Kirkus Reviews editor in chief for over six years Claiborne Smith is resigning to “focus on writing books” and supporting the San Antonio Book Festival, where he will be literary director. Newsday books editor Tom Beer will take over at Kirkus on June 17, reporting to ceo Meg Kuehn. She says in the announcement, “Tom Beer brings the literary sensibility Kirkus; readers have come to expect from us along with experience and keen instincts for reporting on books in a way that connects with reading enthusiasts.”
Sourcebooks has hired Molly Cusick, as editor for Jabberwocky, Young Readers, and Fire; and Samantha Chmara as customer service representative.
Mary Rose Amoresano has been promoted to assistant manager, mass and club sales at Workman Publishing.
June Picks
The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams is Pennie’s Pick for June at Costco.
Lists
The Panorama Project, the Rakuten OverDrive-backed library research effort, is providing quarterly Panorama Picks lists of in-demand titles at local libraries that have long wait times. The lists cover nine regions across the country, for adult fiction and nonfiction and young adult fiction. They filter out well-known bestsellers, book club picks and other heavily promoted titles, along with older titles, to focus on recently-published works that retailers and publishers might want to promote knowing that there are readers waiting for those books.