Hachette Books taps editor as CEO

One of the country's top publishers has turned to a man from the editorial side to run its business. Michael Pietsch, the editor of Keith Richards' Life, David Foster Wallace's The Pale King and the many novels of James Patterson, has been named CEO of Hachette Book Group. Mr. Pietsch has headed the publisher's Little Brown and Co. division for 11 years. "I love working closely with writers, and I'm hopeful that I'll get to continue to work with them in other ways in helping them achieve whatever they want to achieve," Mr. Pietsch said Monday during a brief telephone interview. "I have always loved the business side of our business. I didn't think of myself as wanting to be a CEO, but I always wanted to learn more about the business and about bringing the right book into a reader's hands at the right moment." Mr. Pietsch succeeds David Young, who will step down March 31. The 61 year old is returning to Britain to be with his family and will become deputy chief executive of Hachette UK and CEO of the Orion Publishing Group division. Mr. Pietsch will continue to report to Mr. Young, whose reign was highlighted by the rise of Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight novels. "I have enjoyed enormously my time here and the company going from strength to strength, and I leave behind a brilliant team who work together so wonderfully, and will now be very ably led by Michael Pietsch," said Mr. Young, who has been CEO since 2006, in a statement. The 55-year-old Mr. Pietsch is known for... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'

[ Crains New York | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #pulitzer prize #casual vacancy #price fixing

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Yes, That Is a Cat on the Head of a Soon-to-Be Public Company CEO (And, Of Course, It's Groupon's Andrew Mason)

Do you think Zynga's Mark Pincus would put a cat on his head for a national magazine shoot? Or LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner? Or, perish the thought, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook? But the wacky stylings of Groupon CEO and Co-founder Andrew Mason seem to demand it. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Claudia Mody leaves Waterstone's for The Book People

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 06/07/2011 - 08:01 Waterstone’s children’s range buyer Claudia Mody is to join The Book People as a buyer for Red House it's children's consumer-facing book club. Mody will start on 1st August at The Book People. Seni Glaister, chief executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Acquire U.K. Online Book Seller and Publisher

Amazon.com has acquired The Book Depository International, a seven-year old online bookseller based in the UK, which also republishes titles that are no longer in print or poorly available. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OFT set to probe Book Depository deal

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 11:26 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to investigate Amazon’s acquisition of The Book Depository. The official body has issued an “invitation to comment” notice asking for written representations about “any... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Depository to "operate independently" of Amazon

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to acquire The Book Depository

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 12:29 Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository, the fast-growing online retailer founded by Andrew Crawford in 2004. Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European Retail, said: "Customers in more... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books launches prize in tribute to late founder

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:00 Walker Books has launched an award for new illustration to help mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the company's founder, Sebastian Walker. The Sebastian Walker Award will be run in collaboration with the MA course in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Lawrence Steps Down as Norton's Editor In Chief

The longtime editor said that the coming of ebooks played a role in his decision. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Spotify for books" service launches

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: The 'worrying' battle for books

Arts editor Will Gompertz's second report into the impact of technology on the publishing industry Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books will "blow apart" cover design

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Judging E-Readers by Their Book Readability

If you're heading to the beach this summer and you plan to read an ebook, you won't want to take your iPad. Luckily, the latest versions of the Nook and the Kindle offer glare-free screens and other reader-friendly functions. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: The Question 'Who Is Herman Cain?' Soon To Be A Book

The Republican candidate has sold his memoir to the conservative imprint of Simon @ Schuster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: Are traditional books doomed?

Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan: "The basic process of writing will stay quite stable, but the authors who will do particularly well are ones who think about how to build a digital audience." Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beyond 'Event' Book Marketing

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Using E-Books to Sell More Print Versions

The publisher Algonquin is offering digital books at a discount or free to customers who buy certain trade paperback or hardback books. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Healthy Planet opens Books For Free shops

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 08:34 A green charity offering books for free aims to open an outlet in every town in the UK, and has called on publishers to donate titles. The Booksellers Association has come out in support of the programme run by Healthy Planet,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salon CEO Richard Gingras Leaves, Set to Join Google

Richard Gingras, who acted as CEO of the Salon Media Group for the past two years, is leaving the company to join search giant Google as global head of news products. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salon CEO Gingras to Head Up News at Google

Richard Gingras, the chief executive of Salon Media Group, said on Wednesday he is leaving the online publisher to become global head of news products for Google Inc. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zinio Partners with Recorded Books for Digital Mags in Libraries

Zinio announced today its partnership with Recorded Books, making thousands of digital magazines accessible in public libraries throughout the US, Canada, Australia and UK. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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