Random House vp, executive editor David Ebershoff is leaving the imprint next month after more than 20 years to write full-time, announced “with the greatest respect, understanding, and personal affection” by Random House publisher and editor-in-chief Susan Kamil. “We all know that David’s commitment to both of his creative paths has been enormous. Yet deep as his devotion is to the authors he has edited, David has decided that the time has come for him to devote himself completely to his own writing.” Among Ebershoff’s authors are David Mitchell, Adam Johnson, Teju Cole, Gary Shteyngart, and the estates of Norman Mailer and Truman Capote.
Kamil continued: “David will leave us with an extraordinary legacy of authors that will be shared among and carried forward by our gifted Random House editors. It has been a privilege for us to learn from and work with him.” Random House also announced it will publish Ebershoff’s next novel The Prodigies, to be edited by Kate Medina. The film version of Ebershoff’s novel The Danish Girl, starring Eddie Redmayne, is due to open in theaters in late November.
At Simon & Schuster, Kimberly Goldstein has been promoted to director of managing editorial, adding supervisory responsibility for the managing editors for all all of the adult imprints: Simon & Schuster, Gallery, Threshold and Pocket, and Scribner and Touchstone, while remain the managing editor for Atria.
Scholastic announced a number of recent hires and promotions. Lori Benton has been promoted to vp, digital publisher and president of Weston Woods and Scholastic Audio, while Duryan Bhagat-Clark moves up to senior director, frontlist planning and managing editor of Audio and Weston Woods. Leslie Garych has been named vp, managing editor, while Anne Henderson is promoted to senior director, planning and operations. Tracy Mack has been promoted to vp, publisher, Scholastic Inc, and Charisse Meloto moves up to vp, publicity brand strategy. Finally, Suzanne Lagasa has joined the trade group as senior designer. Most recently, she was a designer at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Jen Keenan will join Little, Brown Children’s as senior designer on October 26. She was most recently a freelance art director and illustrator, and has also worked at Sterling Children’s.
In the UK, Picador editorial director Kate Harvey will move to Harvill Secker on January 18, where she will be deputy publishing director.
Obituary
Longtime book editor, publishing executive and then literary agent Gerald Gross, 94, died at home in Baltimore of bladder cancer on October 14. In his publishing career Gross worked at Harcourt Brace, Pantheon, and then Macmillan. Later in life, he helped to establish Kneerim & Williams and worked as a book agent, and “continued to advise authors from his home in Baltimore until shortly before his death.”
NYT
Novelist and writer Paul West (and husband of Diane Ackerman), 85, died on Sunday at home.
Former librarian once ranked as Amazon’s No. 1 user/book reviewer (and still No. 1 in their “Hall of Fame” that “honors those who have been highly ranked in previous years”) Harriet Klausner died on October 15.