becker&mayer! co-founder Jim Becker will retire from the company on November 4. President Mike Oprins will continue to oversee the 30-year-old company Becker founded with Andy Mayer. “Jim may be headed off for new adventures, but the team here continues to honor and uphold the values and creative spirit instilled by its founding members,” Oprins said in the announcement. “In true becker&mayer! fashion, we will continue to produce one-of-a-kind books that delight children and adults, SmartLab Toys will deliver on our mission of helping children explore and learn through play, and our Publishing Services Group will continue to provide outstanding design, editorial and project management services for our publishing clients. Jim Becker’s presence will always be felt in every project we do.”
Correcting a recent Scholastic personnel announcement, Rachael Hicks was promoted to senior production director, not editor.
Amazon is launching the Little A Poetry Contest, where the winning poetry collection will receive $5,000 in prize money, an advance and a standard publishing contract with Little A, for publication in 2017. The contest, judged by Cornelius Eady, Jericho Brown and Kimiko Hahn, is open from November 2 through December 20, with the winner to be named next April.