At S&S Children’s, Hannah Buchsbaum has joined Little Simon as associate editor. Previously she was at Disney Press.
Michael Rediker is joining Books-a-Million as corporate development analyst, responsible for identifying, analyzing and implementing strategic corporate initiatives within the organization, including new business growth opportunities. He will report to evp James Turner. He was most recently with the investment banking firm Paces Battle Group.
Author Maeve Binchy, 72, died after what was reported as a short illness. Ireland’s RTE says she sold over 40 million books in 42 languages. Ireland’s president Michael Higgins called her “an outstanding novelist, short story writer and columnist” and said “she was a great storyteller and we enjoyed her capacity to engage, entertain and surprise us.” Her last novel, Minding Frankie, was published in 2010.
Barnes & Noble‘s newest “Recommends” choice is ML Stedman’s debut novel THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS. It’s also featured, you may remember, in our BEA BUZZ BOOKS. This free ebook sampler, packed with lengthy excerpts from over 30 big fall books, is still available direct from us and NetGalley or via your ereading platform of choice (the consumer edition is called BUZZ BOOKS 2012). Most of the included titles release between September and January, so you can still get exclusive pre-publication access to lots of attention-getting books.
Release
Scholastic is launching the Harry Potter Reading Club, a new online destination for readers of the seven-book series, with a virtual webcast with JK Rowling on October 11 at 12:00 noon ET. The webcast will be broadcast from Rowling’s Edinburgh hometown and is the first time she has answered questions from kids live since 2007. The Reading Club website includes comprehensive guides to all seven Harry Potter titles, a series overview, a glossary of terms and a pronunciation guide, and information on upcoming special events and contests and an ongoing live Twitter discussion at #hpREADS.
“Scholastic has been in conversation with educators, librarians, and other book lovers about ideas for bringing the Harry Potter books to new readers in exciting and different ways,” Scholastic Trade president Ellie Berger said in a statement. “The Harry Potter Reading Club is a direct response to that feedback and provides an entry point through which the thrill of these books can be shared with new generations of Harry Potter fans both within and beyond the classroom.”