Emily Griffin will join Harper as executive editor on October 19. Previously she was senior editor at Grand Central.
Amanda Aleksey has joined Perseus’ international sales team as marketing and publicity manager. Previously she was marketing coordinator at Knopf.
Chief executive of the Publishers Association in the UK Richard Mollet is leaving after five years to join Reed Elsevier as head of European government affairs.
Heidi Hess Saxton will join Catholic publisher Franciscan Media as editorial director for the Servant imprint on October 12. Most recently she was acquisitions editor at Ave Maria Press.
J.K. Rowling announced that the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — set to debut in London in summer 2016 — will be staged in two parts. Rowling says the expansion is “due to the epic nature of the story we’ve been working on.”
Salman Rushdie will give the keynote address at the opening press conference of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday, October 13. The fair says that “freedom of expression and boundaries are key topics at this year’s book fair.”
Acquisition
New Harbinger Publications has acquired the publishing assets of Impact Publishers, which has focused on popular and professional psychology titles since its founding in 1970. With a list of 60 in-print titles, Impact will be an imprint of New Harbinger going forward.
Distribution
IPG will distribute Central Avenue Publishing as of November 1, 2015, while as of January 1, 2016 they will distribute At Bay Press, Bedazzled Ink Publishing, Cardinal Rule Press, Doodles Ave, Holland House, Just World Books, Meteoor Publishing, NSTA Kids, Oddint Media, Phonic Monic, PublikumArt, Starfish Bay Children’s Books, Strauss House Publications, and Peek-A-Boo Publishing.
Art Stock Books will distribute Verlag Anton Pustet as of October 1, and Triplekite Publishing as of fall 2016. Trafalgar Square Publishing will distribute Filbert Press as of January 1, 2016. Finally, IPG Spanish Books is now distributing Vaso Roto Ediciones and will distribute Del Nuevo Extremo as of October 2015, and EDHASA, Ediciones LEA, and Diabolo Ediciones as of January 1, 2016.