Adriana Stimola has joined the Stimola Literary Studio as agent, representing cookbooks, lifestyle, and health and wellness books. She was formerly content manager at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
Chris Francis has joined Sourcebooks as assistant editor.
Elizabeth Scarpelli has been hired as director of the new University of Cincinnati Press, which aims to be “an innovative 21st century academic press.” She was director of publisher services at Baker & Taylor and Bookmasters, prior to which she was assistant press director and sales and marketing director for Rutgers University Press.
At Ingram Publisher Services, Bonnie Dailey joins the company based in LaVergne, TN as client implementation manager, managing day-to-day operational relationships with third-party logistics clients, and Bunmi Western is now sales and marketing director in the London office, working with customers across all of the distribution lines (she was the UK & international sales director at Atlantic Books). Amanda Aleksey has been promoted to the new position of manager, client relations for international customers. At parent company Ingram Content Group, Roger Lee has joined as vp, credit, overseeing global credit operations, succeeding Rob Montgomery who will retire in early 2017.
The Perseus New York staff (comprising Basic Books, Public Affairs, and Weinstein Books) move in with their Hachette Book Group colleagues at 1290 Avenue of the Americas on December 7. All Perseus staff now use Hachette email addresses and will have new telephone numbers.
Bookselling
Barnes & Noble’s third new concept store in Folsom, CA (near Sacramento) will open December 13. Like the stores in Eastchester, NY and Edina, MN it has a Barnes & Noble Kitchen with seating for at least 80 people (along with additional outdoor seating).
Brooklyn’s Book Court will close on December 31 after 35 years as owners Henry Zook and Mary Gannett have decided to retire from bookselling. They own the space that the store occupies, and did not comment on what will fill the space once the stores closes. Their son Zachary had been manager of the store until 2014, but “as he moved on to other pursuits, now we are doing the same.” Their letter, posted here, notes at the end: “This is our only public statement about the closing of BookCourt. We know the store will be missed, and we are very proud of what we accomplished at 163 and 161 Court Street. We hope you’ll wish us well as we move on from what started as the dream of two 27-year-olds, and ended up exceeding all expectations, personally and professionally.”
Following that posting, however, former Book Court employee and author Emma Straub, along with husband Michael Fusco-Straub, posted that they have been working on a plan for a new store for the neighborhood since hearing about Book Court’s plans in October. “We’ve spent the last few months looking at spaces, getting our math together, and thinking about light fixtures. We have secured initial funding and crossed our fingers. And so, dear Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Columbia Waterfront, and beyond…you won’t be lonely for long. Books are magic, and we want to make sure that this neighborhood is positively coated in bookish fairydust for decades to come…. Let us know if you have ideas to share, hands to lend, or some magic of your own to add to the mix.”