Coe Named President, CEO Of B&T

Baker & Taylor has appointed George Coe as CEO and president. He succeeds Arnie Wight, who retired Jan. 15. Coe has been in the distribution business for 34 years, and, since 2000, has been president of B&T’s library and education division. Prior to joining B&T, Coe was v-p and general manager of Brodart Books’ library automation and K–12 software management divisions.

Tart to Succeed Shinker at Gotham, Avery

Bill Shinker, who, during his 40-year career, founded Random House’s Broadway Books imprint and Penguin’s Gotham Books imprint, will step down as president and publisher of the Gotham Books and Avery Books imprints at the end of January. He will be succeeded in that post by Brian Tart, who will remain president and publisher of Dutton.

November Bookstore Sales Fell 4.2%

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that its preliminary results show total sales of $818 million at bookstores in November, down 4.2% compared to November 2012. The bureau also reported that bookstore sales hit $11.7 billion for the first 11 months of 2013, a year-over-year decline of 1.7%.

Salem Buys Eagle Publishing

Salem Communications Corp. has acquired the assets of Eagle Publishing, including Regnery Publishing, HumanEvents.com, and Redstate.com. The addition of Eagle “fits with our strategy of integrating traditional media and new media assets all serving the same target audience,” said Edward Atsinger III, CEO and president of Salem, which owns radio stations and Web sites aimed at a conservative audience.

S&S Expands Library E-book Program

After entering the library e-book market last April with a limited pilot, Simon & Schuster is expanding its program with a new pilot involving some 15 public libraries, via leading vendor OverDrive. The program operates under essentially the same terms as S&S’s initial pilot, which involved public libraries in New York City and used vendors 3M, BiblioCommons, and Baker & Taylor.

S&S Launching SF Imprint

Simon & Schuster is launching a new adult science fiction imprint called Simon451 that will focus on digital firsts and e-book originals. The first Simon451 titles will be released in October 2014; the imprint’s inaugural title will be the first in a new trilogy co-authored by actress Gillian Anderson.

Reader’s Digest Rebrands Children’s Division

Effective January 2, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing, which produces interactive books for kids, changed its name to Studio Fun International to “reflect its evolving product mix and business direction.” The change brings a new logo and revamped Web site.