Philip Gwyn Jones will move to Picador and become publisher on June 2. He has been publisher-at-large at Scribe UK. Jones fills the position Paul Baggaley vacates at the end of this month, when he moves to Bloomsbury. (Associate publisher Francesca Main is also leaving Picador, to start a new imprint at Orion.) Leah Miller has joined Atria as executive editor. She was most recently at Grand Central. At Del Rey, Sarah Peed has been promoted to senior editor; Tom Hoeler to editor; and Alex Larned to associate editor. Allison Adler has been promoted to senior editor at Andrews McMeel. Brooke […]
Film/TV
Briefs
Film/TV Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, through their company Escapist Fare, have signed a multi-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios. That deal starts with a limited series adaptation of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for Showtime, but includes a number of other projects in development. Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman will executive produce Kavalier & Clay, and Paramount Television will produce (since Paramount Pictures owns the film/TV rights). Initiatives This year James Patterson will give holiday gifts totaling over $200,000 to Barnes & Noble booksellers around the country as well, in addition to his annual holiday bonuses […]
Abandoned Fox 2000 Team Resurrected By HarperCollins and Sony Pictures
The Fox 2000 team headed by Elizabeth Gabler produced numerous successful book-to-film adaptations over the years, but when Fox was sold to Disney the division was abruptly disbanded earlier this year. Now, the unit’s one-time corporate sibling HarperCollins is joining with Sony Pictures to bring back that production team, including includes Erin Siminoff, Marisa Paiva, Nikki Ramey, and Molly Saffron in a new production company opening for business later this summer on Sony’s Culver City lot. Sony and HarperCollins are co-funding the business, and Sony has a first look deal but the partnership “contemplates that Gabler and her team may […]
Briefs
After renewed controversy around prosector-turned-mystery novelist Linda Fairstein following the release of a Netflix series about the Central Park Five, When They See Us, her longtime publisher Dutton said Friday the two parties “decided to terminate their relationship.” A “person with knowledge of the situation” tells the NYT that Dutton is buying out her contract. It’s unclear what, if anything, is happening with Fairstein’s 14-title backlist at Dutton, and the publisher declines to explain what their brief statement actually mens. Her first five books were published by Scribner. Former ceo of Hachette UK Tim Hely Hutchinson was awarded a CBE […]
Acquisitions: PRH Buys Salamandra, Scholastic’s Film Investment, and More
Already the world’s largest Spanish-language publisher, Penguin Random House continues to build on that position with another acquisition, agreeing to acquire Barcelona-based Ediciones Salamandra from Sigrid Kraus and Pedro del Carril. The company has over 500 authors on their list. Kraus will remain as publishing manager, “working closely” with PRH Grupo Editorial ceo Núria Cabutí. PRH ceo Markus Dohle underscores in the announcement, “Penguin Random House strongly believes in the global growth potential of the Spanish-language market, and we very much look forward to bringing Ediciones Salamandra’s authors to an even wider readership.” Pedro del Carril adds: “Of all the […]
People, Etc.
The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize for literature, has named Mats Malm its new permanent secretary. The previous permanent secretary, Sara Danius, resigned last April after a sexual harassment and leaking scandal. Anders Olsson has been filling the role since last June. Malm, a professor of literary theory at the University of Gothenburg, joined the academy four months ago. Katie Hope will join the Princeton University Press as marketing director in June, leading marketing and sales teams in Princeton and Oxford. She was most recently director of marketing and author relations at MIT Press. Jake-Ryan Kent was promoted […]