Longtime Knopf editor-at-large Gary Fisketjon “was dismissed for a breach of company policy,” a spokesperson confirmed to PL. Fisketjon was initially suspended, and then dismissed following an investigation. The publisher is in the process of informing his authors and their agents. Knopf staff say they were notified earlier this week.
BuzzFeed published the results of an “extensive, yearlong” investigation of author and speaker Tony Robbins that “reveals how Robbins has berated abuse victims and subjected his followers to unorthodox and potentially dangerous techniques. And former female fans and staffers have accused him of inappropriate sexual advances.” The story includes accounts from five former employees from the 1990s and early 2000s; two “swearing under oath that they felt he had sexually harassed them by repeatedly pursuing them after they made clear they weren’t interested”; two who “said Robbins expected them to work alone with him when he was naked in his hotel room or in the shower”; and another who “said she was fired after having a consensual sexual relationship with Robbins.”
Eugenia Pakalik, formerly director of trade sales at Chronicle Books, has left the company. She can be reached at epakalik@gmail.com
At Disney Publishing, following the departure of publisher Mary Ann Naples, global publisher, franchise Lynn Waggoner gets added oversight for Disney Press, Marvel Press, Lucasfilm Press, and Disney Editions. Emily Thomas Meehan is promoted to vp, publisher of Hyperion and original content strategy and IP development.
Executive editor at the American Library Association’s Booklist Publications Keir Graff is “leaving to pursue new opportunities” after today. He can be reached at keir@keirgraff.com.
Obituary
Longtime bestselling author Herman Wouk died Friday morning, just 10 days before his 104th birthday. His agent Amy Rennert told the NYT “he had been working on another book when he died, although, as was his custom, he had declined to discuss its subject until it was finished.”
Awards
Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Mad and Furious City — longlisted for the Booker and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn and Goldsmith prizes — won the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize (MCD/FSG; Tinder Press).
Distribution
Penguin Random House Publisher Services will distribute Square Enix worldwide starting fall 2018. The Japan-based company has previously licensed their properties to US publishers, but will now publish graphic novels and other book products under their own name.
People Are (Still) Talking About
The week started with a profile of Julia Cheiffetz and her new Signal Press (mistakenly called One Signal, based on a promotional video labelled 1SP) — unfortunately titled, “Nonfiction Has A Woman Problem: Julia Cheiffetz Wants To Change That.”
On Wednesday, Alessandra Bastagli at Dey Street started what became a long thread on Twitter — “I’ve heard a rumor that there aren’t any women editors who do serious nonfiction” — celebrating the many accomplished #womeneditors across the business. Outside of the thread, Cheiffetz added on Twitter, “I think I pissed off some editors I respect. Many women in New York are publishing *incredible* nonfiction and that headline was unfortunate.”