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 […]
Bookstores
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 […]
People, Etc.
Amber Oliver will join Dutton/Plume as editor on August 31, working especially on the new Tiny Reparations Books, as well as acquiring fiction for Berkley. She was most recently associate editor at Harper. Larry Downs has joined Miami-based Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial USA as director and publisher for Origen, its Spanish-language religious division. Previously, he was a consultant to the imprint for two years and svp, publisher, Spanish publishing, Harper Christian. Stephanie Kim has joined New Leaf Literary & Media as literary agent. She was previously in publicity at William Morrow and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and also worked in […]
People, Etc.
Rudy Martinez has been promoted to director of marketing at Soho Press. Matt Williams has joined Ingenta as head of professional services. He was previously with Zinfi, Relayware, Semantec, Lenovo, and IBM. Heather Lantz has been promoted to the new role of director of business growth. Steve Rutberg has joined knk Software as business development manager of the North American team. He was previously sales director at HighWire Press. KaToya Ellis Fleming has joined Lookout Books of UNC Wilmington as editor and assistant professor of publishing. Fleming was previously an editor at the Oxford American magazine. Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe has […]
People, Etc.
Liza Baker will be promoted to vp, publisher in the Scholastic Trade publishing division as of September 7, reporting to Ellie Berger. Baker will oversee the publishing and editorial direction for the young readers’ imprints, including Cartwheel, Orchard, Acorn, and Branches. She will report to Ellie Berger, President of Scholastic Trade Publishing. Berger says in the announcement, “I am delighted she will be at the helm creating engaging content for our youngest readers and look forward to seeing our list grow and innovate under her leadership.” At the same time, Ken Geist will transition to vp, publisher-at-large, following a move […]
Strand Bookstore Accepted PPP Loan, But Has Not Retained Most Employees Yet
Employees of NYC’s Strand Bookstore say the owner accepted a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan but did not keep most of its employees on payroll, and have asked for more transparency about the use of those funds. The UAW’s Labor Notes reports that the store received a loan of at least $1 million “by claiming to retain 212 jobs.” In March, owners laid off “the majority of staff,” a reported 188 out of 230 employees, which included 170 union members. Owner Nancy Bass Wyden said at the time, “This is the first time in our history that we have had […]