Literary agent Loretta Barrett, 74, died peacefully in Manhattan from complications of a brain tumor, her agency reports. Barrett began working in publishing in 1967 as an editor at Anchor Press, where she was promoted to editor-in-chief in 1970. She left Doubleday in 1990 to start her agency, Loretta Barrett Books. Barrett served on board of directors of Reading is Fundamental for 32 years, most recently as secretary, and in 2011 the organization honored her efforts, reporting that she was personally responsible for an estimated 3 million new books being given to poor American children to keep as their own. […]
Agency News
People, Etc.
Amazon’s director of author and publisher relations Jon Fine “has decided to leave the company at the end of the year,” according to internal announcement cited by Porter Anderson. The note from Charles Kronbach says, “Over the last seven years, he has represented Amazon at hundreds of publishing and author events around the world, helping to raise awareness about the myriad opportunities Amazon offers to the storytelling community. More to come on transition as we move towards Jon’s departure at year’s end.” Fine first joined Amazon in 2006 as director of copyright and media law. At Viking Penguin, Melanie Tortoroli […]
People, Etc.
Andrew Kidd “has decided to leave agenting” and will depart Aitken Alexander at the end of October after 6 years there. The announcement says he will “pursue a new path in the book industry,” apparently to be announced in November. Eric Price has joined Melville House in the newly created role of vp, business development. Previously he was director of sales and marketing at Quercus US and before then was associate publisher and coo at Grove Atlantic. At Penguin Random House US, Akiko Iwamoto has been promoted to regional sales director, Asia, while Mike Zaug moves up to regional sales director, […]
People
Perseus announced internally on Monday “several key changes” in their international sales and rights business to fuel their growth, including a number of new appointments. A newly created vp of international sales and marketing will oversee the London and New York-based international sales teams from New York once a search is completed. VP of international sales and business development Chitra Bopardikar “has decided to depart the company to pursue new interests.” The company has created a new international operations & communications department, with Agustina Casal leading the new unit as director, reporting to Carolyn Savarese in the role. (Casal continues to work on the Faber Factory […]
Slaughter Squares Off with IRS Over Self-Employment Tax On Royalties
Last week Forbes uncovered two previously unreported lawsuits in US tax court which saw thriller writer Karin Slaughter square off against the Internal Revenue Service. While the suits themselves are interesting on their own, they are particularly relevant for authors with respect to the classification of book royalties as self-employment income, something the IRS has held for more than six decades. The first suit, which Slaughter settled with the IRS in July, covered the 2008 tax year, for which the IRS “had been demanding $146,155 in tax and a $29,231 penalty on top of the $1.14 million [Slaughter] originally paid.” […]
Agency Celebrations
It’s a big month for celebrating milestone anniversaries for a number of well-known literary agencies. Writers House went first on Tuesday night to commemorate their 40th, at the Morgan Library, joined by over 500 people. (The event also served as a surprise 83rd birthday celebration for Writers House founder and chairman emeritus Al Zuckerman.) Over the course of September, additional agency events will honor Inkwell Management (10 years old), Curtis Brown (100 years old), and Levine Greenberg Rostan (25 years old).