Otto Penzler has taken sole ownership of the Mysterious Press, after nine years of operating as an imprint at Grove Atlantic. The line will publish 10 books through Grove Atlantic in 2020, and starting in 2021 the Mysterious Press will be distributed by Norton. (Norton already distributes Penzler Publishers two other imprints.)
Penzler said in the announcement, “Working with Morgan Entrekin at Grove Atlantic has been one of the singular pleasures of my career. He has been enormously supportive and generous throughout our years of working together. There is no greater gentleman in the world of publishing than he is, and I am honored to have his friendship.”
MysteriousPress.com publisher Charles Perry has been named the publisher of Penzler Publishers and will be in charge of all three imprints. Luisa Smith of Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA becomes editor-in-chief of the Scarlet imprint. Jane Friedman and Nat Sobel are consultants for Penzler Publishers.
Elsewhere, Skyhorse Publishing is launching Palomino Press, a new romance imprint. Kathleen Schmidt will lead the line as editorial director, while remaining publicity director of Skyhorse. The first titles will be released in fall 2020. Schmidt said, “Publishing romance books has been a dream of mine. I am grateful I am getting the chance to do so with the terrific team at Skyhorse. Romance is a genre and a community I love and respect.”
In the UK, Penguin Random House Audio will expand with the launch of Penguin Studios. The Bookseller reports that the new division will be housed in PRH’s new Embassy Gardens office and will become the “central hub for Penguin’s audiobook publishing.” Chris Thompson has joined Penguin Studios as senior producer, reporting to editorial director Sam Halstead. He was previously with Heavy Entertainment.
Rowman & Littlefield International ceo Oliver Gadsby will step down from that position at the end of month. Lexington Books head Julie Kirsch will move up to senior vice president and publisher of both Rowman & Littlefield and Lexington. Gadsby will lead a “high-profile co-publishing project for the transatlantic group.”
Author George Steiner, 90, died on Monday at his home in Cambridge.