News about publishers and the crazy things they do.
The Quarto Group has named Richard Green as publisher for Marshall Editions, which features highly illustated books for adults and children. No, we must be honest, we don’t know what the difference between a regular illustrated book versus a highly illustrated book might be. The Quarto Group
You’d think after missing last week’s org chart updates, we’d be forced to spend the entire day typing frantically to catch up. Ha! Fooled you…the summer doldrums (aka vacations) have hit the publishing industry. That’s not to say you should worry — we do have a few changes for you. And so we begin on this hot August morning. Maureen O’Neal has left Ballantine due to the elimination of her position. No futher details were forthcoming (yes, it does make us curious). Ballantine Books
Plume, an imprint of Penguin Putnam, has issued a press release announcing that they are renaming the book Katie.com. The release is posted in PDF format (sigh, remind us to explain why that’s irritating some other time), so we’re going to excerpt a few of our favorite quotes, just because that’s what press releases are for. In an effort to avoid an association between the book originally titled Katie.com and the website Katie.com, Plume and the author decide to make this title change. This is good news (a little belated, but what the heck). However, the next quote scares us.
Yesterday, we spoke at length about the harm Norma Khouri has (apparently) done to the cause of raising awareness about honor killings. We say apparently because, much as we love gossip and intrigue, we really hate to believe someone could be this stupid. Even when the facts point in that direction. A few days ago, we discussed the sheer, well, stupidity (sometimes there is no other word) of Penguin’s releasing a book called katie.com without securing the rights to the domain first. They fact check and rights check the hell out of the use of brand names, but can’t be
PW Newsline reports that Kensington Books will be distributing titles for Genesis Press, a publisher of African American and multicultural (we really dislike that term) books. We’ve known a few Genesis authors in our day and think this expansion of national and international distribution points to good times ahead. Genesis Press Kensington Books
Penguin is moving into the manga market, acquiring the distribution rights to titles from Digital Manga. They will distribute adult and young adult titles. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the Americanization of manga doesn’t change what makes it so cool. PW Newsline says: Flood said Penguin has been “watching with awe” as manga sales exploded and decided to make a go of it. We didn’t hear a whisper about manga at the RWAconference. How odd. We’ll listen to the publisher spotlights when our CDs arrive, but looking back and looking at other industry news, we find it interesting.
Chris Ryall has moved into the editor-in-chief seat recently vacated by Jeff Marriotte at IDW Publishing. We are not usually picky, but we do question IDW’s statement that they’re committed to independent publishing. Oh sure, it looks good on the surfact, but we do wonder if unleasing books based on television series such as 24 and CSI sends a strong “down with the man” message. IDW Publishing
It strikes us that we had more updates than we thought. Isn’t that always the case? Marian Lizzi, formerly of St. Martin’s Press, has joined Perigree Books as senior editor. Perigree (part of the Penguin Putnam family)
Johanna Vondeling will be joining Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. as an editor this fall. Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
Just a week after Roger Freet was named senior editor of Harper SanFrancisco, we learn that John Loudon has left his executive editor position (no, really, if you’re doing your org charts in ink, we can’t feel sorry for you). He’ll be consulting, including for his former employer. Harper SanFrancisco And The Moves Keep on Coming
