Marianne Velmans, publishing director at Doubleday UK, will retire in April, after 31 years with the imprint. She will be succeeded by Kirsty Dunseath who joined as publishing director in March. Transworld manager director Larry Finlay told The Bookseller, “Not only is Marianne a wonderful editor and publisher but she is also a lovely, warm, supportive person. It has been a huge pleasure to work with her for so long. She is smart, dedicated, and a fabulous champion both of her authors and her colleagues. So many have benefitted from her wisdom and care over the years. We will all […]
Bookstores
People, Etc.: Atsma Moves to Ecco
Helen Atsma will join Ecco as vp, editorial director on December 2, reporting to Daniel Halpern and filling the position vacated recently by Megan Lynch. She has been editorial director, fiction at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kelly O’Connor Lonesome is joining Tom Doherty Associates as senior editor for Nightfire. She was previously at Orbit, though for the last two years she has been a Bay Area bookseller and at the University of California. Ashley Gilliam has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Scribner. Amy Habayeb has been promoted to associate director, subsidiary rights at Simon & Schuster Children’s. Emily Osborn has […]
People, Etc.
Heather Kelly has joined Abrams Children’s as senior designer. Previously she was senior designer at Sterling Children’s. At HG Literary, Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts was promoted to vp, foreign rights, and Rhea Lyons was named director, film/TV rights. Controversial Nobel prize laureate Peter Handke‘s originating publisher Suhrkamp prepared a lengthy document, “intended mainly for the benefit of foreign publishers of Handke’s work who had found themselves, like Suhrkamp, in an uncomfortable position as a result of Handke’s record of downplaying Serb atrocities against Muslims in the Bosnia war.” But “Suhrkamp’s rambling defense has not received positive reviews from” the German and Austrian […]
Corporate: Pearson Buys EdTech Company, Sourcebooks Brings Back Holiday Shipping
Pearson announced the acquisition of edtech company Lumerit Education, which focuses on college degree completion and affordability, valuing the company at $29 million. Lumerit’s 70 employees will become part of Pearson’s Online Learning Services business. Separately, Sourcebooks will resume their holiday rapid replenishment program again for independent bookstores. The program starts November 4 and continues through December 19.
People, Etc.
Erica Wetter has joined Stanford University Press as executive editor for literature, philosophy, and religion. She previously was at Routledge. Batya Rosenblum has been promoted to senior editor at The Experiment. As of October 23 Penguin Random House UK is in a formal “consultation period” over the elimination of “a small number” of positions in rights sales, the Bookseller reports. They say the company is looking at centralizing rights sales for the entire company in a single team under recently-promoted group rights director Chantal Noel. Separately, Rae Shirvington is leaving Ebury at the end of the year. Dallas bookseller Interabang Books […]
People, Etc.
Nicole Counts has been promoted to senior editor at One World, reporting to Christopher Jackson. Kate Hensley has joined Princeton University Press as publicist. She was previously publicist and scholarly books marketing manager at the MIT Press. Iain MacGregor is joining Headline as nonfiction publisher. He was previously publishing director at Simon & Schuster UK. Bookselling Neil Van Uum’s Booksellers on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati will close in the “near future,” after seven years in business. “We made a valiant effort, but economics dictate that we can no longer operate the store at a loss,” Van Uum said. “We will be […]