Agency News
Anna Sproul-Latimer and Kent Wolf have joined to launch Neon Literary, with offices in New York and Washington, DC. Sproul-Latimer has been at the Yoon Ross Agency for almost 15 years, and Wolf has been at the Friedrich Agency. They say in their announcement “it was the eventual realization that their clients were intersecting–on social media, at events, and in writing groups–that signaled to the two agents that coming together made perfect sense.”
“Neon Literary is on a mission to dismantle the Big Ideas Industry, smuggling money, power, and frontlist glory out to authors who might not have been born realizing they deserved those things,” agency president Sproul-Latimer says. “I’ve spent my entire life in the DC area, watching how wealth, politics, and media interact to shape the line of history. Now I want to take the full weight of my access and privilege and lie down in traffic to redirect that line somewhere brighter.”
Corporate
Bloomsbury announced a joint venture with the state-owned China Youth Publishing Group and its subsidiary Roaring Lion Media. Based in Beijing, the joint venture will publish titles originating from China, as well as licensing titles from Bloomsbury and other publishers for the mainland Chinese market. Managing director of Bloomsbury China Vafa Payman will run the business on behalf of Bloomsbury.
After simplifying their adult publishing structure in early 2018 under the White Lion Publishing banner as “a revolution in how we conceive, commission, make, market and sell books,” Quarto will reactivate Frances Lincoln and Aurum Press as trade imprints starting in January 2020.
Bookselling
In California, Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse owner Peter Wannier sold the store’s building recently $4.9 million. The store will relocate into a smaller space in February.
People
At Sourcebooks, Julie Larson has as assistant editor for eXplore. Caitlin Lawler has moved over to marketing associate (she was previously sales coordinator).
Katelyn Mirabelli becomes senior product manager and business analyst in Hachette Book Group’s IT department.