Granta has hired Max Porter as a commissioning editor for the Granta and Portobello imprints. He is currently manager of Daunt Books’ Chelsea, London branch.
At Conville & Walsh, Jake Smith-Bosanquet has been made managing director.
There will be public memorial service to celebrate the life and spirit of Norris Church Mailer on April 22, at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, at 4:00. Among those scheduled to offer remarks at the service are Liz Smith, James Toback, Larry Schiller, Michael Mailer, John Buffalo Mailer, Sasha Lazard, Nancy Collins, Margo Howard, Dorris Goodwin, and Sondra Lee.
The Pottermore web site officially went out of beta and opened itself to public enrollment over the weekend. As the Guardian points out in the site’s FAQ, Rowling updates on one of her long-promised projects: “For a long time I have been promising an encyclopedia of Harry’s world, and I have started work on this now – some of it forms the new content in Pottermore. It is likely to be a time-consuming job, but when finished I shall donate all royalties to charity.”
Wiley will expand its business operations into Brazil on May 1 with Wiley Brasil Editora LTDA, located in Sao Paulo. Hegel Braga has been appointed market development director and country manager, coming from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment – Brazil, where he was marketing director. “We intend to build upon long-standing relationships with local organizations and pursue new strategic opportunities as we leverage Wiley’s global publishing expertise in Brazil,” said Wiley vp international development Philip Kisray in a statement. “Our objective is to develop ‘digital first’ content, services and learning resources specifically for the Brazilian market as well as to improve the availability of our content.”