For the first time since 1977, the Pulitzer Prize failed to award a prize in fiction. The finalists for the prize were the late David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King, Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!, and Denis Johnson’s novella Train Dreams, selected from 341 titles read; the fiction category judges were NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan, author Michael Cunningham, and former Times-Picayune book editor Susan Larson. Traditionally the judging committee picks the finalists and the board reads those books and decides the winner. Prize administrator Sig Gissler confirmed to us that is the case, adding the board “failed to reach a majority” and […]
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People, Etc.
Granta has hired Max Porter as a commissioning editor for the Granta and Portobello imprints. He is currently manager of Daunt Books’ Chelsea, London branch. At Conville & Walsh, Jake Smith-Bosanquet has been made managing director. There will be public memorial service to celebrate the life and spirit of Norris Church Mailer on April 22, at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, at 4:00. Among those scheduled to offer remarks at the service are Liz Smith, James Toback, Larry Schiller, Michael Mailer, John Buffalo Mailer, Sasha Lazard, Nancy Collins, Margo Howard, Dorris Goodwin, and Sondra Lee. The Pottermore web site […]
People
Editor-in-chief and deputy director of Stanford University Press Alan Harvey has been promoted to director, effective July 1. He replaces Gordon Burn, who will work as the Press’s deputy editor for the next 12 months and also continue as acquisitions editor for the Stanford Security Studies series of publications, which he founded and plans to expand. At Free Press, Sharbari Kamat has been promoted to associate editor (continuing to work with Martha Levin); as has Donna Loffredo (continuing to work with Leslie Meredith) and Sydney Tanigawa (continuing to work with Dominick Anfuso). Peter Bohan has been promoted to associate director of marketing at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s. Ron Hussey has been […]
People: Barba to Retire from HBG, and More
Hachette Book Group’s evp, sales Chris Barba “has decided to retire after 33 years of distinguished service to this company,” leaving April 20. CEO David Young writes, “She has had a remarkable career here, and under her leadership the HBG sales force has established a reputation as one of the absolute best teams in the business…. She is a great champion of so many books and authors, that it’s impossible to list them all. Her tenacity and expertise have enabled her to serve the company, her customers and her team brilliantly.” No replacement has been named yet. Executive editor at […]
Penguin’s Makinson: “We Have Done Nothing Wrong”
Penguin Group ceo John Makinson issued a statement about the lawsuit his company faces from the Department of Justice and a group of attorneys general on Wednesday. He writes: “A responsible company does not choose a path of litigation with US Government agencies without carefully weighing the implications of that course of action.” But, Makinson says, “we have done nothing wrong. The decisions that we took, many them of them costly and difficult, were taken by Penguin alone.” As for Justice’s complaint filed today, “the document contains a number of material misstatements and omissions, which we look forward to having […]
A Few Things About the Publisher Settlement Become A Little Clearer
pdating our stories from the heat of battle Wednesday, there are a few things about the settlement between HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and the Department of Justice that we can clarify. First of all, don’t expect any immediate changes at any ebookstore, including Apple’s iBookstore. All of the requirements for contractual changes will come only after entry of final judgment, which is subject to a review period of 60 days. During that period, “any person who wishes to comment” is welcome to write to: John Read Chief Litigation III Section Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice 450 […]