Former longtime director of rights and contracts at McClelland & Stewart Marilyn Biderman has opened an eponymous literary agency, based in Toronto, and is out with her first submission in both the US and Canada: French-Canadian Marguerite Pigeon’s debut novel OPEN PIT. Biderman says she will represent genre, commercial and literary fiction, along with narrative nonfiction and memoir and “the occasional expert as a client as well.” In deciding her next step in publishing, Biderman says, “I really looked at what was important to me and where my allegiances lie. It’s always been with the publishing process and protecting the […]
Agency News
People
Vintage/Anchor publicist and bestselling author Sloane Crosley will leave her position next month after nine years at Random House to write full-time. She tells the NYT: “When it comes to book publishing, my colleagues are the most passionate people I have ever encountered outside of clinically insane religious zealots. I thank them for their boundless support both inside the office and out.” Author, editorial director of Brandon Books, and former president of the Irish Book Publishers Association Steve MacDonogh of Brandon Books, 62, died suddenly. The D4EO Literary Agency has selected the Taryn Fagerness Agency to handle foreign rights for […]
Quotable Views: Agent Emanuel, and Author O’Dell
Tough-talking William Morris Endeavor Entertainment co-CEO Ari Emanuel was interviewed at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, covered by paidContent, where he set himself (and the agency) up as the next Andrew Wylie. After an underwhelming first pass at literary representation when Endeavor as on its own, “Emanuel said one of the motivations behind merging Endeavor with William Morris last year was to get his hands on the book business, where Endeavor had no skin in the game. The reason it’s so appetizing, he said, is because it’s ripe for disintermediation. “‘I definitely don’t think I have to go […]
People: Bahash Replaces Davis at McGraw Hill Education, Qureshi Moves, and More
McGraw-Hill is splitting their financial services segment into two distinct businesses. As part of related changes announced today, current CFO Bob Bahash will take over as president of McGraw-Hill Education, replacing Peter Davis who has “left the corporation to pursue other career opportunities.” CEO Harold McGraw III says, “I want to thank Pete Davis for his many contributions to The McGraw-Hill Companies. He has been a valued colleague and leader and we all wish him well in his future career.” Bahash has been cfo since 1988, though he served in the education division earlier. He will be replaced by Jack […]
Nielsen BookScan and PM Offer New Data Service for Agents
Nielsen BookScan and PublishersMarketplace.com announce today the launch of new service for literary agents, Nielsen PublishersMarketplace BookScan. It combines Nielsen’s “industry standard” point-of-sale book sales data and charts with access via the PublishersMarketplace home page, using the look, feel and convenience of the premier publishing resource’s data and news-rich web site. The first premium upgrade service at PublishersMarketplace since it launched almost nine years ago, Nielsen PublishersMarketplace BookScan provides agents with unlimited searches of the BookScan database, weekly updates, complete author reports, and title reports tracking weekly sales, regional sales, and even DMA sales. A complete package of BookScan’s more […]
People, Awards, Etc.
ICM has hired Nick Harris from Mosaic (which he joined last November) as co-head of their book-to-film department, alongside the newly-promoted Josie Freedman, who has been at ICM since 2001. Harris was a partner at Rabineau Wachter Sanford Harris, and prior to that worked at AP Watt. Borders has named Scott Henry as their new evp, chief financial officer, effective today, filling the post vacated by Mark Bierley in August. Henry, 45, has been president of business and financial consulting services firm S.D. Henry Strategic Services, after five years as cfo of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Barnes & Noble has […]