Independent literary agent Elana Roth Parker is relocating to Detroit, MI and will work from there for the Laura Dail Literary Agency. In the UK, Kate Stephenson will join Headline as senior commissioning editor on August 4, reporting to Alex Clarke, who is setting up a yet-to-be-named imprint at the division. Previously she was commissioning editor for Avon UK. Abrams announced a number of recent promotions and new hires. Lianne Schmidt has joined as senior contracts associate; she comes from Trident Media. Allison Paige Doscher has joined as associate editor for Calendars; previously she was an assistant editor at Harper Design. […]
Obits
People
Erica Rand Silverman will join Stimola Literary Studio as a senior agent on July 1 after eight years at Sterling Lord Literistic. She will continue to represent children’s literature, picture books through YA, and the occasional adult nonfiction in the areas of parenting, humor and wellness. Patrick Walsh is leaving Conville & Walsh (now owned by Curtis Brown UK) to start PEW Literary Agency. Conville and Walsh will continue to represent foreign rights to Walsh’s authors, and Curtis Brown UK will continue to sell film/tv rights for the new agency. Walsh says: “I have loved working with the team at Curtis […]
People, Etc.
Berlin-based digital publisher Frisch & Co., which has published 13 books in translation, will become an imprint of UK-based Canelo as of June. Publishing director Michael Bhaskar says in the announcement, “We want to take these wonderful, original, eclectic, innovative voices to the wide English speaking audience they deserve.” Author of over 50 English-set historical romances, Jo Beverley died May 23 in Yorkshire, England. She was a five-time Rita Award winner, a member of the RWA Hall of Fame and RWA Honor Roll, and recipient of two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times. The Target Book Club pick for June is The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler.
People
Brendan Vaughan will join Ballantine Bantam Dell on May 9 as executive editor, reporting to Jennifer Hershey. Vaughan was most recently executive editor at GQ and before then, articles editor at Esquire. In the UK, Nicholas Brealey has left Nicholas Brealey Publishing, was which was bought last year by Hachette UK. William Rosen, 61, died April 28 of gastrointestinal stromal cancer. He spent nearly 25 years as an editor and publisher at Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and the Free Press, and was the author of several works of narrative nonfiction. Viking has his book about the discovery and dissemination of antibiotics scheduled […]
People, Etc.
Carla D. Hayden, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Library of Congress, appeared for about an hour of testimony before the Senate Rules Committee, on Wednesday. The NYT reports that “all signs pointed to a nomination process proceeding as, well, normal.” The Washington Post concurred that Hayden “met no resistance from the panel of senators, who focused their attention on the library’s information technology systems.” The Times added that, “The hearing’’ most pointed questioning centered on the patent and trademark office, which has had its own technological failings in recent months, prompting some to suggest that it should be made into its […]
Passings: Dantry, Janson-Smith and Ferrone
Owner of former Pittsburgh bookstore Jay’s Book Stall (opened in 1959, closed in 2008) Jay Dantry, 87, died on Sunday after a long illness. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes, “Under his guidance, Jay’s Book Stall became one of the premier bookstores in the country, a mandatory stop in Pittsburgh for touring writers.” Michael Chabon adds, “I’ll always be grateful to him for the year I spent working at the Book Stall…. The staff wasn’t like a family, it was a family.” Former literary agent Peter Janson-Smith, 93, has died. He worked for A D Peters and Curtis Brown UK before setting up […]