the perfect publisher to take the helm of this vital and growing area of our business.” Denwood adds, “After ten happy and successful years at HarperCollins it is hard to say goodbye, but the opportunity to lead and build the gem-filled Simon & Schuster UK Children’s list is simply irresistible.”
The MacDowell Colony Board of Directors elected six new members: real-estate executive Darrell Harvey; WQXR radio personality and pianist Terrance McKnight; essayist and editor Paul Reyes; The New Yorker staff writer Amy Davidson Sorkin; MacDowell Fellow, architect, and author Mabel O. Wilson; and investment banking executive Peter Wirth.
Imprints
Canada’s Greystone Books will launch Greystone Kids this fall with five titles, “to reach out to younger readers about matters we consider to be important in the world today” with nonfiction picture books and middle-grade titles.
Sara Gillingham is consulting creative director (she was design director for children’s publishing at Chronicle), and Kallie George is editor, picture books, with Rob Sanders serving as publisher. Founder and former publisher of Groundwood Books Patricia Aldana will run an imprint, Aldana Libros, bringing books from around the world to the English-speaking market.
Bookselling
Books & Books in Miami removed the DK Eyewitness Top 10 Miami and the Keys guidebook from their shelves after an employee noticed it referred to part of the Coconut Grove area as “the blighted ‘Black Grove,’ an area plagued by high crime rates, drugs and deprivation, where many of the descendants of Bahamian workers have settled.” Owner Mitchell Kaplan said, “We do not want to carry a guide to Miami that so misrepresents one of the communities within Miami.” DK publishing director of travel Georgina Dee told the Miami Herald, “Our text introducing Coconut Grove does not give the full picture and is outdated. We will correct this at the next available opportunity, and we apologize if our content has caused offense.”
The American Booksellers Association has a list of 95 member bookstores that opened in 2018 (14 of which were new branches of existing businesses). Additionally, 28 member stores were sold to new owners during the year.
Forthcoming
Mitchell Zuckoff‘s FALL AND RISE: The Story of 9/11, combining the timeline of events in New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, PA, into one character-driven story, will be published April 30 by Harper.
Writer Jill Twiss and illustrator EG Keller, the creative team behind A Day In the Life of Marlon Bundo, have moved to a new publisher — Harper Children’s — for two new books, starting with The Someone New, a parable about welcoming outsiders, publishing June 4.
Recording artist Logic (a.k.a. Bobby Hall)’s SUPERMARKET, a psychological thriller about a young writer’s descent into madness, will be published by Simon & Schuster on March 26 as a trade paperback original.
Film/TV
Macmillan’s Swoon Reads YA imprint has signed a two-year development and production deal for television and film with A+E Studios.
Legal
Sherrilyn Kenyon, author of the Dark Hunter series, filed a lawsuit in Williamson County Court in Tennessee alleging that her husband Lawrence Kenyon (who is divorcing her) and his assistant “systematically poisoned her since 2015,” deliberately sabotaged her career, and stole “hundreds of thousands of dollars of her personal income.” Kenyon alleges that they “would force her to eat and become enraged any time she failed to consume it,” often causing her to be violently ill. The suit includes several charges including: assault by poisoning, concerted action aiding and abetting, intentional interference with business relationships and invasion of privacy.
Lawrence Kenyon’s attorney said, “These astonishing and unsubstantiated allegations may stand as her best fantasy creation yet…. He is saddened that the stress of these proceedings has brought out the worst in such a talented writer.” The Tennessean reports the sheriff’s office confirmed that Kenyon had reported her allegations to them, and a detective is currently investigating.