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People, Etc.

October 14, 2014
By Michael Cader

Kendra Harpster is joining Berkley Books as executive editor, starting Wednesday, October 15. Most recently she was a senior editor at Random House.

Iain MacGregor is moving to Simon & Schuster UK as publishing director, non-fiction, reporting to Suzanne Baboneau. He has been publisher at Aurum Press.

At Open Road Integrated Media, Sarah Yurch and Emma Pulitzer have been promoted to assistant editor.

Jenny Kühne is marketing the Frankfurt Book Fair’s RightsLink licensing service for online permissions, and will be responsible for the networking and further development of other FBF rights activities of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Author Harlan Ellison suffered from a stroke last week. According to online reports from friends, the stroke has left him paralyzed on his right side.

With a wave of books (and even imprints) from popular YouTube creators and performers on the way, the WSJ looks at a few. Running Press publishes The Pointless Book this week, an activity book by Alfie Deyes in the UK (where Bonnier’s Blink Publishing says they have 300,000 copies in print). And Harmony releases Michelle Phan’s MAKE UP next week. Co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona Cindy Dach says, “When a YouTube star comes [for a signing], we sell hundreds in a few hours.”

Loveswept will publish the first five titles in NYT bestselling author Tracy Wolff‘s new romance series Play Me as digital originals on December 2, in what the publisher said is “modeled after Netflix’s successful distribution model for their exclusive original series such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.”

The Washington Post traveled back to Afghanistan this summer with Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson, and provides a long profile. “He has come back to Afghanistan several times since his fall from grace, quietly visiting schools. But on a trip this summer, he invited a reporter to spend a few days with him. It was a first step in Mortenson’s return to public life — one he hardly seems ready for.”

“It was obviously a lie,” Mortenson now admits, of his written account of living in the village of Korphe. “I stand by the story, but there were compressions and omissions.” But also, “He said that he didn’t pay close attention to the writing of the book, thinking of it mostly as a vehicle for raising awareness and donations. The book was largely penned by his co-author, [the late] David Oliver Relin.” On the number of schools built by Mortenson’s charity, he admits, “It was misleading,” saying “he would sometimes guess” at the number. “Sometimes, Mortenson just says what he thinks will make people happy — at least that’s what his therapist told him.” Still, Mortenson says of the dwindling funds at the CAI charity, “I just don’t understand why all these people are trying to bring me down instead of help me.”

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 1985 collection “Yin” Carolyn Kizer, 89, died last Thursday. She served as the first literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts and was the founding editor of Poetry Northwest.

Children’s author Zilpha Keatley Snyder, 87, died October 7 in San Francisco from complications of a stroke. She was a three-time Newbery Honor recipient for THE EGYPT GAME (1967), THE HEADLESS CUPID (1971) and THE WITCHES OF WORM (1972).

Filed Under: Free, New Releases/Forthcoming, Personnel

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