The ABA named Philipp Meyer’s THE SON their No. 1 pick for June. That’s three No. 1s in a row for the Spring/Summer edition of our Buzz Books 2013 sampler (following Anthony Marra and Kate Atkinson). There are 4 other Indie Next June picks that you can preview right now in Buzz Books (Bulawayo, Miller, Disclafani, and Wascom). In all, nearly half of the 28 books we first featured and previewed in February have made “best of the month” lists from major booksellers over the past three months. Download it while you still can to read excerpts of these titles […]
Awards
People, Awards, Etc.
Longtime Author Solutions ceo Kevin Weiss is leaving the company for a new position (to be announced separately next week). President of Penguin International Andrew Phillips is taking over as ceo of Author Solutions, which Penguin acquired last July. Phillips led the launch of Partridge, the Penguin Author Solutions partnership in India. Penguin chairman and ceo John Makinson said in the announcement: “This is a bitter-sweet announcement because we shall be sorry to lose Kevin, who has provided the stability and clear leadership that Author Solutions needed in the year after our acquisition. But I always recognised that Kevin would seek […]
People: Sontz Takes Over As Powell’s CEO
Powell’s Books longtime chief operating officer Miriam Sontz will take over as the bookseller’s ceo, as Emily Powell relinquishes that title to “step fully into her role as the owner of Powell’s Books, focusing on the stewardship of Powell’s long-term future, health, and vitality.” She wrote in a memo to employees: “In Miriam’s 28 years at Powell’s she has held many roles — from Beaverton store manager to co-CEO. Powell’s owes much of its arc through life to Miriam — to her persistent, loving dedication to Powell’s, to bookselling, and to integrity.” Sontz says, “We are well-positioned to continue efficiencies […]
People: Maja Thomas to Leave HBG After 22 Years
Senior vice president of Hachette Digital & Audio Maja Thomas will leave her full-time position at the company after 22 years with Time Warner and then HBG, “for the next exciting chapter of her career.” As ceo Michael Pietsch notes, Thomas “has been a pioneer in the creation of HBG’s ebook and audiobook businesses. She has brought her vision, leadership, and entrepreneurial drive to the development of these key areas of our company and delivered enormously successful results and growth.” She has led Hachette Audio since 2000, and Hachette Digital since 2005, and “in the past three years Maja has […]
People, Etc.
Hannah Wood has moved to Harper as an associate editor. Isaac Fitzgerald will join McSweeney’s Publishing as publicity director on May 1. Previously he was managing editor of the literary website The Rumpus. Harper Christian has licensed exclusive rights to sell and distribute print editions of the entire catalog of titles from Spanish publishing house Editorial CLIE worldwide outside of Spain. The announcement underscores that the agreement includes the popular 1977 revised Reina-Valera Spanish Bible translation. CLIE books will be issued by Harper Christian as a separate imprint in their international roster, joining Grupo Nelson and Vida. As noted previously, it’s […]
LAT Awards Honor Boo, Caro, Fountain and Shipstead
On Friday night the winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Awards were named. They include: Biography Robert Caro, The Passage of Power (Knopf) Current Interest Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Random House) Fiction Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ecco) First Fiction Maggie Shipstead, Seating Arrangements (Knopf) Mystery/Thriller Tana French, Broken Harbor (Viking) Other winners included Sammy Harkham (graphic novel); Fergus Bordewich (history); Louise Gluck (poetry); Florence Willams (science/tech); and A.S. King (YA).