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Todd promoted as Canongate restructures Jamie Byng is to move into a new position at Canongate, with Jenny Todd named publisher. Byng, currently publisher and m.d., will become chief executive, freeing him up to explore new opportunities.  Todd will now oversee the publishing teams, including editorial, rights, sales, marketing, publicity and design. In addition Kate Gibb, finance director, will become finance and operations director, encompassing finance, production, HR, systems and IT. Both will report to Byng.

Louise O'Neill wins inaugural YA Book Prize Louise O’Neill was yesterday (19th March) announced as the winner of the inaugural YA Book Prize. The Irish author was given the £2,000 award at a ceremony at Foyles’ flagship bookshop in Charing Cross, London, for her debut novel Only Ever Yours (Quercus), a dystopian, feminist satire on how society judges women for their appearance.

Reorganisation pays off for Quarto The Quarto Group has “started to deliver” after its reorganisation in 2013, c.e.o. Marcus Leaver said, as the company revealed profits grew in 2014. In 2013 the company rebranded Aurum Publishing Group as Quarto Publishing Group UK, while the Quayside Publishing Group became Quarto Publishing Group USA. It also merged Lifetime and Premier to form Books & Gifts direct.

Boyne pens new Second World War novel Penguin Random House Children’s will this autumn publish a new Second World War novel from John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Set for publication in September 2015, The Boy at the Top of the Mountain is about an orphan called Pierrot who is sent to the home of Adolf Hitler and taken under his wing. Publisher Annie Eaton and fiction editor Natalie Doherty acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights from Simon Trewin at WME Entertainment.

Sieghart reveals task force digital ambitions The Leadership for Libraries task force is backed by £250,000 funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will look for more funding from trusts and foundations, and hopes to appoint a "brilliant" chief executive in addition to chair Paul Blantern, William Sieghart has revealed.

Europe's universities call for end to 'double dipping' Europe's research universities have called on the academic publishing sector to stop double-dipping when charging researchers and their institutions for subscriptions and fees for processing contributed articles.

Harlequin signs two from HELLO!'s Nixon Harlequin UK has signed two books from HELLO! Editor Rosie Nixon. Commissioning editor Anna Baggaley bought UK and Commonwealth rights in two titles from Jenny Savill at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. The first novel, The Stylist, follows fashion newcomer Amber Green as she becomes an assistant to a legendary Hollywood stylist.

France, Germany, Italy and Poland call for e-book VAT to be reduced The French, German, Italian and Polish culture ministers today released a joint statement calling for the European Commission to propose immediately legislation to allow VAT on e-books to be levied at the same reduced rate as print books.

Amazon to begin testing drones in US Amazon will begin testing delivery drones after getting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US. The FAA yesterday (19th March) issued Amazon Logistics, Inc an “experimental airworthiness certificate” for an unmanned aircraft (UAS) design. Under the terms of the certificate all of Amazon’s test flights must be conducted at 400ft or below during daylight in “visual meteorological conditions”.

Pushkin Press c.o.o Seegmuller to leave Pushkin Press’ associate publisher and c.o.o. Stephanie Seegmuller is to leave the company after three years. Seegmuller, who joined Pushkin from Penguin in April 2012, said it was time to “find fresh challenges”. During her time at Pushkin, Seegmuller has been involved in the launch of new imprints Pushkin Children’s Books, ONE, and Pushkin Vertigo. Her acquisitions include the Oska Pollock children’s series.

Debut author organises own £200k marketing campaign A debut author has arranged a marketing and publicity campaign she estimates is worth £200,000 to support the release of her book, and which her agent said “must be unique for a first-time author”. Janet Kelly’s Dear Beneficiary, about an older woman who has a relationship with a Nigerian man and then gets scammed by an email she thinks has come from him, was released yesterday (19th March) by independent publisher Cutting Edge Press.

APS Conference debates industry challenges Retaining staff at an academic press is “difficult”, so the industry should be shouting more about the benefits of working for it, William Bowes, general counsel and company secretary of Cambridge University Press, told the Booksellers Association’s Academic, Professional & Scholarly (APS) Conference last week (11th–12th March).