Roger Cooper will assist digital publisher Rosetta Books as associate publisher-at-large, helping to secure new titles and original publishing opportunities as well as adding backlist ebooks. Rosetta is the first client for Cooper’s recently-created consulting firm Roger Cooper Book Associates.
Francis Lam will join Clarkson Potter as editor-at-large on February 19, reporting to Pam Krauss, where he will be “seeking out new voices in the culinary landscape to contribute both cookbooks and works of narrative nonfiction.” Previously he was features editor at online food market and magazine Gilt Taste.
The Gersh Agency has signed Oxford University Press to an exclusive agreement, and will represent the publisher’s extensive catalog of academic and trade titles, exploring film, television and digital opportunities for the company.
At Atria, Yona Deshommes has been promoted to senior publicity manager; Mellony Torres has been promoted to publicity manager, and Ariele Fredman has been promoted to senior publicist.
The Story Prize announced its three finalists, with the winner of the $20,000 to be announced at an ceremony held in New York on March 13:
Stay Awake by Dan Chaon (Ballantine)
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz (Riverhead)
Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins (Riverhead)
In addition, the annual award launched a new prize, the Story Prize Spotlight Award, which gives $1,000 for “a short story collection worthy of additional attention.” The inaugural winner is Drifting House by Krys Lee (Viking). About the new award, Story Prize director Larry Dark said in a statement “We created this award because we always read and admire more books than we can honor as finalists. And we’re always looking for new ways to further our mission: to support and encourage the writing and publishing of short stories. This will also give us an opportunity to honor books that we believe have a lot of merit but don’t get the accolades they deserve.”
Waterstones announced 11 authors they have selected as “debut literary stars of 2013,” including January Indie Next No. 1 pick Y by Marjorie Celona. As best we can tell, three of the books on the Waterstones list don’t have announced US publishers yet:
Marriage Material, by Sathnam Sanghera
The Spinning Heart, by Donal Ryan
The Son, by Michel Rostain