Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has temporarily suspended acquisitions of new manuscripts, according to a report in The New York Times.
The company, which was formed by Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep’s $4 billion takeover of Harcourt in July 2007, has undergone staff layoffs and other turbulence during its consolidation period. But just a month ago, the company held a party in its downtown Manhattan offices to celebrate the completion of the union.
Josef Blumenfeld, vice president of communications, said the company had temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts.
“There is a freeze-lite,” he said. “There is a way in so it is not a hard freeze but for right now, there is a temporary — call it a freeze if you want.”
Blumenfeld goes on to explain that new manuscripts will be subjected to “a higher degree of scrutiny and consideration” than they would have been previously.
Blumfeld is an idiot. A higher degree of “scrutiny and consideration” should have been employed in vetting this guy for the communications job. just another mouthpiece for a management lacking in ability. Oh yeah we’re going to do it better this time cause we’re shrewder than the last bunch.