Colin Fox will join Hyperion as executive editor next week, focusing on investigative journalism, politics, sports, pop culture, business, adventure, humor and general narrative nonfiction. He has been a senior editor at Simon & Schuster.
Juliet Grames will join Soho Press as an editor on May 3. Most recently she was an editor at The Overlook Press.
Random House announced three corporate appointments today. To fill Nina von Moltke’s old position they have promoted Ranjana Wingender to director, corporate development, continuing to report to ceo Markus Dohle. (She has been director, corporate projects.) Moving up in the same department is Thomas Lueke, now manager, corporate development.
The company is also creating the new position of vp, mergers and acquisition for Milena Alberta, who will report to cfo Anne Davis. Dohle writes that “recessionary times present promising external portfolio-growth and new-business opportunities” and Alberta will “analyze and to act upon such potential ventures.” Originally director of corporate development, Alberta has been director, Spanish language publishing, Vintage Espanol since 2004.
Danielle Steel‘s former assistant Kristy Watts was sentenced to almost three years after pleading guilty to embezzling over $760,000 from the author. (Watts earned a part-time salary fo $200,000.)
AP
Nominees were announced for the UK’s Bookseller Industry Awards–a new combination of the “trade Nibbies” and the Bookseller’s retail awards.
Will book publishing finally get the comic portrayal it deserves? Production of a CBS pilot is moving ahead for agent Betsy Lerner’s sister Gail Lerner’s sit-com “Open Books.” Lerner, who has been co-executive producer on Ugly Betty, said last fall that “publishing is a lot like sitcoms. Although both are supposedly dying, that only makes people more passionate about creating the next great novel or show.”
Tony winner Laura Benanti has been cast as the lead, a book editor at a small New York publishing house, and Aisha Tyler has just joined the cast as her best friend. Scott Foley will have a standing guest star role as “a charismatic free-spirited writer who once had a fling” with Benanti’s character.
Deadline Hollywood