Macmillan Children’s announced a number of promotions: Holly West and Kat Brzozowski have each been promoted to senior editor at Feiwel and Friends/Swoon Reads; Anna Roberto to senior editor at Feiwel and Friends; Julia Sooy to editor at Henry Holt BYR/Godwin Books; Melissa Warten to assistant editor at Farrar, Strauss Children’s; Jessica Anderson to associate editor at Henry Holt BYR/Christy Ottaviano Books; Robyn Chapman to senior associate editor at First Second Books; and Mark Podesta to assistant editor at Henry Holt Children’s.
At Random House Children’s, Janet Foley has been promoted to director of managing editorial; Kristen Depken to editor; and Rachel Chlebowski to assistant editor. Megan Williams become managing editor of Crown Children’s and reprints at Random House Children’s. Samantha Gentry moves up to associate editor of Crown Children’s.
Melanie Nolan has been promoted to vp, publisher of Knopf Children’s, filling the position vacated when Jenny Brown left the company last August.
MacKenzie Fraser-Bub Collier joins the University of South Carolina Press in the newly-created position of publicity manager. Ehren Foley joins as acquisitions editor, specializing in southern history, African American studies, and civil rights.
In the UK, Kate Burke has joined the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency as a senior agent. Most recently she was an agent at Northbank Talent Management.
Poet Mary Oliver, 83, died on January 17 at her home in Hobe Sound, FL. The author of more than 20 books, she won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her collection American Primitive and the 1992 National Book Award for New and Selected Poems.
Audio
Dreamscape Media, the publishing and entertainment division of Midwest Tape, will produce and distribute the first line of audiobooks from Hallmark Publishing. Twenty titles are slated for release, launching with Nancy Naigle’s The Secret Ingredient. Hallmark publishing director Stacey Donovan said, “As we planned our venture into audiobooks, we sought a partner who would align with our brand values, artistic vision, and commitment to quality. Dreamscape checked all of those boxes and their expertise will be instrumental in this exciting new chapter for Hallmark Publishing as we reimagine the timelessness and emotion of a Hallmark story in audiobook form and introduce this medium to our vast audience.”
Awards
Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy won The Story Prize’s 2018 Spotlight Prize awarded to “promising works by first-time authors, collections in alternative formats, or works that demonstrate an unusual perspective on the writer’s craft.”
Anand Giridharadas’ Winners Take All won the 2018 800-CEO-READ Business Book of the Year award.
Joyce Carol Oates will receive the 2019 Jerusalem Prize at the Jerusalem International Book Forum in May, presented to a writer whose body of work asserts “the freedom of the individual in society.”
Bookselling
Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, NC is changing owners. Gretchen Horn, an employee since 2001, takes over as the majority owner of Renaissance Bookfarm, the parent company, with founder Emoke B’Racz remaining a minority owner. B’Racz said the ownership transition “renews the business’ commitment to a vibrant local economy.”
Cincinnati’s Blue Manatee Bookstore is close to finding a new owner. Current owners John Hutton and Sandra Gross said they received 160 inquires after announcing their desire to sell last December (and their intention to close in mid-January if no buyers came forward). They have narrowed the pool down to six potential buyers, but have not yet made a selection.
Acquisitions
Las Vegas-based Histria Books has acquired Addison & Highsmith Publishers, which will become an imprint of the former, dedicated to works of adult fiction, including historical fiction, science fiction, detective novels and more.