A Merry Christmas for Book Publishing

Random House: Irwyn Applebaum and Steve Rubin are out. (I wonder if Applebaum's brother, Random spokesman Stuart Applebaum, had to put together the announcement?) There are reports of a companywide meeting going on today, where many expect word of larger cuts.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: VP/Publisher Becky Saletan resigns after the "freeze" foofaraw.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt II: Electric Boogaloo: Beloved editor Ann Patty and "a lot" of other HMH folks are fired.

Nelson: CEO Michael Hyatt lets the world know he's just laid off 54 people via Twitter.

Simon & Schuster: S&S Childrens' President Rick Richter is "leaving the company."

Have I missed anything? Harper and Penguin haven't started the bloodletting yet, have they? How about Macmillan?

Update:

S&S II: The Embiggening: 35 job cuts (on top of Richter).

Note that the RH restructuring, HMH cuts, and the S&S cuts all happened today. Anybody else have an all-hands meeting called suddenly?

Update II (4 December, AM):
A New York Times story datelined yesterday adds the following bits of news:

Penguin: there's a salary freeze in place. (More details in a story from The Bookseller -- not that Penguin wasn't famous for low pay to begin with.)

HarperCollins: delay on raises

Random House: no layoffs yet, though they're clearly coming

Macmillan: mentions John Sargent's remarks last month in a company wide meeting that layoffs may be coming

Random House again: a minor point, but it's been reported a couple of places (such as this Observer article) that Carol Schneider has been the public face of the Random restructuring because corporate spokesman Stuart Applebaum "is excising himself [from being the media contact on this issue] because the dissolution of the Bantam Dell division involves the departure of his brother and longtime colleague Irwyn."

Wizards of the Coast: an unspecified number of layoffs, including at least one VP

Devil's Due (a smaller comics publisher) has also laid off two people.

And PW's "The Beat" reports that Tokyopop has laid off seven employees in LA, including one editor.

On the bright side, remember that Hachette (buoyed by Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and distribution of The Shack) is giving all of its employees an extra bonus this year and that Wiley is taking over Meredith's drooping (but still filled with well-known, powerful brands) book publishing program.

Any wonder, though, that the business is already calling yesterday "Black Wednesday?"

Update III (noon on Dec. 4):
With additional links, mostly from today's Publishers Lunch.

HarperCollins: all raises deferred until after July 1, 2009, and they're leaving open the question of layoffs.

(Though note that story, from Bloomberg, says that Random is going from five divisions to three -- which is true only if you ignore Random House Books for Young Readers. I believe the smaller "groups" -- like Audio Publishing and Information -- actually report in to one or another of the new "big three," but don't place money on it.)

Publishers Lunch also reported that Bowker has eliminated thirteen jobs in the US, mostly because those jobs have moved to the Netherlands.

I'm only keeping track of book publishing here; there are also big newspaper cuts and at least some magazine jobs being lost as well.

Update IV:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: large layoffs in the Orlando office -- rumor is on the order of 200. Possibly other layoffs in other HMH locations, too. PW reports that eight people were laid off from the trade division in NYC; the larger layoffs are part of a bloodbath restructuring of the heavily indebted company's large K-12 operation.

Update V:
Just learned, via this post from Keith R.A. DeCandido, that one of the folks laid off from S&S was editor Marco Palmieri. All best wishes for a short, successful job search to him and the rest of the people suddenly office-less this week.