David Ebershoff will rejoin Random House as vice president and executive editor starting January 4. Though he reports to Andy Ward, Ebershoff “will be focusing on the Hogarth list,” while also acquiring for the Random House list. Ebersoff was previously executive editor at Random House for 20 years until 2015.
At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Priscilla Painton has been promoted to vp, editorial director for nonfiction program. Reporting to publisher Dana Canedy, Painton “will work with our editors to expand, diversify, and strengthen our already stellar nonfiction list.”
Hannah Phillips, Kevin Reilly, Gwen Hawkes, Alice Pfeifer, Sallie Lotz, and Sarah Grill have each been promoted to associate editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
On Submission
Author of Too Much and Never Enough, Mary L. Trump is shopping a second book, Page Six reports, now represented by Pilar Queen at UTA. Her first book was represented by William Morris Endeavor.
Obituaries
Macmillan’s senior field sales and national account manager, Ingram Kids Don O’Connor died on Friday, November 13. He had just marked 30 years with the sales team, joining the company in 2007 as a Fifth Avenue field sales rep for the New York metro area. President, sales Jenn Gonzalez writes, “Don was a fierce advocate for all Macmillan books with an extra fondness for Tor’s list. Don always made sure his accounts came first and had everything they needed. In one of my last conversations with Don, he told me that he had sold an extra season of the kids list early to make sure that there was no disruption in service to his account. He also shared his love of books with his daughter, whom he recruited to work at Macmillan seven years ago.” A Celebration of Life will happen at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked to donate to your local indie bookstore.
Former president of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company William B. Eerdmans Jr., 97, who led the publisher for more than 50 years, also died on Friday. He started work at the company when he was thirteen, and took over as president from his father in 1963. The company writes, “Bill is remembered both as a friend to all and as a trailblazing publisher who broadened the company’s list beyond its Reformed Protestant roots to comprise books on ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and on race, gender, and other social issues while continuing to publish the scholarly titles for which the company has long been well-known.” There will be a private family graveside service this week with a public memorial service to be planned when large gatherings are safe.
Former longtime editor Fred Hills, 85, “a man of eternal optimism and tremendous energy” as his family put it, died on November 7. Hills retired from his job at the Free Press in 2006 after over 40 years in publishing (including 26 years at Simon & Schuster). His authors over the years included Vladimir Nabokov (Look at the Harlequins), Raymond Carver (his first story collection, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?), Daniel Yergin (The Prize), M. Scott Peck, and many others.
Controversies
Australian celebrity chef Pete Evans‘ books have been pulled from major retailers in Australia including Woolworths, Kmart, and Target after he posted Nazi imagery on Instagram. Evans’ post was a cartoon which included a butterfly with the black sun, a Nazi symbol, on its wing. Publisher Pan Macmillan has said retailers can return his books and they will not be publishing any additional books by Evans. The company said, “Pan Macmillan does not support the recent posts made by Pete Evans. Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff.”
Evans wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, “Sincere apologies to anyone who misinterpreted a previous post of a caterpillar and a butterfly having a chat over a drink and perceived that I was promoting hatred. I look forward to studying all of the symbols that have ever existed and research them thoroughly before posting.” Previously, Evans has received criticism for promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
Awards
The ALA announced the six books shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals:
Fiction
A Burning, by Megha Majumdar (Knopf)
Deacon King Kong, by James McBride (Riverhead)
Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar (Little, Brown)
Nonfiction
Fathoms, by Rebecca Giggs (Simon & Schuster)
Just Us, by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press)
Memorial Drive, by Natasha Trethewey (Ecco)
