People, Etc.

Arcadia Publishing coo Paul Raffle has stepped down from his position, succeeded by former Perseus Books Group coo Charles Gallagher. Lezen Acquisition bought the company back in May and Raffle had agreed to stay on through the transition, and he will consult on a part-time basis going forward. Gallagher has been consulting for Arcadia for six months, and has relocated to Charleston, SC. Arcadia ceo (and former Perseus ceo alongside Gallagher) David Steinberger said in a letter to staff, “Paul has been true to his word, and over the past months has worked very hard and very effectively to position Arcadia for future growth and success.” He also notes they are “ahead of budget” and “our investors are enthusiastic about our ambitious plans to grow, both organically and through acquisitions.”

At Tom Doherty Associates, Stephanie Sirabian has joined as associate director of advertising, promotion, and trade operations. She was previously at Grand Central in various marketing and advertising roles. Jennifer McClelland-Smith has joined as marketing manager for Forge. She was previously marketing coordinator at Little, Brown Children’s.

Emily Ekle joined APA Publishing at the American Psychological Association in the new role of director of editorial acquisitions for Academic + Professional Books, reporting to publisher Brenda Carter. She will oversee strategy and operations for book acquisitions for the APA Books, APA Handbooks, and APA LifeTools imprints.

Andre Aciman posted on Twitter that he is writing a sequel to Call Me By Your Name. The announcement follows online rumors that the film will get a sequel, and screenwriter James Ivory’s comments that “they can’t do a sequel, I think, without [Aciman] being on board.”

Outgoing United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley wants to write another book about “what I’ve seen, what I’ve lived, or what I’ve learned.” She told the Weekly Standard, “I’ve always found writing a book to be therapeutic. My first book was unbelievably therapeutic.” Can’t Is Not An Option, about her run for governor was published in 2012. She is represented by Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly.

Best Of
New York Magazine’s Christian Lorentzen announced his top ten for the year, with Motherhood by Sheila Heti at number one. (You can sample it now in out Buzz Books 2018 Spring/Summer edition.)

Relaunched
Simon & Schuster has relaunched their website with a “top-to-bottom makeover” (also touting an autographed $350 deluxe edition of Tom Brady’s The TB12 Method for the holidays, sold directly only, and limited to 1,600 copies). EVP and chief marketing officer Liz Perl notes that over 50 percent of their site traffic comes from mobile, and 60 percent is generated by search, factors that guided the redesign. New features include “Why We Love This Book” on some book pages, where visitors can “hear directly from a book’s editor or other Simon & Schuster employee about why this title stands out.”