Margaret Raymo has elected to take the new position of senior executive editor, at Houghton Mifflin Children’s, a “purely editorial role” that will let her focus on discovering and working with authors and illustrators. Raymo says “I’m very happy to be able to put all my energy back into creating books.” As a result, Mary Wilcox has been promoted to vp, editorial director for Houghton Mifflin Children’s, while continuing as editorial director of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s. Abrams has hired Lindy Humphreys for the new position of director, digital assets and publishing technology, to “oversee our digital initiatives and help […]
Awards
People, Etc.
Author, agent, film and television producer and publishing executive Stanley L. Colbert died on September 21 in Toronto, Canada. He was Sterling Lord’s original partner in the Lord & Colbert Agency (with Lord handling magazine sales and Colbert selling to book publishers). As an agent he found a home for Jack Kerouac’s ON THE ROAD after Robert Giroux couldn’t sort out the author’s second manuscript and sent him to Colbert. But Kerouac drove a falling out with Lord and Colbert became an editor at Henry Holt. He moved to LA in 1956 to head the literary department at the William […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Managing director of De Fontein/Tirion in Holland Geneviève Waldmann will also runs VBK’s Kosmos as of October 1, though both houses “will maintain their separate identities.” Later this year De Fontein/Tirion will relocate to Utrecht to join with Kosmos physically. Senior publicity manager at William Morrow Jennifer Slattery has left her position to travel to Australia for the next 6 months. Judith Merkle Riley, author of six historical novels (Vision of Light, In Pursuit of the Green Lion, The Water Devil, The Oracle Glass, The Serpent Garden and The Master of All Desires) and a professor of political science at […]
Officially Official: Oprah Picks Franzen’s FREEDOM
Introducing the already-known pick on this morning’s show, Oprah Winfrey told her audience that author Jonathan Franzen had sent a galley to her with a note–and the Winfrey in turn asked Franzen’s permission to select the book for her club. “We have a little history,” she said. Perhaps most importantly, Winfrey said this is not her final book club pick. She promised to “continue to pick books all season long” and said that even after the Oprah Winfrey Show finishes its run at the end of this season, she will continue her book club on the Oprah Network.” Publisher Farrar, […]
People, Etc.
Packager Downtown Bookworks has started publishing a line of children’s books and has signed with Simon & Schuster for sales, warehousing and distribution, effective immediately. Downtown Bookworks expects to issue 24 kids books annually, with their launch titles on the way this month. Colin Shepherd has been promoted to assistant editor at Twelve, which he joined in April 2008. At Westview Press, Anthony Wahl has been promoted to associate editorial director. The PEN Pinter Prize is being given to novelist and playwright Hanif Kureishi, who “courageously and irreverently speaks the truth about life in our multicultural world, beyond any platitudes […]
People, Etc.: Rizzo, NBA Honors, FT Shortlist, Sam Herman and More
Little, Brown executive director of publicity Heather Rizzo will leave the company on December 1 to become publicity and marketing director for the house’s author Michael Connelly. The publisher is searching for a new publicity director. At Harper UK, David Roth-Ey has been promoted to group digital director and publisher, overseeing digital strategy and all digital initiatives. At the National Book Awards ceremony on November 17, the National Book Foundation will give Tom Wolfe their “lifetime achievement” award for distinguished contribution to American letters and Sesame Workshop co-founder Joan Ganz Cooney will get their award for service to the literary […]