At Liza Dawson Associates, Monica Odom has been promoted to associate agent, and also serves as manager of finance and social media development. The recipients of the 2013 Rona Jaffe Foundation Awards are Tiffany Briere (fiction/nonfiction), Ashlee Crews (fiction), Kristin Dombek (nonfiction), Margaree Little (poetry), Kirstin Valdez Quade (fiction), and Jill Sisson Quinn (nonfiction) The National Book Awards will announce their first-ever longlists exclusively on The Daily Beast over a four-day period beginning September 16 with the Young People’s Literature category (the Poetry longlist will be announced September 17, followed by Nonfiction on the 18th and Fiction on the 19th.) […]
Agency News
People, Etc.
Don Sedgwick is stepping down as chairman, director, and shareholder in the Transatlantic Agency after fifteen years. He explains in a statement that “most of my days are now taken up as executive director of the new MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King’s College (Halifax). I need to ensure that these MFA students are given independent and unbiased advice about how to get their work published.” Louise Fury is joining The Bent Agency as an agent in their New York office. She represents young adult, new adult,romance, commercial fiction, pop culture and select nonfiction. Fury was previously at […]
People, Etc.
Donald Winchester will join Watson, Little as a literary agent on October 1. Previously he was an agent at AP Watt, and his client list will move with him. Liz Egan notes on Twitter that she starts this week as books editor at Glamour Magazine. She was an editor at Amazon Publishing. Chairman of Constable & Robinson in the UK Nick Robinson, 58, died following a long illness. He started Robinson Publishing in 1983, and merged the company with Constable in 1999. There is a Facebook memorial page here. Hachette Book Group senior sales rep Conan Gorenstein, 64, died suddenly on September 1 at his […]
Sale of IMG Begins In Earnest
The long-expected sale of IMG Worldwide is now underway, the WSJ reports, with Morgan Stanley and Evercore running the offer on behalf of Forstmann Little. CAA and its private-equity backer TPG is one potential bidder; William Morris (with capital from their backer Silver Lake) is considered a possible bidder as well. Not mentioned in the WSJ story is Lagardere. They are IMG’s major rival in sports marketing and representation, and the conglomerate has expressed interest in acquiring IMG in the past. (By the same token, a talent agency acquiring IMG would find themselves Lagardere’s rival in sports.)
Digital Imprints: HQN First, Renaissance
Harlequin will expand its digital-first offerings (which began in 2010 with the launch of Carina Press) beginning this fall. Harlequin-E will introduce short digital works (minimum 10,000 words) in categories that don’t fit in existing series lines. Harlequin Teen will launch its digital first program on October 1 with STIR ME UP by debut author Sabrina Elkins, a contemporary young adult novel with New Adult crossover appeal. And both Mira and HQN will launch digital-first programs in the first quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, add to the list of growing ebook operations from literary agencies the full-service efforts from Renaissance Literary […]
People
Valentina Kalk will leave her position as chief of UN Publications in late September to become director of the Brookings Institution Press in Washington DC. Jonathan Hevenstone has joined Atypon as svp business development. The company, which provides a software-as-a-service content delivery platform that has focused on STM publishers, will be expanding to “adjacent publishing areas.” Hevenstone was vp business development at SourceHOV and prior that he worked at Jouve. The recently-formed League of Assistant Editors — focused on helping young editors and agents connect with each other to advance the next generation of publishing professionals and authors — has […]