Oxford University Press vp of corporate and business development (and thus digital dealmaker) Evan Schnittman is joining Bloomsbury in newly-created position of managing director, group sales and marketing, print and digital, starting August 2. He will lead Bloomsbury’s sales and marketing in the UK, US, and Germany across all divisions of the group, and will take a lead role in Bloomsbury’s digital efforts. Chief executive Nigel Newton, to whom Schnittman reports, underscores in the announcement, “The creation of the role of a worldwide head of sales and marketing and the appointment of a highly experienced American with considerable digital experience reflects our view of the future of the publishing market place.”
Harper Collins is working with NetGalley to deliver galleys, promotional materials and other digital content, starting today at ThrillerFest. And Simon & Schuster has launched a version of their web site that’s optimized for mobile devices (specifically iOS, Android and the Blackberry Onyx and Storm).
Laura Tisdel has been promoted to associate editor for Viking, Penguin and Plume. She started in publicity at the company and moved over to editorial in 2006.
At Harper Children’s, Farrin Jacobs has been promoted to editorial director, continuing to report to Elise Howard. She has been heading the teen fiction series team in the fiction publishing group. Erica Sussman has been promoted to senior editor, continuing to report to Tara Weikum.
In awards, Sierra Leone’s Olufemi Terry won the Caine Prize for African Writing for his story STICKFIGHTING DAYS.
In other distinctions, as usual, Amazon has posted their editors’ picks for the “best books of the year…so far.” The site includes breakouts in fiction, nonfiction and YA. Their overall top 10 comprises:
The Passage, by Justin Cronin
The Irresistible Henry House, by Lisa Grunwald
Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory, by Peter Hessler
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes
The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
Just Kids, by Patti Smit
The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall
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And Jude Law prevailed quickly in his legal efforts over ex-wife Sadie Frost’s forthcoming memoir. In a court settlement, Frost agreed to remove certain passages regarding their marriage and will not include pictures of their children in her book.