BTW News Briefs

Chicago Review Press Acquires Parenting Press

Chicago Review Press Inc., the parent company of Chicago Review Press (CRP) and national distributor Independent Publishers Group (IPG), has acquired Parenting Press, effective January 1, 2017.

Parenting Press, founded in 1979 by parent educator Elizabeth Crary, publishes practical parenting and children’s books. Parenting Press will become an imprint of Chicago Review Press and will publish all new CRP parenting titles.

Chicago Review Press Publisher Cynthia Sherry will oversee the acquisition; IPG will distribute all new and backlist Parenting Press titles under CRP.

Ingram Celebrates Opening of New NYC Office

Ingram Content Group hosted clients and friends on December 14 to celebrate the opening of the company’s new 9,800-square-foot office near Bryant Park in New York City.

Ingram acquired Perseus’ distribution businesses earlier this year, a move that provided Ingram with the opportunity and the flexibility to relocate to the heart of the publishing industry in NYC. Following the acquisition of Perseus, Ingram Publisher Services includes Perseus Distribution, Publishers Group West, Consortium, and Legato.

Sourcebooks Founder Dominique Raccah Named 2016 PW Person of the Year

Publishers Weekly has named Sourcebooks founder Dominique Raccah as its 2016 PW Person of the Year “in recognition of her determination, creativity, and energy in making Sourcebooks one of the country’s leading independent publishers.”

Raccah started Sourcebooks in 1987 as a means to self-publish her own business guide, Financial Sourcebooks Sources. Today, the company publishes about 500 books annually, has a staff of 129, and recently passed the one-hundred-million-units-sold mark.

This fall, Raccah was also named BISG Innovator of the Year, and Sourcebooks was selected as a Rising Star by Readerlink.

GalleyCat Ceases Publication

GalleyCat, the publishing news and book review blog of AdWeek.com, has announced it will be shutting down. The online publication, which has delivered industry news for the past 10 years, billed itself as “the first word on the book publishing industry.”

In a December 16 letter to readers posted on the site, Dianna Dilworth, GalleyCat’s founder and co-editor, and Maryann Yin, co-editor, thanked readers for their support over the past decade but gave no reason for the decision to close.

Bookigee to Shut Down

Bookigee, founded in 2011 by Kristen McLean as a consumer-based book discovery tool, will cease operations as of December 23.  

Soon after it launched, the Miami-based company shifted its focus to WriterCube, its book marketing database. In 2014, McLean, Bookigee’s CEO and founder, left the company to become Nielsen’s director of new business development.

Laura Donnini Named Managing Director, Publisher of HarperCollins Italia

HarperCollins has appointed Laura Donnini as managing director and publisher of HarperCollins Italia S.p.A., effective February 1, 2017. HarperCollins Italia was formed in September 2015 out of the existing operations of Harlequin Mondadori S.p.A.

Donnini will be responsible for the day-to-day management of operations, establishing strategic and publishing direction, and for driving business expansion in Italy. She replaces Paola Ronchi, who decided to leave the company after nine years with Harlequin/HarperCollins.
 
Donnini joined the book publishing industry in 2001 as managing director of Harlequin Mondadori, continuing within Mondadori Group as CEO of Piemme Edizioni, and then as managing director and publisher of Mondadori. In 2013, Donnini moved to Rizzoli Group as CEO of RCS Libri, where she was responsible for the company’s trade, education, and international businesses. Donnini is currently non-executive independent director at Amplifon, a hearing aid company, an independent director at the University of Venice, and board chair for media company News3.0.

New App Helps Vermonters Buy Local

The Local First Vermont app, a phone-based mobile application that helps Vermonters shop local, was launched last month by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR), the Williston Observer reported.

The app operates as a portable version of the VBSR’s Buy Local Resource Guide and Coupon Book, a 250-page print book distributed annually throughout the state, allowing mobile access to more than 230 coupons. The new app is free to download on mobile devices through the App Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android-based phone systems.

Users who download the app must pay $20 to activate its coupons, which are valued at more than $3,000 and valid through September 1, 2017. Since its release in September 2016, the buy local app has been downloaded 120 times.

The app can be downloaded from the VBSR website’s Local First Vermont page.

Nominations Open for National Small Business Week Awards

Nominations are now open for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 2017 National Small Business Week Awards.

The contest has 14 categories, including the Small Business Person of the Year Award, and nominations are due January 10. The winners will be announced during the national celebration of Small Business Week, which takes place from April 30 through May 6.

Those interested in nominating a local businessperson or community member for an award can download and complete an SBA Background Form 3300. For further details, check out the award guidelines on the SBA website.