 years and played a major role in expanding the company's publishing program. Among the projects she helped launch were the Baby-Sitters Club, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants and Dear America. No word yet on a replacement.
RLPG Pulls Out of Google Print
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has pulled its titles from the Google Print program to protest the scanning of copyrighted materials in the Google Library program. RLPG president Jed Lyons called Google Library's scanning policy a "flagrant violation" of copyright laws, and he has told Google the house wants the books that have been scanned as part of Google Print removed from its database and the books returned.
Harlequin Buys BET
BET has sold its publishing wing, BET Books (which published African-American titles under the Arabesque, New Spirit and Sepia imprints), to Harlequin. Under the deal, Harlequin will take over distribution from Kensington by December, when the sale is finalized. Making its own moves in the African-American market, Kensington has agreed to distribute titles from Genesis Press's new mass market program. Kensington will also distribute for the new imprint from Urban Books, Urban Soul.
Andrews McMeel Buys Accord
In the biggest purchase in its history, Andrew McMeel Publishing has acquired Accord Publishing for an undisclosed price. Based in Denver, Accord is best known for its calendar operations and also has a small children's publishing line. Accord will become a division of AMP; company founders Ken and Heather Fleck will continue to run the business from Denver. All of Accord's distribution and fulfillment will move to S&S by the end of the year.
Buck-a-Book To Close
Buck-a-Book, the New England bookstore/gift store chain that at one point had 30 locations, will close its remaining seven outlets by the end of this month. Founder and president Bruce Moyers said an "overwhelmingly bad" summer was the final blow to the chain, which has struggled with cash flow since 2001. "The competition and retail pressure are overwhelming," said Moyers. "It's not just Borders and Barnes & Noble—it's Wal-Mart and Target, and online competition just gets stronger. There's no bottom to the price online."
Kepler's Reopens
Kepler's Books and Magazines reopened October 8, five weeks after the Menlo Park, Calif., institution closed its doors. A new lease and community investment of about $500,000 helped owner Clark Kepler get back in business.
New Meredith N.Y. Office
Meredith Books editorial director Linda Cunningham is relocating from Meredith's Des Moines, Iowa, headquarters to New York City, where she will set up an editorial office. Cunningham, who had been shuttling between New York and Iowa, will acquire titles in diet, health, fitness and self-help.
New Imprint Dubbed Springboard
The Time Warner Book Group has named its new baby-boomer imprint Springboard Press. To launch next fall, Springboard's debut list will include Bobbi Brown Living Beauty; Training for Life: Walk Your Way to Fitness ad Weight Loss in 14 Days; Leap Days: Chronicles of a Mid-Life Move; Sex Lives of Wives: The Quest for the Missing Passion; Mind over Body; and Rightsizing: A Liberating Guide to Paring Down While Keeping the Things That Matter Most.
Del Rey Adds Mature Manga
Del Rey Manga has acquired four new teen series through its partnership with Kodansha, and also has plans for a mature readers' line of titles that will launch in the summer of 2006. Colleen Lindsay, publicity director at Del Rey Manga, said the manga for mature readers will be shrinkwrapped; have a slightly larger trim size than other Del Rey manga; and will cost a bit more, $12.95. The four new teen series will also begin next summer.
New 'PW' Comic Strip
It's been a while since PWran cartoons, but in two weeks, look for "Storyville," a new comic strip by Greg Cook that takes a wry look at the role of books in the lives of the people in a small town.
