Martha Rago has been appointed to the newly created position of executive creative director, Random House Children’s Books,reporting to Judith Haut, as the children’s art departments are united. Isabel Warren-Lynch, executive art director for the Knopf, Delacorte, Crown, and Wendy Lamb Books imprints, and her team, will report to Rago, as will Tracy Tyler, executive art director, licensed publishing; associate art director Nicole de las Heras; and Jason Zamajtuk, art director, Random House/Golden Books for Young Readers.
Colleen Lindsay has joined Open Road as senior marketing manager, reporting to Mary McAveney, focused primarily on sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, and thriller titles. Previously she was associate director of marketing, social media and reader experience at NAL/Berkley.
Jake Bauman has joined New Line in the newly created role of literary scout, where he will identify book-to-film opportunities alongside New Line’s existing outside literary agency. Previously he worked as a scout for Chernin Entertainment.
Alexandra Maramenides will join Simon & Schuster UK as managing director, children’s publishing division and will also join the company’s UK senior management team. She was managing director of the Bonner Group’s The Five Mile Press and Echo Publishing in Australia.
There will be an event at the National Arts Club on November 23 to celebrate the legacy of the late Oscar Hijuelos, as well as his just-issued posthumous novel, TWAIN & STANLEY ENTER PARADISE. His widow Lori Carlson-Hijuelos has invited Oscar’s editors together for the event, including Gretchen Young, Jonathan Galassi, Bill Shinker and Karen Braziller.
Awards
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry has won the Goldsmiths Prize for Fiction.
The finalists for the Guardian First Book Award include:
Man v Nature by Diane Cook (Oneworld/Harper)
Physical by Andrew McMillan (Jonathan Cape)
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (Pushkin Press/Little, Brown)
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev (Faber/Public Affairs)
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter (Faber/Graywolf, March 2016)
The Shore by Sara Taylor (William Heinemann/Hogarth)
Distribution
Publishers Group West has renewed a new long-term sales and distribution agreement with the expanded travel and outdoor guide publisher now known as AdventureKEEN.
Simon & Schuster has renewed its sales and distribution agreement with VIZ Media in both the US and the UK.
Opening Sales
Abrams is celebrating a successful global launch of Jeff Kinney‘s tenth Diary of a Wimpy Kid on November 3, Old School. Since going on sale November 3, the publisher says over 1 million copies were “sold to consumers around the world” in the first week. CEO Michael Jacobs said in a release, “Sales for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School in the first week have exceeded expectations both here in North America and with all of our amazing on-sale publishing partners worldwide. The November 3 coordinated global on-sale was a milestone for the Wimpy Kid series and for children’s book publishing.”
Funding
The Bertelsmann Education Group is the lead investor in a new $105 million funding round for Udacity (following a previous investment in the company). BEG ceo Kay Krafft will join the Udacity board.