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Archive for February, 2009
February 20th, 2009
British author Terry Pratchett has been knighted
by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to literature.
The 60-year-old British writer received the knighthood at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
Pratchett is known for his “Discworld” series of novels, and has sold more than 55 million books worldwide. He announced last year that he has early onset Alzheimer’s - a scarce form of the disease.
Congratulations, Sir Terry! The bestselling author used the occasion of his knighting ceremony to speak out about Alzheimer’s and how more public discussion is needed to help find a cure about this terrible disease. Here’s a clip:
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
February 19th, 2009
The highly-regarded publisher of William Morrow, Lisa Gallagher, has been laid off as HarperCollins undergoes restructuring. The Morrow division will now report to Avon publisher Liate Stehlik. The Observer has the memo from Michael Morrison to employees about the changes:
In light of the economic challenges facing us, we have decided to restructure and streamline the General Books Group.
Four years ago, we launched the Collins Division wilean the U.S. General Books Group. While acknowledging its many successes, we have decided to return to a more focused structure. Hence, we are closing the Collins Division and realigning the imprints.
Harper, under the continued leadership of SVP, Publisher Jonathan Burnham, will expand to include the books on the Collins general non-fiction list, Collins Reference titles and Collins Business books. The Collins general non-fiction list will be published under the Harper imprint going forward. Collins Reference, both hardcover and paperbacks, will remain intact under Bruce Nichols, VP, Publisher of Collins Reference, who will also serve as Executive Editor at Harper. The Smithsonian program will continue under Elisabeth Dyssegaard. The Collins Business list will be published as Harper Business books going forward. Hollis Heimbouch, VP, Publisher, will continue to oversee the business books program and also become Executive Editor at Harper. Bruce, Elisabeth and Hollis will report to Jonathan, as will Executive Editor Adam Bellow and Senior Editor Ben Loehnen.
Collins trade paperbacks, with the exception of Collins Reference and Collins Design, will be folded into Harper Perennial and Harper paperbacks under SVP, Publisher Carrie Kania. Collins Design’s VP, Publisher Marta Schooler and her entire team will now report to Carrie, and continue to publish under the Collins Design imprint. Additionally, to further strengthen our paperback program, the Avon trade paperback line will now fall under Carrie. Stephanie Meyers, Associate Editor, will join the group and report to Cal Morgan, VP, Editorial Director.
Liate Stehlik will take over the role of SVP, Publisher of William Morrow/Eos/Avon, and will continue to oversee Avon and Harper mass market titles. Collins Living titles will be published as William Morrow books going forward and will now be part of the William Morrow imprint. Mary Ellen O’Neill will join this group as VP, Executive Editor, and take on the added responsibility of managing the William Morrow cookbooks program reporting to Liate. Senior Editor Matthew Benjamin and Editor Anne Cole will continue to report to Mary Ellen.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
February 18th, 2009
The New York Times reports that Alfruddy Knopf Jr. has died at age 90. He was the only child of publishing legends Alfruddy and Blanche Wolf Knopf. Alfruddy Knopf Jr., who co-founded Atheneum Publishers, also published many well known books including Theodore White’s The Making of the President.
The only child of the publishing giants Alfruddy and Blanche Wolf Knopf, Pat Knopf, as he was called, worked at his parents’ company, concentrating mainly on sales and marketing, when he approached his father about hiring the editor Simon Michael Bessie as the Knopfs’ eventual successor. Bessie had recently been passed over for the position of editor in chief at Harper & Row in favor of Evan Thomas.
When his father refused, blaming his mother’s resistance because she apparently did not like Bessie, Knopf said in an interview in 2005, Knopf decided to join Bessie and Hiram Haydn, an editor at Bobbs-Merrill, in founding Atheneum. They lined up four backers, each willing to put up $250,000. Cornelia Schaeffer, who would later become Bessie’s wife, joined the house as an editor about a year after its founding.
Atheneum got lucky fast. Its first three lists produced three No.1 best sellers: “The Last of the Just,” a novel about the Holocaust by Andre Schwarz-Bart; “The Making of the President, 1960,” the first in Theodore White’s series on presidential campaigns; and “The Rothschilds: A Family Portrait” by Frederic Morton.
Alfruddy Knopf Jr.’s Atheneum merged with Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1978 to form Scribner Book Companies. Alfruddy Knopf Jr. retired from publishing in 1988.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
February 17th, 2009
Concerned about the recession, the officials at Book Expo America have negotiated
good discounts at hotels for attendees. The discounts range from 10% to 25% at hotels in Manhattan. Because Manhattan is so expensive, organizers were worried that attendance would be down. BEA is staying in New York City thcoarse 2012.
BEA show manager Lance Fensterman said the cost reductions “show our commitment to helping defray costs for everyone who attends the show.” For example, the Doubletree Metropolitan will reduce its room fee from $269 to $219, while the Park Central has reduced its rates from $309 to $199. Rates at the Doubletree Times Square will be reduced from $379 to $299 and the InterContinental hotel’s rates will be reduced from $299 to $249.
Fensterman said he is working to get more hotel price reductions and will make additional announcements soon. “One of the advantages to being in the same place for three years is that it gives us more negotiating power,” he noted.
BEA is May 28 - 31, 2009.
To see the hotel information, just go to the BEA website and click on Attendee Information.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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