Jodi Weiss has been promoted to the newly created position of chief sales officer at Workman Publishing, unifying the Workman sales teams under a single leader for the first time. She reports to ceo Dan Reynolds, who says: “Jodi is extremely hardworking and a natural problem solver; she understands the importance of getting to know the book, she collaborates with both the publisher and the editor, she partners with other departments including customer service and IT, and she is immersed in the data that helps guide her. And she is notably relentless about getting our books into very competitive and curated markets. All of this makes Jodi perfectly positioned to help Workman navigate a very mercurial book landscape.”
Jennifer Baker has joined Amistad as senior editor. She was previously managing editor at Random House.
At Graywolf Press, Steve Woodward has been promoted to senior editor; Anni Liu to associate editor; Chantz Erolin to editor; Caroline Nitz to publicity director; Shaina Robinson to marketing and events coordinator; Mattan Comay to sales and operations manager; Shiraz Sitaram to development associate; and Josh Ostergaard to senior development officer. Ill Nippashi has joined as marketing associate and Kiki Nicole as 2021 Citizen Literary Fellow.
Erinn Hartman has been promoted to vice president, senior director of publicity, at Knopf and Pantheon, reporting to Paul Bogaards. Newly reporting to Hartman will be Michiko Clark, Josie Kals, Jess Purcell, Abby Endler, and Kathy Zuckerman.
At Phaidon Press, Linda Brennan, vice president of global marketing and communications. Siobhan Bent is now the global director of marketing & publicity based in New York. Bav Shah becomes head of Phaidon.com digital based in London.
Emily Tobin has been promoted to marketing director for Zondervan Bibles.
Heather Carr has been promoted to agent at The Friedrich Agency.
At Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, Sharon Pelletier has been promoted to senior agent; Amy Bishop to agent and digital coordinator; and Michaela Whatnall to film rights coordinator. Cat Hosch has joined as finance manager. Andrew Dugan has joined as finance and sub rights associate.
Awards
PEN America announced shortlists for their 2021 Literary Awards across a number of categories. The nominees for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award ($75,000) are:
Borderland Apocrypha, by Anthony Cody (Omnidawn)
The Death of Vivek Oji, by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead)
Be Holding: A Poem, by Ross Gay (University of Pittsburgh Press)
The Freezer Door, by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (Semiotext(e)/Native Agents)
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD)
Up for the PEN/Hemingway Award For Debut Novel:
These Ghosts Are Family, by Maisy Card (Simon & Schuster)
Luster, by Raven Leilani (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press)
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD)
How Much of These Hills Is Gold, by C Pam Zhang (Riverhead Books)
The Story Prize Spotlight Award for books published in 2020 was given to Inheritors by Asako Serizawa.