At Macmillan Children’s, Morgan Kane has been promoted to assistant director, publicity; Justin Krasner to senior editor of Odd Dot; Rachel Murray to associate editor at Holt Children’s; and Jessica Chung to junior designer.
Daniel Ehrenhaft is leaving Soho Teen to devote more time to the nonprofit WAAC and to explore new opportunities in service of young adult literature. Alexa Wejko has been promoted to editor at Soho Teen, in addition to her role as publicist.
Bill Shannon, 57, longtime director of contracts at the Knopf Doubleday Group, died on May 9, from complications of kidney cancer. He joined Knopf in 2000.
Bookselling
Cathy Keller will close Hooked on Books in Islamorada, FL after 22 years of business in Islamorada, after a prospective buyer backed out.
The Annie’s Book Stop in Plainville, MA will reopen briefly next week, for a going out of business sale, and plans to close permanently by the end of the month.
As stores start to reopen in some parts of the country, Barnes & Noble says it has opened 31 outlets in 10 states. By the end of this week, they expect to open another 20 more stores, in five additional states. “Sales are dramatically down, but haven’t been eviscerated in quite the way they have been for fashion retailers,” ceo James Daunt told the NYT. “In stores that are open for browsing, furniture has been removed and signs encouraging social distancing are placed at the entrance and throughout the store. Booksellers will wear masks, and customers will be required to wear masks in places where the state mandates it. Trolleys have been set out with signs instructing customers to leave any books they have touched on the cart, so that the books can be placed in quarantine for five days — long enough for any potential viral particles to die off — then reshelved.”
Media
Jennifer Krauss, who joined the New York Times as Paperback Row columnist “immediately after quarantine began” has been named the children’s book editor as well. Maria Russo is “leaving for a position in children’s books publishing” after 5 years in the position.
The Seattle Review of Books is “going on indefinite hiatus”: “After five years of daily publication, we find ourselves taxed on a number of levels: the digital infrastructure requires intense and comprehensive work; our staff requires more resources to grow the site and keep it from turning fallow at a moment when resources are less available than ever; and, quite frankly, some of us are exhausted.” Co-founder Paul Constant says, “I still believe in Seattle’s literary scene more than anything, [but] as a white man, I don’t want to be at the center of it.” He adds: “Working on the site on a daily basis for five years in a part-time, nonpaying job just eventually became too much for me, and for my partners on the site.”
Forthcoming
The NYT highlights Brit Bennett, Megha Majumdar, Roddy Doyle and Marie-Helene Bertino as “writers to watch this summer.”
Film/TV
Netflix and Fandango are developing a series based on Elena Ferrante‘s THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS.
Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine is adapting her previous book club pick The Cactus by Sarah Haywood for film, with Witherspoon set to star.
Bankruptcy
At a hearing May 12, the judge in LSC‘s bankruptcy proceedings made permanent two key “interim” orders that will allow the company to continue operating while restructuring. The first allows the printing company to continue customer programs, and establishes that the products (including paper, books, etc.) are the customers’ property, not LSC’s. The second order authorizes the company to continue payroll and employee benefits during proceedings.
