Former Penguin Canada employee Lisa Rundle’s lawsuit against the company and former ceo David Davidar alleges that another employee had filed a sexual harassment complaint against Davidar with the human services department in 2008. Rundle alleges that Davidar showed her the other employee’s complaint, and said that the had “come to her senses” and recanted–after which she received a promotion. In the filing, Rundle says that in March 2010 she asked to be released from her position of director of digital publishing and foreign rights–to which she was promoted in January–so that she could stop reporting directly to Davidar and […]
International News
Awards, People, Etc.
Last week Wells Tower won the New York Public Library’s Young Lions fiction award for his debut story collection EVERYTHING RAVAGED, EVERYTHING BURNED.NYPL In the UK, EDItEUR has hired Graham Bell as chief data architect. He was most recently head of publishing systems at Harper UK. In the UK, Tindal Street will move their sales and distribution to Atlantic Books. The Bookseller reports that Scott Pack will take the new role of directorof digital product development at Harper UK, reporting to David Roth-Ey, while continuing to serve as publisher for what’s left of The Friday Project. And Chicken House founder […]
People
At the Simon & Schuster adult trade imprint, Michelle Jasmine and Jessica Abell have both been promoted to associate publicist. And at S&S’s Howard Books imprint, Holly Halverson joined the company as senior editor (she was at the Hachette Book Group most recently), and Jessica Wong has been promoted to associate editor. VP of publicity Jennifer Willingham has been promoted to associate publisher, and Angie VanTassell has been hired as director of publicity. She was at Alday Communications most recently. Ashley Earnhardt has been promoted to publishing manager. At Simon & Schuster UK, a consolidation of Pocket Books into the […]
David Davidar Leaving Penguin to Write; Canada Will Report to Shanks in US
Penguin Canada president and ceo David Davidar, considered to be on the fast-track to upper Penguin management worldwide (and named to the new post of ceo of Penguin International last year, with oversight for Africa, the Middle East and the India sub-continent), is leaving the company and returning to India to write and pursue “other projects.” After his departure, with no firm date announced, the Canadian unit (which had sales of over $100 million recently) will report to Penguin US ceo David Shanks. Canadian spokesperson Yvonne Hunter indicates this will be a permanent realignment, with no new executive to be […]
Farbey Joins Scholastic In New Global Nonfiction Post, and More People, Etc.
Scholastic has hired Miriam Farbey for the new position of global publisher, nonfiction in their trade publishing division. She will oversee all children’s trade nonfiction publishing, reporting to trade division president Ellie Berger. Farbey was most recently global publisher at DK. Based in Scholastic’s UK off, she started June 1. James Jayo is joining Globe Pequot Press as an editor for Lyons Press. He had been an associate manager of foreign rights at Crown and before that was an associate editor at Arcade. Anna Bliss is joining Globe Pequot Press as an editor-at-large for Lyons Press. She was previously at […]
People, Etc.
Toby Ernst joins the Random House Publishing Group as domestic rights manager on June 7. She has been subsidiary rights manager at Sterling since 2004. Thomas Nelson is expanding their children’s publshing team: Molly Kempf is joining the unit as editorial director (she was a senior editor at Scholastic); Mackenzie Howard has been promoted to acquisitions editor for children’s books and gift books; and Jennifer Deshler moves over to vp of marketing and publishing process for children’s and gift product. Ullstein Buchverlage has appointed Barbara Tolley & Associates as their exclusive US scout from July 1 for all their imprints: […]