At Knopf Children’s Books, Erin Clarke has been promoted to senior executive editor and Katherine Harrison has been promoted to editor; and Samantha Gentry has been promoted to assistant editor at Crown Children’s. Simon & Schuster Children’s has hired Sarah Creech as senior designer for Simon Pulse (she was at HarperCollins). KeriLee Horan has been promoted to marketing manager, continuing to report to Chrissy Noh. At Curtis Brown, Sarah Perillo has been promoted to foreign rights manager, continuing to report to Jonathan Lyons, and now overseeing the licensing of adult titles in the UK and Australia. Former UK prime minister David Cameron, who announced recently he will give up his seat in […]
Distribution
People: Hugh Van Dusen Retires, and More
Longtime Harper vp, executive editor Hugh Van Dusen will retire from the company on August 30 “after an astonishing 60 years with HarperCollins.” He first joined what was then Harper & Brothers on June 21, 1956 and helped launch Torch Books, later becoming closely involved with the Perennial paperback imprint and rising to his current position in 1990. Among van Dusen’s authors were Jacques Barzun, Fernand Braudel, Robert Bly, James Hillman, Robert Remini, Trevor Corson, and Harper Lee (including her estate). “It may sound too eccentric or romantic to be believed, but there have been very few mornings in the […]
Briefs: Emeritus Pope Benedict’s ‘Last Testament’; Rakuten Takes Minority Stake in getAbstract; and More
Forthcoming Bloomsbury will publish Emeritus Pope Benedict‘s Last Testament worldwide in November, in which the retired pope will formally break his silence after being the first Pope to resign from his position in 750 years. Bloomsbury says Pope Benedict will address “controversies and reveals how at his late age, governing and reforming the Papacy and particularly the Vatican, was beyond him” and “admit that he entirely lacked Pope Francis’s common touch with people.” The book is co-written with Peter Seewald and translated by Jacob Phillips. Investments Rakuten announced it has agreed to acquire a “substantial minority stake” in getAbstract, which […]
Senate Confirms Hayden As Librarian of Congress, and More
In a turnabout from the reported delay we wrote about Wednesday morning, by a substantial vote of 74 to 18, on Wednesday afternoon the US Senate confirmed Carla Hayden for a 10-year term as Librarian of Congress in a roll call vote. She is the fourteenth person to hold the post. In other personnel news, Graywolf Press publisher Fiona McCrae will join the National Book Foundation board of directors, the third new member announced this year. “Fiona is widely respected in both the publishing and nonprofit worlds, and we are honored to have someone with Fiona’s deep expertise as both […]
UK Briefs: Hachette UK to Close Littlehampton Warehouse in 2019; Lost My Name Lays Off 10; and More
Hachette UK will close its Littlehampton Book Services warehouse and offices in 2019 as part of a bigger plan to consolidate and modernize their distribution operations. They will build a new distribution center in Didcot, Oxfordshire, about a mile away from the existing Bookpoint distribution facility, starting in late 2016. “It is intended that Hachette Distribution and its client publishers will begin a carefully phased transition to the new site in 2018,” the company said, and the current Bookpoint warehouse will be maintained for “bulk storage.” Hachette UK coo Chris Emerson said in the announcement: “The retail landscape has changed; people buy […]
People, Etc.
Dorling Kindersley cfo Stephen Twilliger will move to Rodale on August 8 as their evp and cfo, reporting to ceo Maria Rodale. In the announcement Rodale notes a planned expansion in children’s books: “His deep experience in book publishing and children’s publishing, a key launch area for us in 2017; strong leadership and communication skills, proven track record and passion for the work we do at Rodale make him an ideal candidate.” Senior Advisor at Providence Equity Brian Napack is joining an expanding board of directors at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, bringing the board up to eight members. Chairman Larry Fish says in the announcement, […]