Wendy Weil, 72, died September 22 at her country home in West Cornwall, CT. Her career as an agent spanned more than 40 years and she was president of the Wendy Weil Literary Agency, which she founded in 1987, counting Rita Mae Brown, Andrea Barrett, Mark Helprin, Alice Walker, Anthony Doerr, Phillip Lopate, and Amity Gaige among the agency’s clients. Donations in her name may be made to Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Plans for a memorial service will be announced in early fall. Emily Forland and Emma Patterson and long-time office manager Ann Torrago remain at the agency and plan […]
Awards
People, Etc.
Kelly Gallagher will join Ingram on October 8 as vp, content acquisitions, reporting to chief content officer Phil Ollila. Gallagher was most recently vp, publishing services at Bowker, and in his new role will lead Ingram’s selling and business development activities for print-on-demand and digital distribution products, based in New York. In addition, Pep Carrera has been named chief information officer at Ingram, reporting to coo Shawn Morris. Carrera was previously chief technology officer at RAPP. Gemma Cooper has joined The Bent Agency, representing children’s and young adult fiction, based on London but taking on clients from both the UK […]
Awards: New Prize Will Support Both Writing and Marketing/Promotion
Tonight, Jewish philanthropic foundation The Natan Fund will announce a new award to support the writing, marketing and publicity of a new nonfiction book on Jewish themes, introducing what they position as a “new literary philanthropy model.” Rather than honoring an already published book, the prize supports both the creation and marketing of new work. Awarded in two stages, the prize provides up to $15,000 to “support the writing process,” and up to another $35,000 “to craft a customized digital and in-person marketing and publicity strategy for the book at the time of its publication.” That promotional stage will also […]
People, Etc.
Editorial director of Rizzoli Paolo Zaninoni is leaving after almost ten years at the company. General manager of RCS trade books Massimo Turchetta will replace Zainoni on an interim basis. In addtion, Federica Magro has been named manager of Bur and Vintage paperbacks. Previously she was an editor at Mondadori. At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Liesa Abrams has been promoted to executive editor and moves from Aladdin to Simon Pulse, though she will continue to edit Aladdin’s Dork Diaries, Unwanteds and Beyonders. In addition, Annette Pollert moves up to editor, while Karen Nagel has been promoted to executive editor at […]
People, Etc.
Kevin Doughten will join Crown as senior editor on September 24, focusing on non-fiction. He was most recently an editor at Viking. Olga Rogozina has joined the Van Lear Agency in Moscow as both a literary agent and contracts manager. Previously she was foreign rights manager at Astrel. Founder of Chicago’s 10-store Beck’s Bookstores, Bob Beck, 91, died last week at Northwestern Hospital. “Today, a marketing major would say he had a business plan. Back then, it was called an angle. He sold books at Beck’s for less than the college bookstores charged, and he paid more when the used […]
Business Book Nominees; September Picks
The shortlist has been announced for the FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year: Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (Crown Business, Profile) The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk-taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust, John Coates (The Penguin Press, Fourth Estate) Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, Steve Coll (The Penguin Press, Allen Lane) Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster; Little Brown UK) What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits Of Markets, Michael J. Sandel (FSG, Allen Lane) Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence, William […]