OverDrive has hired Brian Gurewitz as director of content sales. He was formerly president of library sales for Random House’s Books on Tape.
Katie O’Callaghan is joining the Harper as associate director, marketing, working across all of the Harper imprints including Harper, Harper Business, and Broadside Books. She was most recently senior marketing manager at Ballantine Bantam Dell.
The Los Angeles Times book review will no longer employ freelance book reviewers or non-staff columnists. LAT spokesperson Nancy Sullivan tells PW, “This was a cost-saving move, strictly related to our budget.” She said “staff writers from outside the book department will take over for those who left. We have not changed our commitment to book coverage or the amount of space the Times will devote to it.” Columns by Susan Salter Reynolds and Richard Raynor are among the features being eliminated as a result of the move.
At Little Brown UK, Emma Beswetherick is being promoted to editorial director at Piatkus for fiction and Rebecca Saunders is moving up to editorial director at Sphere for commercial women’s fiction.
In June YA author John Green caused a stir by announcing the title of his new book for 2012–THE FAULT IN OUR STARS–and promising to sign every copy in the first printing, driving pre-orders to the top of online bestseller lists. Now Dutton Juvenile is moving up the release to January 20, 2012 (from the original May 2012 date). Green will indeed sign 150,000 copies–a process he will document on his Vlogbrothers YouTube channel.