Karrie Witkin will join Abrams on October 21 in the newly created role of editorial director, Gift and Paper Products. Previously she was senior editor and publishing manager for Potter Style. In addition, Maya Bradford has been promoted to publicist, adult trade. At Atria, Sarah Cantin has been promoted to editor. Sulay Hernandez has left Other Press. She can be reached at SulayHernandez.Ed@gmail.com. Random House Children’s Books announced that RJ Palacio‘s WONDER has crossed the 1 million copy sales mark in North America. PGW has added seven more clients to its distribution list, including the Los Angeles Review of Books, Patagonia […]
Munro Wins the Nobel
The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded this morning to Alice Munro, cited briefly as “master of the contemporary short story.” She is the 13th woman and first Canadian (aside from 1976 winner Saul Bellow, born near Montreal) to win the literature prize, which comes one year after her most recent short story collection DEAR LIFE and several months after telling the National Post and the New York Times she had retired from writing. In a follow-up interview with press Swedish Academy permanent secretary Peter Englund said: “I think no one has better deconstructed the central myth of modern romantic […]
Apollo Said to be Looking to Sell McGraw Hill Professional
Having acquired McGraw-Hill Education in March for just over $2.5 million, Apollo Global Management is reportedly looking to sell off some of the parts less related to core higher ed and K-12 markets. The WSJ reports they are shopping “the professional business,” though it’s not clear if the reporters understand McGraw-Hill’s business portfolio. The story describes the assets for sale as including “a medical information business called AccessMedicine, as well as a reference title business and trade publishing arm.” The company has an actual division called McGraw-Hill Professional that comprises their professional and trade book titles — with components focused […]
People, Etc.
Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the latest pick for the Today Book Club. Hachette Book Group filed suit against Stephen Baldwin in New York Supreme Court, seeking to recover a $110,000 advance against a nonfiction originally due in 2009 that they say he never delivered. Harper UK is setting up a new fiction imprint, within their Harper Fiction division, called The Borough Press. Launching in 2014 — and publishing their already-announced Austen Project that has well-known authors retelling Jane Austen’s classics — it is led by Katie Espiner. As part of a reorganization that consolidates all […]
People, Etc.
Melina Gerosa Bellows has been promoted to publisher of National Geographic Books, adding responsibility for sales, marketing and distribution to her current role as National Geographic’s chief creative officer for Books, Kids and Family. Ken Rhodes has been promoted to managing director, NBN International. Will Lach is joining the American Museum of Natural History as director, licensing and publishing. Previously he was manager of product development, Department of Printed Product, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Ross Harris has been promoted to literary agent. At Harper Children’s, Melissa Miller has been promoted to editor […]
Forthcoming: Nobel Literature Prize Announced Thursday; Morning Joe Hosts For National Book Awards; Russell Novella Leads Atavist Books List; and More
Just in time for Frankfurt, the Nobel Prize for Literature will announce its winner on Thursday, October 10, at 7 AM EDT. The National Book Awards will be hosted by “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Crain’s reported in advance of this morning’s official announcement. The show will also announce the award shortlists on October 16, repeating the same gambit as last year. Perseus ceo and National Book Foundation chairman David Steinberger said of Morning Joe duo, “If you want to reach the broader culture, they are the perfect vehicle”, but he is also their publisher (via Perseus […]