With Book Expo America set to convene in New York in a little over two weeks, we can already tell you the undisputed “big book” of the fair: BUZZ BOOKS 2013: Fall/Winter, released today, is our newest free ebook with substantial excerpts from 40 big titles to be featured at BEA and into the big fall season, weighing in at a big 750 virtual pages. It was just a year ago that we began this very successful initiative, giving thousands of publishing people and passionate readers alike their first look at such major debuts as Kevin Powers’ The Yellow Birds, […]
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Doug Pocock has been named managing director of Abrams & Chronicle Books, the UK distribution joint venture, effective May 20. He was most recently a partner in the publishing consultancy The Media Partners, and before then was evp, managing director of Egmont USA. “Doug Pocock is a seasoned and highly respected publishing executive,” said Chronicle Books president Jack Jensen in a statement. “We look forward to his stewardship of our rapidly expanding UK joint venture.” At Morrow/Avon, Erika Tsang has been promoted to editorial director while Amanda Bergeron moves up to editor. Authors Alexandra Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, who write together as […]
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Quirk Books has promoted Brett Cohen to president and Jason Rekulak as publisher, effective immediately. Rekulak has been at the company 13 years, most recently as editor-in-chief, while Cohen has been at Quirk for 12 years. In addition, David Borgenicht will assume the role of owner/CEO of Quirk Productions (the parent company of Quirk Books), with a focus on development partnerships in film, television, and digital media. Borgenicht said about the double promotion: “Individually, Jason and Brett have brought their passion, ingenuity, and leadership to Quirk. Together, they have been the key players behind our ongoing growth and success. Jason […]
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Ellen V. LiBretto, 66, passed away May 4, after a brief illness. She was a library marketing manager for Ballantine, where she worked with such authors as Ray Bradbury, Elizabeth Berg, Anne Perry, and Colin Powell, and later consulted on library marketing for several independent publishers. Prior to joining Ballantine, LiBretto held managerial positions in New York City libraries. She was also the author of books including High/Low Handbook: Best Books and Web Sites for Reluctant Teen Readers. Among those let go from the New York Daily News in the newspaper’s newest round of layoffs was editorial writer Alexander Nazaryan, also editor of […]
People: Twelve Adds An Editorial Director, As Does Knopf, and More
Following Deb Futter’s appointment as publisher of Grand Central’s Twelve imprint in April, Sean Desmond will join the line in the new position of editorial director, starting May 28. He is currently an executive editor at Crown. Futter says in the announcement, “When I became Publisher of Twelve, my first order of business was to hire a top-notch editorial director who would work with me to define the next era at Twelve. In Sean Desmond, I could not have found a more perfect fit in terms of acquisitions and vision.” Knopf announced two editorial promotions, both effective immediately. Robin Desser […]
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Robin Wolfson has been named to the new position of vp, Random House Speakers Bureau, assuming central leadership of the five-year-old division, which has been managed in decentralized fashion up until now, with multiple divisional directors for the company’s different publishing groups. Wolfson’s primary responsibilities are strategic oversight and business development; those divisional directors will continue to report within their groups. Pete Beatty will join Open Road on May 28 as acquisitions director, reporting to Tina Pohlman. He was senior editor at Bloomsbury Press. Beatty is taking over for Stephanie Gorton, who is leaving to pursue a creative nonfiction MFA and will continue […]