Elizabeth DeMeo has been promoted to associate editor at Tin House Books, reporting to Masie Cochran. In addition to overseeing the poetry and paperback programs, she will acquire both fiction and nonfiction. Emily Canders has been promoted to senior publicity manager at Dutton. Hannah Wood joined Apple recently, working as content development editor on the Apple Books team. Rachel Beck is no longer with Holloway Literary. At Curtis Brown UK, Becky Brown has been promoted to agent in the division that represents literary estates, and Lucy Morris has been promoted to agent in the books department. Author Robert Caro‘s extensive […]
Bookstores
In Retrospect, Waterstones Says Flat Holiday Sales Were Better Than Expected
Now that the holiday is over James Daunt says that for Waterstones’ sales during the period, “I would have said it would have been down on last year” — an easy way of lowering the bar after the fact. When we spoke to him about the closing prospects for Barnes & Noble he thought the midweek Christmas would help give sales a solid finish, but for the UK he now says, “Christmas came later this year and every time it falls on a Wednesday you have to whack everything into the last four days. It was fine in the end, […]
Briefs: Bookselling News, and More on the RWA Controversy
Bookselling The Barnes & Noble in Coral Springs, FL that was negotiating with the landlord for a smaller space will close temporarily at the end of February. The store is expected to reopen within six months, occupying about half of the current 27,000 square feet. The words! bookstore in Asbury Park, NJ is transitioning to a community-owned cooperative (sort of; participants get a vote, but no profit share), called the Asbury Book Cooperative. They are selling memberships for $25 to $200 annually and looking for larger donors, hoping to raise $100,000 in all. In Pennsylvania, Cupboard Maker Books‘ temporary holiday […]
People, Etc.
Millicent Bennett has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as editorial director, reporting to Bruce Nichols. She was previously executive editor at Grand Central, and has worked at Simon & Schuster, Random House, Ecco, and Knopf. Sarah Pelz has joined HMH as executive editor, reporting to Deb Brody, with a focus on acquiring lifestyle nonfiction. She was previously executive editor at Atria. Noa Wheeler has joined Bloomsbury Children’s as executive editor, responsible for the Sarah J. Maas publishing program. She will continue her freelance editorial work for authors and publishers in addition to her role at Bloomsbury. Alexa Higbee will join as […]
People, Etc.
Sharon Shell has joined Independent Publishers Group as director of library & education sales. She was previously director of implementation, sales operations at Scholastic. Daniel O’Connor has been promoted to senior sales manager at Bloomsbury. Jacqui Lipton has founded Raven Quill Literary Agency, representing authors of books for children and young adults. Lipton is an attorney and a law professor, and author of Law & Authors: A Legal Handbook for Writers. For people who want to stop by and pay their respects, there will be a viewing of Sonny Mehta on Friday, January 3, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM […]
People, Etc.
Jessica Breen will join Basic Books as marketing director on January 6. She is currently digital marketing strategist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Cassandra Pelham Fulton has been promoted to editorial director, Graphix. Due to an editing error, we left out Sasha Quinton’s first name from yesterday’s announcement on her move to Scholastic. Bookselling New bookstore Still North Books and Bar opened in Hanover, NH on Thursday. The Barnes & Noble in Greenfield, WI near Southridge Mall will close in summer 2020 when its lease expires. A hospital and primary care clinic will move into the space. Legal The European Court of […]