“The single hardest thing to do in business is to make a deal, whether you’re buying or selling.” Former SouthComm, Inc. COO Blair Johnson knew the magnitude of the task before him when, in November 2017, the company’s equity backer Solidus ousted CEO Chris Ferrell and indicated its desire to exit the publishing business within eight months. “At that time, Solidus had decided they wanted to liquidate their position and get out of SouthComm,” Johnson tells Folio:. “[Managing partner] Vic Gatto and the board made a decision that we needed to do it, and do it quickly, and that Chris was probably not the right person to do it. He likes to buy and build, and it’s a different strategy when you have to liquidate.” And so Solidus handed the company reins to Johnson—who took over as CEO—and CFO Bob Mahoney, and the pair immediately began the process of selling off a company that comprised alt-weeklies serving five different cities, a robust b2b media business, and hundreds of employees, among other assets. In a b2b-media space characterized by frequent mergers and acquisitions, the circumstances may have felt a bit like déjà vu all over again for Johnson, who had arrived at SouthComm from Cygnus Business Media in 2015 after four years helping transition that company from bankruptcy to breakup. “We essentially had eight different entities that we had to find a new home for,” Johnson continues. “Clearly, the biggest of these was the b2b assets from legacy Cygnus.” The relative... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'
[ Folio Magazine | 2018-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible is giving away a short story by Philip Pullman to help London commuters deal with the Southern and TfL strikes. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facing outrage over a book of parodies of classic children's book covers, Abrams has agreed to a request from the author to stop publishing the title. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Johnny Igaz, music buyer at Green Apple Books in San Francisco and a local DJ, has been missing since a fire broke out at an electronic music show at an Oakland warehouse on December 2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Today only, if you bundle together Amazon's Fire Tablet and Tap, you'll save $80 on the two. The bundle includes the Fire Tablet with 7" Display, Wi-Fi, and 16 GB of storage, and Amazon Tap, the Alexa-Enabled Portable Bluetooth Speaker. With the Fire tablet from Amazon you can enjoy millions of... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2016-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A story collection smuggled out of North Korea - and translated by Man Booker International Prize-winner Deborah Smith - has been selected to receive a PEN Translation award from English PEN. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How bad sex writing and professional jealousy soured Nabokov and Wilson’s literary bromance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The public vote for the 2016 Costa Short Story Award is now open and three shortlisted stories, selected from over 1,000 entires, are now available to read and listen to from the Costa Book Awards website. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram has recruited seven colleges to use Instagram Stories as part of a new initiative to show the behind-the-scenes atmosphere on game days through the rest of the college football season. For the program, Instagram is also providing training and insights on Instagram Stories. The approach... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Jayne Ann Krentz decided to take her 19th century Amanda Quick mysteries into the 20th century, the look of the novels needed a thoroughly modern update. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why a new era of multimedia storytelling, fueled by smartphones and powerful digital tools, means change for libraries and publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To encourage parents and kids to read together, Apple has debuted a new app for tvOS. The iBooks StoryTime app features "Read-Aloud" tool that narrates books and flips pages automatically. For the times when you'd rather read to your child yourself,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2016-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HQ has snapped up rights to The Songaminute Man, an "inspirational" memoir of entertainer and "viral sensation", 80-year-old Ted McDermott, told by his son Simon. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld is to publish the "extraordinary" story of neuroscientist Dr Barbara Lipska’s own brain "going awry". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Juno Dawson and illustrator Alex T Smith have teamed up to create a YA novel, which will be published by Barrington Stoke in October next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Business Insider has become the latest large web publisher to challenge an influential arbiter of digital traffic. It is arguing that it has a monthly audience of 328 million people, more than triple the 100 million suggested by ComScore's domestic estimate of 51 million and Google Analytics'... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2016-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Waterstones branch in Exeter has been forced to close after a blaze that erupted in the area early this morning. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tool has signed Director and Photographer Danielle Levitt to the integrated production company's live-action roster. She has worked with Marc Jacobs, Reebok, Nike, Sprite and Old Spice. She has also photographed celebrity portraits for Jenna Lyons, Rick Owens and the cast of Broadway's... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Daunt Books Publishing has acquired Elliot Ackerman’s "timely" new novel Dark at the Crossing – a "gripping" contemporary love story set on the Turkish/Syrian border. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacob Dalborg, CEO of Bonnier, was the featured speaker during the CEO panel where he talked about the plans the Swedish publisher has for the future. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beren and Lúthien, a story of the perilous romance between a man and an elf, is one of a number of texts by the author brought ‘together for the first time’JRR Tolkien’s legend of the mortal man Beren and the immortal elf Lúthien – a story that meant so much to the Lord of the Rings author that... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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