National Endowment of the Arts chair Jane Chu will step down on June 4 after 4 years.
Elle Keck has been promoted to associate editor at William Morrow/Avon.
Mike Salisbury has been promoted to literary agent at Yates & Yates.
Chi Ming Publishing in Taiwan has appointed Eccles Fisher Associates as its UK scout.
A BuzzFeed article highlighted Kensington’s efforts to diversify romance publishing, with an emphasis on senior editor Esi Sogah, art director Kris Noble, and author Alyssa Cole, the African-American trio behind the book An Extraordinary Union. Sogah credits president Steven Zacharius with the company ethos of “try it and see what works.” The article notes that no black author has ever been awarded the RITA and the number of black finalists since 2000 number less than 0.5 percent. Noble says: “It’s rare to have this many of us in one space. I certainly feel a responsibility. I don’t know if I should say that, but I absolutely do.”
Artist and prolific children’s book illustrator Alice Provensen, 99, died on April 23. Much of her work was done in collaboration with her late husband, including The Glorious Flight, the 1984 book they wrote and illustrated, which won the Caldecott Medal. Children’s book historian Leonard S. Marcus said of their work: “There was a kind of lightness and open space in their work. You could project your own imagination into their world.” The Provensens also drew Tony the Tiger for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, and “even the Provensens’ daughter is not sure if he was created solely by her father or as a joint effort between both of her parents.”
Workman Publishing has renewed and expanded their longtime service relationship with the company that now operates as LSC Communications (previously RR Donnelley, which acquired Banta, Workman’s original provider). Their printing, warehousing, and fulfillment relationship now adds digital content management services, as well as end-to-end Order-to-Cash services (including customer service, order and credit management, invoicing, cash application, and dispute resolution, as well as sales and inventory analysis reporting).
Barnes & Noble ceo Len Riggio will be a keynote speaker at the grand opening of Book Expo, focusing on the “importance of brick and mortar stores, serving the modern reader, how bookstores best serve their communities, and the overall changing landscape of book retail today.”
Selected
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, has been chosen as this year’s One Book, One New York selection.