Osnos to Step Down
A little more than eight years after he founded Public Affairs, Peter Osnos announced last week that he will step aside as publisher to become editor-at-large as well as to work on a wide range of projects in publishing and journalism. Osnos will remain publisher until a successor is named, a process, said David Steinberger, president of PA parent company Perseus Books, that "won't drag on."
June New DK CEO
Gary June, who has held executive spots at Pearson Education, is moving to Dorling Kindersley July 18 as CEO. He will oversee all aspects of the DK operation and will divide his time between New York and London. One of his first decisions will be how to replace Bill Barry, who recently resigned as CEO of DK's U.S. division to move to Doubleday Religion. June will report to Penguin chair John Makinson.
Bartlett to RH; Ziccardi Rises
Random House continues to bring on new editors, hiring Oxford University Press's Tim Bartlett as senior editor and Kate Hamill, who works with him, as assistant editor. Bartlett will focus on politics, history and current affairs, and will report to Dan Menaker. He starts at the end of August.
Anthony Ziccardi, senior v-p and director of sales and marketing at Random, has been given the additional title of publishing director for Del Rey as well as for mass market paperbacks. In the new post, Ziccardi will help direct strategic planning for the group's mass market program and its Del Rey line. Del Rey editor-in-chief Betsy Mitchell, who had reported to Ballantine editor-in-chief Nancy Miller, will now report to Ziccardi.
Alibris Offers $5 for Harry
In what it said is an experiment to gauge interest in a buyback program for trade books, Alibris has posted a notice on its Web site offering to buy used copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for $5. The company will also pay shipping costs. The offer runs through September 15. The Authors Guild called the move "an unsettling precedent" that could hurt sales of new books in the first 60 to 90 days after their release, a period the Guild considers critical to the success of a title.
AAP, Google Meet
Members of the AAP board met with Google CEO Eric Schmidt earlier this month to discuss publishers' concerns about copyright issues surrounding Google's Print for Library project. AAP declined to discuss specifics of the meeting, noting only that it helped clarify the interests of the two parties. More meetings are said to be in the works, though no dates were set at press time.
Garbus Opens China Practice
Publishing lawyer Martin Garbus is teaming up with a prominent Chinese law firm to open offices in five Chinese cities. Garbus plans to represent American media companies and authors that are expanding into China and need legal protection for their intellectual property. He'll be associated with Jun He Law and will have offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Hanson to S&S Canada
Simon & Schuster has named Kevin Hanson president of its Canadian division, replacing Deb Woods, who resigned earlier this year. Hanson had been at Harper Canada, where he was v-p of sales and marketing.
U.K. Kids' Awards
The two most prestigous children's book awards in the U.K. were announced last week. Frank Cotrell Boyce won the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions (Macmillan), published in the U.S. by HarperCollins; and the 2004 Kate Greenaway Medal was won by Chris Riddell for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver (Walker), published by Candlewick in the U.S.
