A packed crowd (helped, no doubt, by the drink-ticketed cocktails on tap for the first hour) turned out at the Sheraton Towers ballroom for Digital Book World’s opening ceremonies & reception. After brief remarks from F+W ceo David Nussbaum and a short speech from Harper Collins president of sales Josh Marwell on behalf of the Goddard Riverside Community Center, F+W president David Blansfield hosted DBW’s first ever Publishing Innovation Awards: Fiction: DRACULA: The Official Stoker Family Edition (PadWorx Digital Media) Non-Fiction: Logos Bible Software (Logos Bible Software, Inc.) Children’s: A Story Before Bed (Jackson Fish Market) Reference: Star Walk for […]
Awards
People, Etc.: Spence Leaves Quarto, and More
At Quarto in the UK, Piers Spence has stepped down from his role as director of co-edition publishing to run a farm in rural Devon where he plans to raise rare breed pigs and plant a vineyard. He will be replaced in February by David Breuer, chief executive of Royal Academy Enterprises, which operates the commercial activities of London’s Royal Academy of Arts, including its retail, book and magazine publishing operations. Spence will serve as a consultant to Quarto”for at least six months.” At HarperCollins’ Morrow-Avon division, Pamela Spengler-Jaffee has been promoted to senior director of publicity. She joined the […]
The 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists
The National Book Critics Circle Award nominees were announced Saturday night. Since their selections generally track our composite Best of the Best of the Year lists and the reviews we aggregate at PublishersMarketplace, the two biggest surprises were the inclusion of 101-year-old Hans Keilson’s very-lightly-reviewed German novel, and the omission of Rebecca Skloot’s widely-loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Going by our previously-published Best of…. lists, the winners will include Jonathan Franzen, Isabel Wilkerson, Patti Smith, Anne Carson and Elif Batuman. (Sarah Bakewell is the favorite in biography, though it’s hazier.) Additionally, Parul Sehgal is the recipient of the […]
People, Etc.: Poets & Writers Honorees Include Grisham, Galassi; Edgar Award Nominees; and More
John Grisham, Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Elizabeth Nunez will receive Poets & Writers 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and Jonathan Galassi will be honored with their Editor’s Award. Poets & Writers executive director Elliot Figman says of Galassi, “one can hardly imagine contemporary American literature without him.” The awards will be presented at their benefit dinner on March 2. Grisham is being recognized for having “done much to enrich the literary tradition of the American South. He was the publisher and principal investor in The Oxford American, and has endowed scholarships and writers’ residencies at the University […]
People, Awards, Etc.
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has hired Andi Sporkin for the new position of vp, communications, reporting to president Tom Allen. Sporkin will “develop and direct integrated communications, external outreach and marketing for AAP’s advocacy efforts.” Her responsibilities will include legal, legislative and regulatory communications; media relations; industry branding initiatives; public affairs; and management of AAP’s Communications team. Sporkin was vp, communications at NPR from 2005-2008, worked for CBS for 13 years, and also led communications divisions at Disney and Sony Pictures. National Book Network has eliminated six positions in their sales force, which company head Jed Lyons says […]
People, Awards, Etc.: Cavin, Orson Scott Card, PM Hires, and More
Mystery book editor for Thomas Dunne Books Ruth Cavin, 92, died yesterday morning. She is remembered by longtime family friend Mike Shatzkin on his blog, who notes “what is unique about Ruth’s career is that she didn’t become an editor until she was past her 60th birthday and didn’t start her more than two decades at St. Martin’s until she was 70.” Also remarkable is Macmillan’s efforts to help Cavin keep coming to the office.Post Orson Scott Card‘s website reports that he suffered a “mild stroke” on New Year’s “He is now back home, retraining his brain so that the […]