Sheila O’Shea will join Farrar, Straus as svp and director of marketing and publicity, starting November 18. Most recently, she was senior executive director, marketing communications at Hearst, which she joined in 2014 after 17 years at Penguin Random House. Director of publicity Sarita Varma will report to O’Shea. Publisher Mitzi Angel says in the announcement, “Sheila’s love of books, her enthusiasm, and her wide-ranging experience in both publicity and marketing will be invaluable. She will make a vital contribution to FSG as it looks to the future.” Joanna Pinsker joined Atria Publishing Group this week as deputy director of […]
Awards
Awards: Whitehead, Jones, Craft Win Kirkus Prizes; PW’s Best of 2019, and More
The winners of the $50,000 Kirkus Prizes were announced on Thursday evening. The fiction prize went to Colson Whitehead‘s The Nickel Boys (Doubleday), with judges noting that it “evokes race in America not as a concept but as a condition of being.” Saeed Jones‘ memoir How We Fight for Our Lives (Simon & Schuster) won the nonfiction prize. Judges said, “His tenacious honesty compels us to be honest with ourselves. His experiences—negotiating grief, family dynamics, and a forthright identity—require our reckoning.” New Kid (HarperCollins), written & illustrated by Jerry Craft, was awarded the prize for children’s literature, for being a “laugh-out-loud […]
People, Etc.
Em Lysaght has joined Ladderbird Literary as agent. Lysaght was previously at Scholastic selling foreign rights. At Simon & Schuster Children’s Reka Simonsen has been promoted to editorial director for Atheneum Books; Alex Borbolla to associate editor for Atheneum and Caitlyn Dlouhy Books; Elizabeth Mims to assistant production editor for Aladdin and Simon Pulse; Jenica Nasworthy to senior managing editor for S&S Children’s and Paula Wiseman Books; Chloe Foglia to art director for S&S Children’s and Paula Wiseman Books; Nick Sciacca to art director, design and technology at Simon & Schuster Children’s; and Greg Stadnyk to associate art director at S&S Children’s, […]
People, Etc.
Author Christopher Beha was promoted to editor of Harper’s Magazine. He succeeds James Marcus, who was fired in April 2018 for opposing a controversial cover story by Katie Roiphe about the “Sh—y Media Men” list. Selected by publisher Rick MacArthur, Beha said, “Rick and I tried to be very clear about what our expectations for each other are, so there aren’t a lot of surprises.” At Simon Pulse, Sarah McCabe was promoted to editor and Nicole Ellul to senior editor. In the UK, Jennie Rothwell has joined Arrow as fiction editor. She was previously with Bonnier Books UK. At Springer Nature, […]
People, Etc.
Paul Baggaley will leave Picador after 11 years as publisher to become editor-in-chief for adult publishing at Bloomsbury UK early 2020, reporting to Emma Hopkin. Current EIC Alexandra Pringle will move up to executive publisher. Caitlin Meyer has been promoted to associate publicity director at Beacon Press. Catherine Cho will join the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency as an agent later this month. She was at Curtis Brown UK. Agency News Aevitas Creative Management has expanded, launching a UK office, with Toby Mundy as chairman and ceo of ACM UK Ltd. Four agents have joined the group: Natalie Jerome, Max Edwards, Trevor […]
Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea Tops November Library Reads
Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is the top pick for November’s Library Reads. Also on the list are The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams and Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher, both excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Romance sampler. The rest of the list: The Deep, by Rivers Solomon Get a Life, Chloe Brown, by Talia Hibbert Little Weirds, by Jenny Slate Tracking Game, by Margaret Mizushima Twenty-One Truths About Love, by Matthew Dicks We Met in December, by Rosie Curtis The Witches are Coming, by Lindy West