North Atlantic Books executive director and publisher Doug Reil will step down after nine years with the company and three years in his current role. Succeeding Reil as interim publisher is Tim McKee, who said in the announcement: “I am excited to continue North Atlantic Books’ dynamic tradition of publishing cutting-edge books on the transformation of self, society and consciousness. I work with a supremely talented staff, board, and management team with industry savvy, as well as a compelling list of authors. I am honored to play a role in galvanizing our collective strengths toward an expansive future.” Reil added: “participating in the ongoing evolution of North Atlantic Books has been a special time for me, and I am very grateful for the opportunity and experience. NAB is moving in exciting directions and I wish everyone involved well-deserved success in the future.”
Sean Manning joins Simon & Schuster today as a senior editor, acquiring fiction, memoirs, reported nonfiction, business books, cultural explorations, and “anything else with a distinctive and exciting literary voice.” He has been articles editor at Popular Mechanics for the past year, and was executive editor of the in-flight magazine Rhapsody when it received attention for trying to be “the Paris Review of the air.” He is also the editor of five anthologies.
Cathryn Summerhayes will join Curtis Brown UK as an agent on September 1. She was at William Morris Endeavor in London for 10 years (after starting as an intern at CB UK).
At Ten Speed Press, Natalie Mulford has been promoted to senior marketing & publicity manager.
Dave Barrett has joined little bee books as managing editor. Previously he was managing editor at Macmillan Children’s.
Preorders
Booksellers are celebrating significant pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts I & II, which publishes on July 31. Barnes & Noble says the title is their “most pre-ordered book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007,” and chief merchandising offer Mary Amicucci says in the announcement, “we expect it to be our biggest selling book of the year.” Similarly, in the UK Waterstones says that pre-orders of the playscript have passed 100,000 units.
Last summer Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman was declared Amazon’s “most pre-ordered print title” since the release of Deathly Hallows. After opening day, BN said that sales of that title “at its bookstores nationwide have surpassed first day sales of all other adult trade fiction books in its company history.”