Sarah Crichton will return to Macmillan as editor in chief at Holt on April 6. She ran the Sarah Crichton Books imprint at Macmillan’s Farrar, Straus for 15 years, until the line was eliminated. Holt publisher Amy Einhorn writes, “Gifted in both fiction and nonfiction, she is a natural leader, and, most importantly, a passionate advocate for her authors.” She adds, “During her 25 years in book publishing, Sarah has cultivated the kind of eclectic list all publishers dream of.” Crichton was publisher of Little, Brown prior to setting up her imprint.
Shaquona Crews will join Quirk Books as the senior contracts manager in early March. She was previously at Princeton University Press.
Jessica Preeg has joined Amazon Publishing as a publicity lead. Previously she was assistant director of publicity at St. Martin’s.
In the UK, Rebecca Farrell will join Sphere as commissioning editor for its fiction list on April 20. She was most recently with Simon & Schuster UK.
Awards
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes announced finalist in 12 categories, with the winners to be announced on April 17. The awards this year include a new prize, the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction. Walter Mosley will receive the 2019 Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement; nonprofit WriteGirl will receive the Innovator’s Award; and Emily Bernard will be awarded the Christopher Isherwood Prize for autobiographical prose.
The $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize announced finalists, with winners to be named on April 16:
Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli
Lot, by Bryan Washington
Opioid, Indiana, by Brian Allen Carr
The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Christy Lefteri
Bookselling
Matt Miller, ceo of Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store, will retire on June 30. He has worked there since 1978. General manager Katie Rothery will take over many of his responsibilities.