Naomi Gibbs has been promoted to senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Richard Rhorer has been promoted to vp and deputy publisher of the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group. At Westwood Creative Artists, Meg Wheeler has been promoted to associate agent, representing writers of literary and commercial fiction as well as non-fiction. She will continue to assist Bruce Westwood and act as rights associate under WCA’s international rights director Carolyn Forde. Forthcoming An early galley for Leslie Jamison‘s collection of essays Make It Scream, Make It Burn — named for this 2013 essay in the Oxford American, and publishing in October 2019 […]
New Imprints
Dark Horse Sells Stake to Chinese Investor; Former Bonnier Execs Launch New Publisher; Even Kobe Bryant Is A Publisher Now
Dark Horse Comics founder and ceo Mike Richardson sold a substantial stake in the company — for what one report suggests was about $20 million — to Hong-Kong based Vanguard Visionary Assets, associated with former Walt Disney Company in Greater China chairman Stanley Cheung. Cheung joins the five-person Dark Horse Entertainment board. Richardson declined to say he retained a majority share, saying he retained a “large chunk” of the company. He said Vanguard had invested “into a number of areas, including a stock purchase… a development fund and a film fund,” with “investment in the publishing and product divisions, and expansion […]
People, Etc.: A New S&S Imprint, and More
Simon & Schuster is launching a new imprint, Avid Reader Press, inspired by “the spirit invoked” in former Simon & Schuster editor-in-chief Robert Gottlieb’s memoir Avid Reader, with its first titles launching in late 2019 or early 2020. Jofie Ferrari-Adler will serve as vice president and publisher of the new line, and Ben Loehnen is vice president and editor in chief, both moving over from their current positions as executive editors at S&S. They will hire “at least one more senior editorial partner who will specialize in fiction, while also building a dedicated staff across editorial, publicity, and marketing.” Ferrari-Adler and Loehnen […]
People: Szczerban to Run New Illustrated Imprint
Little, Brown announced that it would create a new imprint for illustrated books, with Michael Szczerban promoted to editorial director of the new line. Launching in fall 2019, the imprint “will grow to publish 20 to 25 titles a year.” Associate editor Nicky Guerreiro will move over to the imprint, and new hires will include a dedicated marketer. Publisher Reagan Arthur says in the announcement, “The mission of the new imprint is to publish distinctive, bestselling illustrated books of the highest quality that entertain, inform, and inspire—while expanding the possibilities of visually-driven nonfiction and connecting readers to their passions. “The authors and […]
People, Etc.
At Harper Collins, Catherine Barbosa Ross has been promoted to director, foreign rights, and Maureen Cole has been promoted to director of publicity for the Morrow Group. Hachette UK’s Lucy Hale has been promoted to the newly created role of deputy ceo for Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, John Murray Press, and Quercus. Group ceo Jamie Hodder-Williams said, “She has a first-class commercial brain and a forensic knowledge of our markets at home and abroad. Working closely with our authors, she has demonstrated time and again that her peerless vision, her energy, dedication and enthusiasm in delivering campaigns ensures that every book reaches […]
Briefs: An Eric Carle Imprint, NYRB’s Statement, and More
Imprints Penguin Children’s is launching a World of Eric Carle imprint in winter 2019, “dedicated to the works of the acclaimed and beloved author and illustrator.” Francesco Sedita leads the line, which “will focus on publishing books that are based in the core values of discovery, creativity, learning and growing.” Initiatives Penguin Random House resumes its annual “2-Day transit program” for independent booksellers for the seventh year, starting October 1 and running through March 1, 2019. Bookselling Shaw’s Book Shop in Westwood, NJ is closing at the end of September after 40 years of operation. Owner Tom Downs said Amazon […]