John Glusman will leave Crown to become the new editor-in-chief of Norton’s trade department in July, as Norton’s Star Lawrence “will set aside administrative duties at his own request to concentrate more fully on acquiring and editing books in the role of editor-at-large.”
Lawrence, 68, who has been at Norton since 1969, says in the announcement, “John’s far-ranging interests and expertise will be a terrific asset to the entire company. I hand him the managerial reins with the greatest confidence, happy to turn my full attention to what I do best, and what brought me into this business in the first place—finding outstanding writers and seeing their books to publication.” Norton says Lawrence will “continue to acquire and edit a full list in nonfiction and fiction,” with titles already in the works from Michael Lewis, Ian Toll, and former FBI special agent Ali Soufan.
Glusman, who was editor-in-chief at Farrar, Straus before stepping down and then moving to Harmony and Crown, where he is now an executive editor, in 2006, says, “I have long regarded Norton as a symbol of excellence, representing what is best about publishing—the opportunity to bring out books of exceptional quality not only for the present day but also for the years.” Crown publisher Molly Stern writes in an internal memo, “This is a terrific career opportunity for John, and a recognition of his talent, his hard work, and his success here on behalf of our authors and our publishing program these past five years. While, of course, we wish he were continuing with us, we certainly understand and respect his desire to take on a bigger editorial role elsewhere.”
The other big personnel-related news is that UK agent Neil Blair has left the Christopher Little Agency to set up The Blair Partnership, taking the world’s biggest client JK Rowling with him. Blair and Little are not commenting, but a spokesperson for Rowling confirms to the Bookseller that “JK Rowling has terminated her association with the Christopher Little Literary Agency.”
Also, audiobook publisher Dreamscape Media has hired Jeff Golick as publishing director, reporting to vp Brad Rose. Golick will be responsible for all of Dreamscape’s content acquisition activities and will be based in New York. He was vp at AudioGo (formerly BBC Audiobooks America) where he oversaw acquisitions.
Kate Napolitano has promoted to assistant editor at Plume.
Rakesh Satyal will be leaving his position at Harper this week to pursue other opportunities. He can be reached at rakesh.satyal@gmail.com.