Weisberg to Head Penguin Kids

Former Random House executive Don Weisberg has been named president of the Penguin Young Readers Group, replacing Doug Whiteman, who has been promoted to the newly created spot of executive v-p, business operations, Penguin Group USA. In addition, Barbara Marcus, former president of Scholastic’s children’s book publishing and distribution group, who has been consulting at Penguin, has been made a strategic adviser to the children’s group.

Whiteman, who took over the Young Readers group in 1997, will now have direct responsibility for such areas as emerging technology and production, while also working with Nigel Portwood on the same areas as part of Penguin’s global back-office initiative. Portwood was recently named executive v-p, global operations, for the entire Penguin Group.

Borders Trims Execs

Borders has eliminated eight positions at the v-p and director level. Although no further details were released, the cuts are believed to be in various departments, including buying, merchandising and finance.

Indiana Sues Online Publisher

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter is suing online vanity publisher Airleaf, formerly known as Bookman Marketing, for accepting payment from authors and not following through on its promises to provide book publishing, royalty reimbursement and promotional services. The suit is seeking restitution for more than 120 people who claim to have lost money due to fraudulent promises made by Airleaf.

Walden Gets HC Imprint

Film studio Walden Media is switching its publishing partner from Penguin to HarperCollins, in a move that gives Walden its own HarperCollins imprint. Walden Pond Press, to be overseen by Brenda Bowen, has three books signed for its debut list in fall 2009, with five or six books signed up for 2010. Titles will focus on fiction for young readers, and the first title is Academy Award—nominated screenwriter (for Dirty Pretty Things) Steven Knight’s The Will of Will Wolfkin.

RH Buys Watson-Guptill

Random House has acquired the craft, photography and reference publisher Watson-Guptill Publications from Nielsen Business Media. W-G, which has more than 1,000 titles, will become a standalone imprint within the Crown Publishing Group, overseen ultimately by president and publisher Jenny Frost. Most of W-G’s 30 employees are expected to join Random House; publisher Amy Rhodes will stay through June 30.

Hachette Snags Self-Help Winner

The FaithWords division of Hachette Book Group has entered into a copublishing partnership with Windblown Media for the bestseller The Shack by William P. Young. The long-term deal also will include future titles published by Windblown. Hachette will handle sales, marketing, distribution, licensing and manufacturing; Windblown will retain rights to The Shack and future books, and will have ts own imprint under FaithWords. A word-of-mouth phenomenon, The Shack has sold more than one million copies since its release one year ago.

First-Quarter Dip at Quebecor

First-quarter revenue at printing giant Quebecor World fell to $1.26 billion from $1.39 billion; the company had a net loss of $190 million, compared to a loss of $38.1 million in last year’s first period. Quebecor, which filed for bankruptcy in January, said its bottom line was hurt by reduced volume; customer losses in the book and catalogue segments in the U.S. in 2007; lower prices; a weaker worldwide economy; and the impact of the creditor protection process.

Ziga to Rodale

Katie Ziga is moving to Rodale as executive director and business manager for Rodale Books. Ziga, who has been at Random, will report to Howard Weill, Rodale’s senior v-p of finance and operations.

Correction

In last week’s story “Online Advertising 101,” the ad agency that provided the information is Warren Kremer Paino, not Walter Kremer Paino.