Taylor Maccoux has been promoted to editor for Sourcebooks Wonderland.
Jennifer Gingerich has joined Nelson Books as associate publisher. She previously lead and directed content development for Ramsey Solutions.
Brian Ramcharan has joined Penguin Random House Audio as a producer. He was most recently a junior producer at Simon & Schuster Audio.
Sarah Gerton has been promoted to agent at Curtis Brown.
Pearson announced that Michael Lynton will step down from the board at the 2021 annual meeting.
Forthcoming
Hunter Biden will tell his story in a memoir, BEAUTIFUL THINGS, which will be published by Gallery Books on April 6. The book “details Hunter’s descent into substance abuse and his tortuous path to sobriety.”
Picks
The GMA Book Club selected How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones.
Distribution
University of Texas Press will be distributed by the Chicago Distribution Center starting July 1.
Controversies
National Book Critics Circle board member Charles Finch apologized for offensive tweets directed at novelist Brandon Taylor, a finalist for the NBCC’s John Leonard Prize. Finch’s initial post on February 1 referenced the PM deal announcement of Taylor’s forthcoming novel, THE LATE AMERICANS, set within a creative community in Iowa City, writing “Lol guess we’re still doing this crap.” After some people objected to the disparagement, he replied, “Just tired of novels and stories and books with vague themes set at the Iowa MFA program. People are bringing a lot of other stuff to the table.” Shortly after the original post, he locked his account.
Finch’s tweets drew criticism, in light of racial implications (Taylor is Black and the NBCC struggled with diversity and inclusion issues last summer), as well as a perceived conflict of interest regarding the prize. Taylor posted on February 3, “I am leaving Twitter because writing requires a lot of vulnerability on my part, and I can’t go to the places I need to go if I log on here and see some Caucasian man disparaging my art.”
Subsequently, Finch apologized from his still-locked account: “Hi – I wrote this tweet as a snarky comment on what struck me as the durability of the MFA campus novel. I didn’t include the author or title of the book, because I’m sure it will be a wonderful novel – it’s still not even written. I sincerely apologize to whomever I hurt.” He added that the original post “needless to say doesn’t represent the views on the campus novel or author or publisher of any organization for which I volunteer.” NBCC president David Varno told PL that Finch will remain on the board through his term ending in March 2021.