Simon & Schuster has reorganized its manufacturing and production department in a bid to “further integrate the design and creation of ebooks into the earliest stages of our overall production process, as well as forge closer ties between our Adult publishing groups and the design, copyediting and production teams that create our books.” Irene Kheradi has been promoted to vp, executive managing editor of production and copy editing. Samantha Cohen moves up to vp, design and digital content development. Angela Hsiao has been named vp, demand planning and reprints. And Joe Bulger moves up to vp, client management and business development.
As part of the changes, current vp, production and manufacturing Karen Romano will leave the company on November 15, after fifteen years with S&S. CFO Dennis Eulau says of Romando: “Those of us who have worked with her know her as a genial colleague and a consummate professional, on whom we can count on to literally ‘deliver the goods’ in all circumstances.” Director of interior design Nancy Singer will also depart the company.
Sarah Pelz will join Rodale on December 9th as executive editor. Previously she was an editor at Harlequin Nonfiction.
At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Navah Wolfe has been promoted to editor.
Publishing and media veteran John Kilcullen has joined the board of directors of Courier. He is the former executive chairman of self-publishing service Fast Pencil, which Courier acquired in April 2013, and is currently president, strategic partnerships/ancillary products at Hearst for their cable TV series The Bible. Kilcullen is best known for creating and leading the …For Dummies line of books.
Following up on the opening week sales of Jeff Kinney‘s eight Diary of a Wimpy Kid novel, HARD LUCK, Abrams spokesperson Jason Wells tells us that US sales comprised 85 percent of the reported 1.3 million copies sold in the first week, with the total covering world English territories. (Sales for the German edition and other translations have not been tabulated yet.) In addition, ebook sales for the entire series are up 74 percent compared to last year (and 400 percent in the UK), accounting in part for the somewhat lower but still mammot first printing, along with “tighter inventory control with certain accounts.”
Riverhead director of publicity and poet Jynne Dilling Martin is heading to Antarctica for a six-week stay as the continent’s artist in residence. Fast Company writes: “Following her stay, Martin expects to write and publish poems based on her experiences. The grant exists to further cultural understanding of the area by those other than scientists. At the very least, the pictures she plans on taking of Penguin published books with penguins will attract some wider interest.”
Book Country has created a curated page on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to help its member writers get their projects funded. Writers must first apply to be featured on the page