The Booker Prize announced their shortlist, with the winner to be named October 13 [Update: The correct awards date is October 25]. Two Americans — Paul Beatty for his NBCC-winning novel and Ottessa Moshfegh for her PEN/Hemingway debut winner — are in contention in a field that includes no previous Booker winners. (Deborah Levy was shortlisted in 2012 for Swimming Home.) Since the longlist, Norton has picked up US rights to Madeleine Thien’s novel, and will publish on October 11. Graeme Macrae Burnet will continue to draw attention after garnering a nomination for a crime thriller, and Skyhorse has bumped up the […]
Agency News
AAP CEO Tom Allen to Retire In Early 2017
The Association of American Publishers announced that ceo Tom Allen will retire from his post “in early 2017.” Allen has run the organization since April 2009. He says in a statement: “It has been a privilege to lead AAP these past seven years and I am proud of all we have accomplished. After twenty years commuting to and from Washington, it’s time for me to return to Maine and dedicate myself to part-time and mostly voluntary activities like environmental conservation, writing and perhaps teaching about Congress and American politics. I look forward to working with the AAP board and management team as we prepare […]
People
Jana Branson has joined Clarkson Potter this week as associate director of publicity. Previously she was director of communications at Sequential Brands Group (formerly Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia), and replaces Anna Mintz, who is leaving Clarkson Potter to move back home to Atlanta and make a lifestyle change. In addition, Erica Gelbard has been promoted to executive publicist. Park Literary & Media is now representing foreign and audio rights for Sasquatch Books. Sharon Olds has been named the recipient of the Academy of American Poets’ $100,000 Wallace Stevens Award, deemed “an American master and a national treasure”.
People, Awards, Etc.
Susan Ruszala has resigned from her position as president of NetGalley after 10 years with the company developing the business, and is exploring both consulting and full-time positions. She can be reached via sruszala@gmail.com. Fran Toolan has taken over day-to-day operations of NetGalley and “will continue to indefinitely.” VP, director of publicity at Simon & Schuster Children’s Jennifer Romanello is leaving on September 15, and will join Emi Battaglia Public Relations as a partner on October 1. (Romanello and Battaglia worked together for 20 years at Warner Books and Grand Central.) S&S Children’s president Jon Anderson writes, “In the two years she has been […]
People, Etc.
Dr. Adam Black will join Macmillan Learning as chief learning officer, to help “bolster the expertise and vision of Macmillan’s research and digital development teams.” Black began his career at Cambridge University Press before moving to Pearson to lead higher-education science, global digital innovation, technology for language learning and, most recently, efficacy and research. Macmillan Learning CEO Ken Michaels notes, “Exploring big data isn’t enough. We need to understand how our products work with each student, each instructor, and within each institution. Adam has been a pioneer in efficacy and product development and he will be instrumental to the future of […]
People
Abby Saul has left Browne & Miller to launch The Lark Group, a literary agency seeking adult commercial and literary fiction. Joe D’Onofrio will take over as director of the University of Chicago Press’s Chicago Distribution Center, filling the spot vacated by Don Linn earlier this year. Most recently D’Onofrio has been director of supply chain for Henry Schein, after leaving Simon & Schuster in 2011, where he had been svp supply chain operations for 8 years. Mary Anne Thompson Associates has been appointed US scout for CommonWeath Magazine in Taiwan. Viking UK editorial director Eleo Gordon has retired after almost 50 years with […]