Harcourt Sale Okayed
The Justice Department has given its approval to the sale of Reed Elsevier’s Harcourt U.S. education business to HM Riverdeep, the corporate parent of Houghton Mifflin. The move clears the way for the $4-billion deal, which includes Harcourt’s elementary and trade operations, to be completed within a few weeks.
Egmont Names Law Publisher
The Egmont Group has appointed Elizabeth Law v-p and publisher of its new American children’s publishing subsidiary, Egmont USA. Law, who officially starts January 2, most recently served as v-p and associate publisher of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Law’s first priority is to find an editor with a background in middle-grade fiction and YA.
Egmont also announced that it has signed with Random House to handle its U.S. distribution. Its first list is scheduled for fall 2009.
Former West Head Buys Phoenix
Dwight Opperman, who turned West Publishing into a legal publishing powerhouse before selling it to Thomson Corp., has acquired all the publishing assets of Phoenix New Millennium, the book and audio publisher founded by Michael Viner. Viner will remain president and Julie Chrystyn has been named Phoenix executive v-p; she is an author and executive director of the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation. Viner said that with the backing of Opperman, he is planning for “targeted, dramatic” expansion.
Ditlow Leaving RH Audio
Tim Ditlow, who was appointed v-p, publisher-at-large for the Random House Audio Group in May, will leave the company January 1, at which point he will serve as an adviser. Ditlow was the longtime publisher of children’s audiobook company Listening Library, which has been an imprint of Random Audio since its purchase by RH in 1999.
Adobe, Yahoo in Ad Test
Adobe has teamed up with Yahoo to beta test a new program that will insert ads in PDF-based content. Called Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo, the aim of the project is to give publishers a new option to make money from digital content contained in PDF files. Publishers that have committed to the test include Pearson Education, Reed Elsevier and Meredith.
Wiley Adds Investment Imprint
John Wiley and Sons is launching a new imprint, Fisher Investments Press, which will draw on the expertise of the independent money management firm Fisher Investments and its founder and CEO, Ken Fisher. The first Fisher Investments Press title is slated for publication in fall 2008. The imprint will publish six to eight titles per year.
Corrections:
In the article on Langenscheidt’s distribution deal with German publisher Ullmann (Foreword, Nov. 19), Ullmann will translate the text into English, not Langenscheidt.
In the story “Alloy Makes a Go of It In Hollywood” (Nov. 19), the teen series Poseur was incorrectly cited as an Alloy project. The book was sold to Little, Brown editor Cindy Eagan by Trident Media agent Melissa Flashman.
