Penguin USA names new Senior Director of Online Consumer Sales and Marketing

Penguin Group USA has named Jeff Gomez to the position of senior director of online consumer sales and marketing. Gomez, currently director of Internet marketing for Holtzbrinck Publishers, starts October 29 and will report directly to Penguin CEO David Shanks. In his new role, Gomez will oversee the future development of Penguin’s Web site and look for ways to build new platforms for bringing authors, their books and readers together online.

Penguin was the first major publisher to sell directly to consumers through its Web site, and the company said it plans to enhance the site to attract more readers. Upgrades are planned for several existing features, including podcasts of author interviews and author video clips. "Penguin Group USA pioneered selling directly to consumers through our Web site and Jeff will take us forward as we navigate this ever-changing marketplace," said Penguin president Susan Petersen Kennedy. Article

Holtzbrinck launches podcasting business model

Holtzbrinck has launched an online network of downloadable audio snippets dubbed Quick and Dirty Tips. The move marks the first attempt by a publisher to establish a money making podcast business. Quickanddirtytips.com, which will generate revenue through online ads and content licensing agreements, grew out of the publisher’s standing relationship with Mignon Fogarty, podcaster-turned-Holt author. Known to her listening public as Grammar Girl, Fogarty signed with the house last winter, after publisher John Sterling heard about the former technical writer’s growing fan base. (Fogarty’s forthcoming book, The Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing, an extension of her show on the science of correct writing, is slated for April 2008 from Holt.) Article