At Ballantine Bantam Dell, Emily Hartley and Elana Seplow-Jolley have both been promoted to associate editor.
Leonicka Valcius has joined the Transatlantic Agency as assistant agent. Valcius was most recently a title analyst at Penguin Random House Canada.
Suzanne Rafer, executive editor and director of cookbook publishing at Workman Publishing, retired on February 2 after almost 44 years with the company. Executive chair and president of Workman Publishing Carolan Workman said, “Workman without Suzanne is unimaginable…. It’s impossible to overstate how much she’s contributed to this company. Always with good nature and humor and love.”
Obituary
Former longtime Barnes & Noble director of merchandising Bob Wietrak, 69, died on Saturday, of pancreatic cancer. Most recently, he was books selection editor and director of publisher relations for Zola Books.
Announcements
Italy has agreed to serve as “guest of honor” at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023.
Firebrand Technologies announced an agreement with Kadaxis to serve as as the exclusive reseller and advocate of their keyword creation service.
Bookselling
Local business news site BusinessDen reports that Amazon is negotiating for a 5,000 square foot Books store in Cherry Creek North, “according to a source familiar with the deal.” (They currently have an Amazon Pop-Up Store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. If true, Colorado would be the eleventh state (including Washington, DC) to get an Amazon Books store.