Rebecca Friedman has started her own agency, Rebecca Friedman Literary. She can be reached at rebecca@rfliterary.com. The agency is interested in commercial and literary fiction with a focus on literary novels of suspense, women’s fiction, contemporary romance, and young adult, as well as journalistic non-fiction and memoir.
Anna Stein has joined Aitken Alexander’s board of directors. She currently runs the agency’s New York office.
Gonzalo Ferreyra has joined Ingram Publisher Services in the role of director of acquisitions, full-service distribution. He was most recently director of marketing, print and digital at Weldon Owen Publishing. In addition, Carter Holliday has been promoted to director of acquisitions, Third-Party Logistics and Ingram Content Group Services, and Leah Rex moves up to director of client relations.
Moneka Hewlett has been promoted to vp of sales at Quirk Books.
Publisher of Hachette Nashville’s Jericho Books imprint Wendy Grisham is leaving the company. The line, which launched in 2012, will publish all titles currently under contract over the next two years. Needless to say, “it is anticipated that the number of new acquisitions will be reduced as part of a consolidation program for the division,” though some additional acquisitions for Jericho are still expected. The cutback at Jericho is positioned as part of a larger rebalancing of Hachette Nashville, aiming to publish fewer titles more profitability, with a focus on the franchise authors that have helped the religious books division sell over 60 million units since its founding 11 years ago.
In the UK, Clare Foss has been named digital publisher at Headline, a role designed to take “creative ownership of Headline’s digital publishing and explore initiatives across all areas of the list.” Emily Griffin will work with her as assistant digital editor.
Ida Pollock, “believed to be the world’s oldest romance writer,” died at 105 on December 3. She wrote over 120 books, including many under the names Susan Barrie, Rose Burghley, and Marguerite Bell. Her 124th and 125th books, Regency romances, are planned for publication in 2014.