Jason Weidemann has been promoted to editorial director of University of Minnesota Press. He succeeds Richard Morrison, who left after fifteen years at UMP to become editorial director at Fordham University Press last month. At Macmillan, Krista Loercher has been promoted to director, Amazon sales. Sam Caggiula has joined Skyhorse as senior publicity manager. Previously he was a publicist at Rowman & Littlefield. Former Bertelsmann executive Richard Sarnoff has been named head of KKR & Co.’s Americas media and telecoms team, as well as a managing director of KKR. Sarnoff, a former co-chairman of Bertelsmann’s U.S. division, has been a […]
Obits
People, Etc.
Lance Fitzgerald will join the Crown Publishing Group as vp, director of subsidiary rights on August 4. Previously he was director of subsidiary rights at Simon & Schuster. Succeeding Fitzgerald at S&S is Marie Florio, who has been promoted to director, subsidiary rights, overseeing rights for all books within the Simon & Schuster imprint as well as select Threshold titles. Riverhead director of publicity Jynne Martin will take on the additional role of associate publisher, joining Kate Stark and Catherine Lynch. The new title for Martin, who joined Riverhead in 2011, “recognizes the role she has taken on beyond being […]
People, Etc.
Start-up BitLit has announced a pilot program with Harper Collins. The publisher is testing the app that provides a discounted ebook as a bundled offer to a proven print book purchaser or owner on 6 titles for now (Halfway to the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost, Black Magic Sanction, by Kim Harrison, Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson, Wicked, by Gregory Maguire, The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, and 15 Seconds by Andrew Gross). In personnel news, at Harper Collins, Erin Gorham has been promoted to director, digital accounts, while Lindsey Kline has been promoted to digital sales specialist. Colleen Venable will join Workman […]
People: Nadine Gordimer Dies
Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, 90, died at home in Johannesburg. Gordimer won the Booker in 1974 and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2002, along with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. Jamil Ahmad, 83, author of THE WANDERING FALCON, died at his home in Islamabad after a long illness. Ahmad’s debut novel was published in 2011 when he was 79 after being excerpted in the “Pakistan” issue of Granta. At St Martin’s, Nancy Trypuc has been promoted to vp, creative services. Jerry Bilek will join the Minnesota Historical Society Press as sales manager on August 1. Bilek is the owner of Monkey […]
People, Etc.
Following the February announcement that Penguin Random House would close two Penguin warehouse/operations centers by 2015 and consolidate all US fulfillment operations into the Westminster, MD and Crawfordsville, IN facilities, there is a now a report on an expansion of that warehouse in Indiana. PRH is adding 350,00 square feet (growing by about 50 percent) and plans to add “up to 313 new jobs by 2016.” The first of the hiring will begin this August. Walter Dean Myers, 76, author of numerous children’s novels that chronicled struggles of urban youths, died July 1 at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan […]
People
Hachette Australia ceo and chairman of Hachette New Zealand Matt Richell, 40, was killed in a surfing accident in Sydney earlier Wednesday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. In a statement Hachette UK ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson said: “With great sorrow, and in shock, we have to announce the death of our beloved friend and colleague. Our thoughts and most heartfelt condolences are with Matt’s wife Hannah, his family, his colleagues and many friends in publishing and more widely.” Crown announced a number of recent promotions in the editorial department. Kevin Doughten has been promoted to senior editor for both the […]