Jessica Felleman has joined Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency. She was previously an agent at Foundry Literary + Media.
Jolene Haley has joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency as a literary agent. She was previously at Corvisiero Literary Agency.
Allison Huggins has been promoted to senior manager of foreign rights and co-editions for Workman Publishing, Algonquin Books, Algonquin Young Readers, Artisan, duopress, and Erewhon, effective immediately. In her new role, she will focus on selling rights and publishing co-editions, as well as managing rights business in several territories, processing all foreign rights income, and writing translation rights contracts.
Rakesh Satyal announced Friday, “I’m leaving my position at Atria Books today to embark on a new editorial position elsewhere,” to be announced soon.
Less than a month after hiring Brad Schwartz as chief content officer for Audible, he has left the company. Bloomberg reported: “Audible reconsidered…according to people familiar with the matter, after employees discovered an old sexual-harassment lawsuit in which Schwartz was named. Employees voiced their discomfort to management, and the two sides negotiated his exit, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because his departure isn’t public.” They add that “the company declined to comment on the reasons behind Schwartz’s departure, and Schwartz declined to comment. The suit was against the company Schwartz ran, Pop TV, not against him personally, alleging “fostering a hostile work environment for women, claiming senior male executives made inappropriate and demeaning comments and threatened women who spoke out.”
Longtime freelance copyeditor India Cooper died in May at age 67, and was remembered recently by colleagues at Oxford University Press — where she edited over 100 books, including four of Oxford’s Pulitzer Prize winners and six volumes of the Oxford History of the United States: “The editor behind many of Oxford University Press USA’s highest profile titles was not a staff member. But is impossible to measure the significance of the impact she had on Oxford’s history, biography, and music lists.”
Allegations
The owner of San Francisco’s Borderlands Books Alan Beatts has been accused of physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend and sexually assaulting his daughter. The incidents surfaced on a July 2 episode genre podcast The Horror Show with Brian Keene, prompted by a Twitter post on June 20 by author Sarah Read, a friend of Beatt’s ex-girlfriend. Additionally, Beatt’s daughter DoveStep Beatts gave a written account of the alleged assault on her to Mission Local. She told Keene, “Through my own experiences with Alan I know he’s a predator. He uses the bookstore paired with his standing in the community to find and prey on people who are vulnerable.” Beatts declined to comment. Multiple writers have since said they’ll stop supporting Beatts and the store, including Meg Elison and Christopher Golden.
Awards
In a follow-up exchange from Friday, National Book Foundation executive director Lisa Lucas acknowledged to us that making this year’s award ceremonies virtual gives the organization “a profound financial challenge.” She notes: “We generally raise a significant portion of our annual general operating expenses at the NBA dinner and without that income, we’ll be in the same position as many others–working to retain sponsors and compelling our constituents to support the work so that the Foundation can remain strong for many years to come…. We’re optimistic, however, that book people of all kinds value the National Book Awards and will rise to the occasion to help sustain this important tradition.” The virtual event will “still have a fundraising component.”
New Ventures
Fremantle is spinning off their podcast company Storyglass, which will operate as a standalone company under the umbrella of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance UK. In its new incarnation, it will work in alliance with Penguin Random House UK, DK UK, Fremantle and BMG, “complementing the output of each of the businesses across TV, media, books and music” in podcasts. The alliance is chaired by Gail Rebuck, who says in the announcement, “Creativity defines each of these businesses and I am excited to see what this collaboration can produce.” Storyglass intends to hire a commercial director and a creative director.