Tina Bennett has left William Morris Endeavor to form a new agency, Bennett Literary, in collaboration with ICM Partners, which will provide subrights, business affairs, and contract management services to the new venture. Min Lee will join Hachette Book Group on March 2 as senior vice president and general counsel, reporting to Michael Pietsch and joining HBG’s executive management board. Lee was previously was senior vice president, associate general counsel and global head of compliance Penguin Random House. She succeeds Carol Ross, who will retire from HBG in June. Meghan Houser will join Flatiron Books as senior editor on January 13. […]
Audio
Audible Attorney Says “Only a Few Outstanding Issues Remain” on Captions Settlement
Audible and the publishers who sued the company over the planned Captions feature adding scrolling text to audiobooks may be close to a resolution. According to Audible attorney Emily Reisbaum, in a letter to Judge Valerie Caproni on December 27, “there are only a few outstanding issues requiring further negotiation.” In that update, Reisbaum, saying “we write on behalf of all parties,” asked the court for still more time to continue negotiations. Given that they have been asking for extensions since the beginning of October, Judge Caproni had ordered on December 18 that “any further request for suspension of consideration […]
People, Etc.
At Simon & Schuster Audio, Tiffany Frarey has been promoted to senior associate producer; Gaby Audet to marketing coordinator; and Desiree Vecchio to senior editor. Tamar McCollom has been promoted to assistant editor at Scribner. At Waterbrook Multnomah, Laura Barker has been promoted to vice president and publisher. Andrew Stoddard becomes editorial director. Kristopher Orr is moving to the newly created position of designer for Christian books, starting January 1. He will be working within the Random House Creative Services department, based in New York, reporting to senior director Annette Melvin. Ericka Weed has been promoted to ad operations coordinator. […]
People, Etc.
Sheila O’Shea will join Farrar, Straus as svp and director of marketing and publicity, starting November 18. Most recently, she was senior executive director, marketing communications at Hearst, which she joined in 2014 after 17 years at Penguin Random House. Director of publicity Sarita Varma will report to O’Shea. Publisher Mitzi Angel says in the announcement, “Sheila’s love of books, her enthusiasm, and her wide-ranging experience in both publicity and marketing will be invaluable. She will make a vital contribution to FSG as it looks to the future.” Joanna Pinsker joined Atria Publishing Group this week as deputy director of […]
Awards: Whitehead, Jones, Craft Win Kirkus Prizes; PW’s Best of 2019, and More
The winners of the $50,000 Kirkus Prizes were announced on Thursday evening. The fiction prize went to Colson Whitehead‘s The Nickel Boys (Doubleday), with judges noting that it “evokes race in America not as a concept but as a condition of being.” Saeed Jones‘ memoir How We Fight for Our Lives (Simon & Schuster) won the nonfiction prize. Judges said, “His tenacious honesty compels us to be honest with ourselves. His experiences—negotiating grief, family dynamics, and a forthright identity—require our reckoning.” New Kid (HarperCollins), written & illustrated by Jerry Craft, was awarded the prize for children’s literature, for being a “laugh-out-loud […]
People, Etc.
Christopher Richards and Will Heyward have both been promoted to senior editor at Penguin Press. Leslie Cohen has been promoted to senior production manager, production services, at Chronicle Books. Elizabeth Breeden has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Simon & Schuster. At Simon & Schuster, Henna Cho has been promoted to sales associate on the digital & online sales team. Kyla Pigoni has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Amazon Publishing. Trevor Ketner has joined Ladderbird Literary Agency. Ketner is the publisher and founder of Skull + Wind Press. In the UK, Kris Doyle and Sophie Jonathan have […]