Vice president and publisher of Tor Books Devi Pillai has been named publisher of Tor Teen and Starscape, in addition to her current position. Jane Harris will join Welbeck Publishing Group as group publisher, children’s books. She is currently managing director, children’s trade at Bonnier Books UK. She succeeds Alexandra Allan who has relocated back to Australia. Executive director Marcus Leaver said in the release, “Mark and I are excited to add Jane’s considerable experience to our accomplished senior management team.” Awards Lark by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke) won the UK’s Carnegie Medal, while Tales from the Inner City written and illustrated […]
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People, Etc.
April Powers joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators as its inaugural chief equity & inclusion officer on June 3. Most recently she ran her own global inclusion consulting and training firm, First Impression Rx, after serving in diversity roles at Nestlé USA and Amgen. Michael Roberts has been named interim executive director for The Center for Fiction, effective June 30, while a national search is conducted for a permanent executive director. Most recently executive director of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, his background includes 11 years as executive director of PEN American Center. Peter Knox has […]
Briefs: Bookselling News, and More
Bookselling Barnes & Noble‘s Upper East Side location in NYC has closed permanently. B&N said to PL: “We can confirm that we are to close our bookstore at 86th St. and Lexington Ave. The store has served us well over the years but is now too large, and too expensive, for our needs. We have therefore made the difficult decision to close the store to focus energy and resources on improving our other bookstores in New York City.” The store closed in March due to COVID-19 and B&N is in “active pursuit of a new site” in the area. B&N […]
People, Etc.: Oprah to Pick “Deacon King Kong”
The next Oprah’s Book Club pick, to be formally announced tomorrow, is James McBride‘s Deacon King Kong. Books with the OBC sticker have been appearing in stores already, so the club started teasing the announcement on Instagram Sunday. Executive director of the Center for Fiction Noreen Tomassi, is retiring after 16 years. The board writes, “Under her leadership, the Center evolved from an under-utilized membership library to an acclaimed and nationally recognized literary organization, as she expanded its exceptional team to help serve increasingly diverse audiences with stellar programming and vigorous outreach, including KidsRead/KidsWrite.” An interim director will be announced […]
People, Etc.
Michael C. Wright will lead the college department at Norton, succeeding the longtime director, Roby Harrington, who will continue at Norton in his role as vice chairman. Norton president Julia Reidhead said in the release, “Few generational milestones can be more significant to Norton’s future than the hand-off of College Department leadership. Michael Wright has overseen dramatic growth and transformation during his tenure as Director of College Sales and previously enjoyed great success as an editor and marketer. His appointment assures us that College leadership will go from strength to strength.” Brad Schwartz joins Audible June 15 as chief content […]
Briefs
Legal Agents Beth Phelan and Kelly Van Sant and author Isabel Sterling received cease & desist letters from an attorney representing agent Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary after speaking out about Frederick’s response to protestors in St. Paul. On May 28, Frederick posted on Twitter that she had called the police about an incident near her home (the tweet has since been deleted). Subsequently, three agents, including Van Sant resigned from Red Sofa. Phelan, Van Sant, and Sterling wrote in an open letter that Frederick “demanded that we delete our respective posts regarding Dawn’s actions and further, publish retractions […]