Hannah Rahill has been promoted to senior vice president, backlist strategy and development at the Random House Group, reporting to Gina Centrello. She will collaborate with cross-functional teams including RH Digital, RH Analytics, Consumer Insights, and Sales Management, to collect and distill emerging trends and market data and identify opportunities.
Dave Snow, vice president, human resources, at Simon & Schuster will lead S&S human resources and the Rockefeller Center facilities department, reporting to Carolyn Reidy. The human resources staffs in New York and Riverside, as well as the facilities staff in New York, will report to Snow, who will also become a member of the executive committee.
Stephanie Reddaway has joined Little, Brown as a publicist, reporting to Juliana Horbachevsky. She was previously associate publicist at the Random House Group.
Andrew Gibeley has joined Abrams as publicist. He was previously with HarperCollins.
Veteran book-to-film agent Lucy Stille has opened her own literary management company, Lucy Stille Literary, after six years at APA. The authors she represents for film and television including David Baldacci, Therese Anne Fowler, Kate Quinn, Rob Hart, Julia Alvarez, Susan Wiggs, Stephan Talty, Jeff Pearlman, Sandra Cisneros, Chris Jones, Lara Prescott, and C.E. Morgan, will all be moving with her to the new company.
In the UK, Octopus Publishing Group chief executive Alison Goff will leave the company later this year after 21 years there, saying “now is the right time to step down.” Pan Macmillan sales and brand director Anna Bond will take over as managing director of Octopus on October 2, reporting to Hachette UK ceo David Shelley and joining the company board. At Pan Macmillan communications director Sara Lloyd will take on additional responsibility for author brand development, with senior brand manager Charlotte Williams and senior brand executive Jade Tolley reporting to her.
Additionally, agents Robert Caskie and Juliet Mushens at Caskie Mushens have ended their partnership and set up separate businesses: Robert Caskie Limited, and Mushens Entertainment.
In Scotland, a Harper UK distribution center employee has complained anonymously to the local paper: “My employers’ statements regarding social distancing and hygiene are a fallacy! True, we have hand sanitisers available but the issue of social distancing is huge, and cannot be done in such a busy warehouse with so many people there at the same time, where shifts overlap…. We feel our lives are being put in danger so that the company are able to put books in shops.” The company says, “We do not accept the allegations presented are a fair representation of current working practices.” They note, “We have introduced temperature testing at the gatehouse for all coming onto the site. We have implemented enhanced hygiene regimes, have significantly reduced shift sizes and staffing levels, and ensured that none of our staff are required to work within two metres of each other…. We have also introduced a daily bonus for staff. All unable to work due to circumstances related to coronavirus are being paid in full.”
Forthcoming
Alex Trebek‘s THE ANSWER IS…: REFLECTIONS ON MY LIFE will be published by Simon & Schuster on July 21. “I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,” he writes. The book combines “illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy.”
Candlewick Press and MIT Press announced two new collaborative imprints, MIT Kids Press and MITeen Press. The imprints, led creatively by Candlewick, will publish nonfiction and fiction titles for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and math) subjects, with the first titles arriving in fall 2021. The initial list includes a picture book about space by MIT professor and physicist Alan Lightman, a beginner’s guide to learning Chinese through emojis, and a middle-grade guide to app coding.
Relief
The Maurice Sendak Foundation has granted $100,000 to the New York Foundation for the Arts for an emergency relief grant program “to support children’s picture book artists and writers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.” They will provide grants of up to $2,500 a person, and hope to raise at least another $150,000 in the initial phase.
Grants are also available from the Carnegie Fund for Authors.
The Authors Guild surveyed its members on the immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis and received 940 responses. Asked, “Has your income from any source declined in recent weeks due to the crisis?” over half — 54 percent — responded “yes.” The biggest source of missing income “by far” was “speaking/performance engagements cancelled,” cited by 232 authors.
Initiatives
James Patterson pledged another $2.5 million to helping teachers build their classroom libraries in partnership with Scholastic Book Club. The program is in its sixth year, and with the new gift Patterson has so far donated a total of $11 million.
Distribution
Trafalgar Square Publishing adds seven new distribution clients, including: Otter-Barry Books starting July 15; Little Steps and Mount Orleans Press starting June 1; Ad Lib and The Lilliput Press starting July; and Richardson Publishing Group and Fairlight Books starting in January 2021.