Gerald Howard, vice president, executive editor, Doubleday, is retiring at the end of the year, after working at the house since 1998. Publisher and editor-in-chief of Doubleday Bill Thomas, writes, “Gerry has decided to spend more time with his wonderful wife, Susanne, travel and work on his biography of the legendary editor Malcolm Cowley for Penguin Press, which, amusingly to some of us, is overdue.” Thomas adds, “‘Legendary editor’ is an appellation that applies to Gerry just as well. The range and quality of the books he has edited, published and championed over his forty-six-year career is simply breathtaking…. He […]
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Andrea Joyce has joined Duckworth Books to handle its North American rights sales. She was most recently rights director at Canongate. Shanna Hogan, journalist and true crime author of books including Dancing With Death and Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story, died on September 1, following a tragic accident. (She suffered brain damage after stumbling, hitting her head and falling into the family’s pool last week.) Hogan was working on a new book at the time of her death. Her editor Charles Spicer said “Shanna Hogan was an intrepid journalist, a talented writer, a natural podcast star – and an […]
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Dawn Davis, founder and publisher of 37 Ink, is leaving Simon & Schuster to become editor in chief of Bon Appetit magazine. She succeeds Adam Rappaport, who resigned in June after photos surfaced of him in an offensive Halloween costume in 2004. Canadian independent publishers ECW Press and Annick Press will begin a partnership in January, in which majority ownership of Annick Press will transition over five years from publisher Rick Wilks to ECW co-publisher David Caron. The companies will “remain separate entities, with staff, brands, finances, and editorial mandates unchanged, but will embark on a new collaboration between the […]
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Will Murphy has joined the ghostwriting and publishing services firm Kevin Anderson & Associates as senior executive editor-at-large. He was previously executive editor at Random House. Kim Daly has been promoted to copy chief at Workman Publishing. Awards Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld‘s The Discomfort of Evening (Graywolf) won the International Booker Prize. At 29, they are the youngest author to ever win the prize. They will split the £50,000 prize with translator Michele Hutchison. Bookselling The Barnes & Noble store in Roxbury, NJ closed yesterday after 26 years, as part of a redevelopment of the mall where they were housed. […]
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Christina Miller is joining the Nancy Yost Literary Agency as administrative coordinator. She was previously at InkWell Management. Tishana Williams has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s in the newly created position of brand manager, novelty & licensed publishing, reporting to Valerie Garfield. She previously held positions in Disney’s Consumer Products Group, and most recently at Authentic Brands Group. Olenka Burgess has been promoted to production manager at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull. Speculation continues about the backing of the new Pete Micelli-led Hollywood management and production company. The Hollywood Reporter has two sources that say hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen “is believed to have […]
Postal Disruptions Pose An “Existential Threat” to Indie Bookstores
Independent booksellers have long relied on “media mail” from the USPS as the most affordable way to ship books to customers and that has been a literal lifeline for many during the pandemic. Which makes the recent slowdown in processing an existential threat to booksellers as well as our democracy. An article in Fortune helps underscore the point with examples from three such booksellers — in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Cambridge. Black-owned Reparations Club in LA went from rare shipping requests pre-Covid to delivering 99 percent of orders by mail. Recently, founder Jazzi McGilbert “says her store experienced many […]