Longtime evp and general counsel of the Association of American Publishers Allan Adler will leave the organization on October 15. CEO Maria Pallante said: “With the Board of Directors, I want to thank Allan for his tireless public policy work on behalf of the publishing industry over the course of some 24 years. As a lawyer, leader, and advocate for AAP, Allan applied great skill and expertise to countless complex issues and proceedings—both domestic and international—and helped to define, defend, and advance the rights of copyright and freedom of expression that are essential to the creative industries and marketplace of ideas. As large and small publishing houses made important, dynamic transitions to online distribution, eBooks, audiobooks, and digital learning platforms, Allan helped to guide the corresponding critical response to Internet-era public policy challenges.”
Emily Cunningham has been promoted to senior editor at Penguin Press.
Alice Wang has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s as designer; previously she was assistant designer at Harper Children’s.
Dorian Randall has joined Edmison/Harper as a scout. Randall was previously at HarperCollins.
Edward Snowden, has agreed to place earnings from his book and speeches in a trust as part of an agreement in the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice, pending a potential appeal of the case. He received a $4 million advance for world rights for his book PERMANENT RECORD from Holtzbrinck in Germany, and had another $200,000 in royalties and related rights.
Controversies
Tia Mele, junior agent at Talcott Notch Literary Services, resigned over offensive Tweets about Black people she posted in 2012 and 2014. She apologized on Monday: “I am sincerely sorry for the ignorant remarks I have made in the past. I understand that being young isn’t an excuse for ignorance… I have resigned from my position at Talcott Notch and will be taking time to continue to educate myself and grow as a person.”
Talcott Notch president Gina Panettieri told PL in a statement that the agency requested Mele’s resignation after “a rash of hateful tweets were brought to our attention.” The statement continues, “I have typically vetted candidates’ social media for the previous 12 months from the time of their application for an assistant or agent position, and had found no offensive statements or attitudes in my examination of that period prior to engaging Ms. Mele…. The statements in question betray the very core values of our agency. We have reached out to all of Ms. Mele’s clients to consult with them over next steps and we are also discussing internally what additional steps we must take in the future in vetting candidates. We sincerely apologize for the hurt caused by her statements.”
Awards
The National Book Foundation announced its 5 Under 35 honorees:
K-Ming Chang, Bestiary (One World)
Naima Coster, Halsey Street (Little A)
Raven Leilani, Luster (FSG) (Excerpted and available for download now in our Buzz Books 2020 Spring/Summer sampler)
Fatima Farheen Mirza, A Place for Us (SJP for Hogarth)
C Pam Zhang, How Much of These Hills Is Gold (Riverhead)
(Coster’s second novel moved to Grand Central, scheduled for March 2021.)
Forthcoming
Former Speaker of the House John Boehner‘s previously announced memoir will be published on April 13, 2021 by St. Martin’s.