At Simon & Schuster, Melissa Hurt has been promoted to telemarketing account manager. Tricia Orlando joins as telesales account manager. She was previously with Norton in the trade sales department. Sharismar Rodriguez has joined Macmillan Children’s as senior art director for Feiwel and Friends, Holt, Roaring Brook Press, and FSG Children’s lists. Previously, she was art director at HMH. At HarperCollins Children’s, Jane Lee has been promoted to associate director, social media; Tyler Breitfeller to senior marketing associate; and Michael D’Angelo to marketing associate. Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally, 81, died Tuesday due to complications from the coronavirus. Wine writer Michael […]
Legal
Authors Guild Issues New “Model Contract”
The Authors Guild has released a new version of their “model trade book contract,” the first update in almost a decade. The guild calls the model “both an advocacy initiative as well as an instructional tool.” They had the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) and other independent agents review the model this time. (The model is only viewable by Authors Guild members.) AAR president Gail Hochman comments in the release, “We were pleased to provide suggestions to this new model that aims to recognize the differences between ideal and realistic terms that publishers may grant…. As the title ‘Model Contract’ […]
The Misfits Sues Abrams for Infringement in Photobook
Punk band The Misfits has sued Abrams Books for copyright infringement, claiming that the illustrated book Scream with Me, published in December, is “rife with large-scale, repeated, and unlicensed reproductions of Misfits A.D. intellectual property.” (Frontmen Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only created the Misfits A.D. company when they toured together in 2016.) The book’s cover features what the suit calls the Misfits’ “Fiend Skull design” trademark and, in doing so, “misleads consumers into believing that the photobook has been approved by, or is associated with, Misfits A.D., which is indisputably false.” In addition to an injunction on Abrams’ alleged infringement, […]
People, Etc.
At Random House Children’s, Maria Correa joins the Classic Brand team as associate editor. She was previously junior editor at Little Tiger Group. Morgan Maple joins as associate publicist. She was previously publicity assistant at Little, Brown Children’s. Gisela de la Concepción Fosado has been promoted to editorial director at Duke University Press. Susan Fissell has been promoted to director, special markets at Simon & Schuster. Sales manager Nicholas Sinisi has left Diamond Book Distributors. He can be reached at nicholas.sinisi@gmail.com. Audio Workman Publishing will publish and distribute audiobooks directly to trade and library channels through its new imprint Workman Audio, […]
People, Etc.
At Bloomsbury Children’s, Mary Kate Castellani has been promoted to editorial director; Melissa Kavonic to managing editorial director; Kate Sederstrom to assistant editor; Beth Eller to senior director of school and library marketing and domestic sub rights; Phoebe Dyer to marketing associate; and Jeanette Levy to assistant art director. Stephen Isaacs joined the McGraw-Hill Business team as a senior editor. Kendra Newton has been promoted to senior marketing director for Dey Street Books. Raffaella de Angelis joined producer and distributor Fremantle this week, working on literary acquisitions for their global drama division, as well as for production companies The Apartment (part of Fremantle) and […]
The Audible Settlement Is Finally Public
Audible and the seven publishers who sued the company over its planned Captions feature — referred to as an Audiobooks-to-Text Service in the filings — complied with Judge Valerie Caproni’s request to make public the settlement, with only the amounts redacted. The published agreement reaffirms that Audible will make a monetary settlement payment to each of the litigating publishers, and reinforces that they will not caption books by AAP members without permission. The redacted portion reads: “In consideration of the Parties’ performance hereunder, Audible agrees to pay each of the Publishers the amount of [REDACTED] (the “Settlement Payment”), equaling a […]