Shank to Head Publishing Group
Ron Shank has been named v-p, group publisher of Reed Business's Publishing Group, which includes Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal and Críticas. Shank has been involved with LJ and SLJ for 19 years, most recently as publisher. David Nudo, PW publisher, will report to Shank.
In making the announcement, RBI head Tad Smith cited Shank's ability to expand LJ's franchise through new programs and in the online environment. “PW is a critical voice in the world of publishing and bookselling,” Shank said. “We will increase value to our market partners and stimulate PW's power to sell more books.”
Penguin Sales Up; Ends eMusic Deal
Sales at Penguin rose 2% for the first nine months of the year, and parent company Pearson reiterated that for the full year it expects the publisher to have improved operating margins.
Separately, Penguin pulled out of its deal with eMusic to sell its spoken-word audio titles through the online music retailer. Penguin cited concerns about piracy, since eMusic, unlike rival iTunes, sells its titles without the DRM software that prevents files from being copied.
Amazon Media Sales Soar
Sales in Amazon's North American media segment jumped 38% in the third quarter ended September 30, to $1.08 billion, while sales for the entire company rose 41%, to $3.26 billion. In the period, Amazon sold 2.5 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows worldwide, but because of deep discounting on the title, Amazon did not quite break even on the book.
Despite some uncertainty about consumer spending in the final quarter, Amazon estimated that total sales will rise between 28% and 37% in the period.
Linn Named Taunton Book Head
Don Linn, the former owner and CEO of the book distributor Consortium, has been named publisher of the book division of The Taunton Press. Linn succeeds Jim Childs, who left Taunton this spring.
RH Wins Blair
Knopf chairman and editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta, in tandem with Random House Publishing Group chairman Gail Rebuck, acquired world rights, including English-language, translation, audio and electronic, to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's memoir. The untitled memoir will be published simultaneously in the U.K. and the U.S., although no pub date has been set. The advance was reported to be $9 million.
Hachette to Use .epub
Hachette Book Group USA plans to release all of its e-book content in the International Digital Publishing Forum's new file format standard for e-books, .epub. The new standard is expected to cut costs and increase the number of e-books because it allows publishers to create a single digital book file.
