Crown will launch a new dedicated religion imprint, Convergent Books, in Fall 2013. Aiming to publish between 8 and 10 books annually, it will “explore the contemporary faith experience for a broad range of Christians who are drawn to an open, inclusive, and culturally engaged exploration of faith.” The line will be headed by publisher of Crown’s Christian imprints Stephen Cobb and run out out of Colorado Springs, CO. The first list includes titles by David Anderson, Philip Gulley, Elizabeth Esther, Holly Burkhalter and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
Former president of Penguin Canada Mike Bryan has been named executive director of Bloomsbury Information, reporting to Kathy Rooney, where he will be responsible for working on the division’s international product development and management services. Bryan stepped down as Penguin Canada president last July, though he was due to remain as vice chairman through the end of the year before returning to the UK. Bloomsbury ceo Nigel Newton said in the announcement: “We are delighted to welcome Mike to the Bloomsbury executive team. He has a wealth of experience to bring to the company from his extensive international publishing career and my fellow directors and I look forward to working with him in the years to come.”
HarperCollins declined to indicate how many jobs would be eliminated as a result of plans to close their warehouses in Scranton, PA and Nashville, TN. But Teamsters Local 229 officials tell The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre that 192 jobs will go away by September 2013 as a result. The Chamber of Commerce indicates approximately 230 people are employed at the adjoining Harper customer service facility that will remain in operation.
Catherine Felgar will join HarperCollins as publishing operations director, where she will manage the William Morrow and Ecco lists in both digital and print format, and oversee the group’s team of production editors. Previously she was production director at Cambridge University Press.
Laura Gianino has joined Bloomsbury as an associate publicist. She was publicity assistant to the associate and assistant directors at Gotham Books and Avery.
Judy Brunsek will join Owlkids Books on December 3 as director of sales and marketing. She spent the past several years as a consultant to publishers and cultural organizations, and before then worked for Kids Can Press and Counsel Press.
Business process outsourcing company SPi Global’s subsidiary Laserwords has acquired Tighe Publishing Services, an educational development house focused on the the K-12 market. They say it “positions Laserwords to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunities in the educational publishing business in the US.”