James Spackman has been named managing director of Watkins Publishing, effective November. He was most recently sales and marketing director for Hodder & Stoughton and John Murray. Spackman will work alongside Duncan Baird to develop both the Watkins and Duncan Baird imprints in the UK and internationally. “I’m delighted to be joining Watkins at such an exciting moment,” Spackman said in the announcement. “It will be a real privilege to work with a list representing such rich heritage, and a company with such a strong reputation for quality. I’m looking forward to working with the Watkins team to develop an […]
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At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hallie Patterson has been named senior publicist. Previously she was senior publicist at at HarperCollins Children’s. In addition, Flinn Gillan has joined the School & Library Marketing group as marketing assistant. Previously he was a marketing coordinator at Garland Science. Judi Powers has resigned as director of marketing and publicity at Sterling Children’s Books to return to college and pursue a career in jewelry design. She can be reached at judi_powers@yahoo.com. In the UK, Eloy Sasot has been promoted to director of pricing and analytics at HarperCollins UK, reporting to Simon Johnson. Random […]
People: Christopher Little Joins Forces With Curtis Brown
The Christopher Little Agency has entered into a new affiliation with Curtis Brown, effective immediately. The Bookseller reports that Little himself will continue to operate independently, but Curtis Brown will now take responsibility for administering related contracts and selling clients’ translation rights. Little said in a statement that he is “delighted with this arrangement as it allows both me and my team the flexibility to expand the creative arm of my agency. We have a lot of new work in progress and announcements will be forthcoming.” Curtis Brown chairman Jonathan Lloyd added: “I am thrilled to be working with Christopher […]
People: Stephen Laster Named McGraw-Hill Chief Digital Officer
Stephen Laster has joined McGraw-Hill in the newly created role of chief digital officer, reporting to ceo Buzz Waterhouse. Laster will lead the company’s digital initiatives, including creating compelling digital learning experiences for students and inspiring creative innovation across all aspects of the organization. He spent the past six years as chief information officer for Harvard Business School. “The digitization of education provides our company with a major opportunity to make learning more accessible, engaging and effective,” said Waterhouse. “Stephen is the ideal choice to lead our digital initiatives going forward as we continue to leverage technology innovations and capabilities […]
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As of Spring 2013, the Potter Style imprint at Clarkson Potter will expand its scope to encompass interior design, style, and wedding books in addition to the gift books already published by the imprint. As a result, Potter senior editor Aliza Fogelson and associate editor Angelin Borsics will also acquire books for Potter Style. Borsics will now report to Fogelson, who continues to report to Doris Cooper. “With this realignment, Potter is even better positioned to leverage our unparalleled editorial strength and directed publishing strategies to foster our authors’ audience growth and brand development and to extend our market reach […]
Briefs: Harper Will Convert DIESEL Books Into Temporary Record Store To Promote Chabon Novel; Nook Device Prices Drop; And More
As part of its extensive marketing campaign for Michael Chabon’s forthcoming novel TELEGRAPH AVENUE, Harper will convert the Oakland branch of California independent Diesel Books into Brokeland Records — which is the record store co-owned by the main characters in Chabon’s book — between September 7 and 14, the WSJ reports. The store, which will host the launch party for TELEGRAPH AVENUE on September 12, “will sell used jazz records provided by an independent record dealer named Berigan Taylor” and Harper is creating exterior Brokeland Records signage and merchandise. Barnes & Noble has dropped the price of its tablet devices, […]