Former publisher at Atavist Books and Picador Frances Coady will join Aragi Inc. as a literary agent on May 28, representing both fiction and nonfiction. Fuse Literary has acquired Penumbra Literary and added its principal and owner, Jennifer Chen Tran as an associate agent. At independent publisher Sarabande Books’ Brooklyn office, Kristen Radtke has been promoted to managing editor, and Ariel Lewiton joined as the marketing and publicity director. Previously she worked at Oxford University Press and McGraw-Hill. The University of South Carolina will announce this week that they have acquired a substantial collection of letters, photos and publications of the late Dashiell Hammett. The archives have been obtained “through gift-and-purchase agreements” […]
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Owner of Houston independent mystery bookshop Murder By the Book McKenna Jordan will join Minotaur Books as a dedicated outside publishing consultant to the imprint, a newly created role. Jordan will report to associate publisher Kelley Ragland, who will help Jordan make “her unique and successful experience in the positioning, selling, and marketing of mysteries and crime fiction available on an exclusive basis to Minotaur’s staff of editors and marketers.” Minotaur publisher Andy Martin said in the announcement: “Since I joined Minotaur Books in 2006, I have eagerly sought the advice of some of the great practitioners in the field […]
Kindle Unlimited Pool Grows But Per Book Fee Stays In Range
Amazon provided their monthly discretionary boost to the KDP fund that tells self-published authors — retroactively — how much they will be paid for ebooks borrowed through Kindle Unlimited. For April accounting, the pool totals $9.8 million, the highest monthly amount yet. But the fee per book borrowed through KU remains in the relatively low range, at $1.355 per read. (That translates into roughly 7.232 million borrows for the month.) For the 10 months since KU began, through April, Amazon has paid out approximately $67.3 million so far.
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Rob Kirkpatrick will join Dey Street Books as senior editor on May 18. Previously he was senior editor at Thomas Dunne Books. Emily Cunningham will join Penguin Press as editor on June 9. Previously she was an editor at Harper. At Penguin Random House Children’s sales group, Jacqueline Engel has been promoted to vp, group sales director and director, field sales & business development, Penguin Young Readers. In addition, Mark Santella moves up to vp, group sales director and director, mass merchandise sales, Random House Children’s Books. Both Engel and Santella will report to Felicia Frazier. Nick Elliot has joined […]
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After under 3 years in the post, Follett ceo Mary Lee Schneider is departing, to be replaced by Ray Griffith. He spent 20 years at Ace Hardware, where he was president and ceo until April 2013. The company said, “The son of a public school teacher and grade school principal who began his career managing a local retail store, Ray has the right experience and strategic vision to drive Follett to continued success.” In the announcement, Schneider comments: “I have been proud to be a part of the Follett story for the past 14 years, first as a member of the board […]
Six Writers Drop Out As PEN Gala Hosts, Objecting to Charlie Hebdo Award
When PEN American Center hosts its annual gala on May 5, six of its planned author hosts will not be in attendance. On Friday, novelists Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi alerted the organization of their withdrawal from the gala over the decision to award its Freedom of Expression Courage award to the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which saw 12 staffers killed in the January 7 attack on its offices. Prose told the AP she was “quite upset” at the Hebdo honor, adding: “I couldn’t imagine being in the audience when they […]