Betsy Mitchell will work for Open Road as strategic advisor for sci-fi and fantasy, and will “spearhead” their acquisition and publishing of backlist sci-fi and fantasy titles. Mitchell retired from her position as editor-in-chief at Ballantine Bantam Dell’s Del Rey Spectra in December. She started her own editorial services company.
At Norton, Alane Mason has been promoted to vp, executive editor. She has been an editor for the company since 1999.
Barnaby Dawe, marketing communications director at News International, is moving over to corporate sibling Harper UK, in the new position of chief marketing officer. He will report to Victoria Barnsley, and join the publisher’s UK executive committee. Dawe currently oversees marketing of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
Tomorrow Syracuse University will announce a 15-month Janklow Arts Leadership program master’s degree program, under the direction of Mark Nerenhausen. Mort Janklow has “spearheaded” the initiative, and tells the NYT that arts leaders often “don’t have the tools with which to confront the growth of their organizations. We’ve got to be prepared to run these things in a more serious way.”
As part of Amazon’s continuing efforts to launch Kindle in Brazil, they have hired Mauro Widman as Kindle vendor manager. He was an engineer working on the e-book platform at Brazilian bookselling chain Livraria Cultura.
Susanne Woods will join Interweave Books as editorial director at the end of the month, overseeing the book group’s editorial and design teams and leading the strategic and creative vision for the book program. She was previously an editor at C&T Publishing, where she developed the Stash Books imprint for sewing enthusiasts. Bolton will report to svp, publisher John Bolton. In addition, Elisabeth Malzahn has been promoted to marketing and sales director.
Germany will join in the World Book Night giveaways on April 23, recruiting 33,333 people to help distribute free copies of 25 books. Their effort is a joint venture among the Association of German Publishers and Booksellers, 20 German publishers, and the Reading Foundation, run by former Random House Germany head Joerg Pfuhl. The German giveaways include translations of Nick Hornby’s About A Boy, Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, Robert Harris’s Ghost, Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise, and Jo Nesbo’s Snowman.
Bookmasters will distribute Spanish publisher Nowtilus‘s historical novels, popular history, personal development, and general interest titles in the US and Canada.
As expected, author Paula Deen has confirmed that she has Type 2 diabetes (first reported by others in April 2010) by launching a Diabetes In A New Light website as part of a sponsorship deal with Novo Nordisk, makers of the diabetes medication Victoza.