After more than two years at HarperCollins, where she was executive editor at It Books, Esther Margolis is leaving the company on February 14 and reclaiming the Newmarket Press. She will establish a new publishing and media venture to agent, package and consult on books, publishing, marketing and cross-media strategies, especially in the film and entertainment area. Margolis founded Newmarket Press in 1981 and sold the company and backlist to Harper in 2011. She will assume full rights to the Newmarket Press name and logo after the fall season launch. At Inkwell Literary Management, Allison Hunter and Lauren Smythe have […]
Personnel
People, Etc.
Kate Johnson has joined Wolf Literary Services, where she will focus on adult fiction, based in Scotland. Kate was previously an agent and vice president at Georges Borchardt. Adriann Ranta is now vp and senior agent, and Allison Devereux has been promoted to associate agent and foreign rights manager. Sara Sargent has joined Simon Pulse as editor. Previously she was an associate editor at Balzer + Bray. At Metropolitan Books, Guy Connor has been promoted to assistant editor. Nathan Filer’s Costa Award-winning debut novel, published in the UK as THE SHOCK AND THE FALL but in the US as WHERE […]
Further Trimming At Nook
More departures were announced internally at Barnes & Noble this week, including general manager for the Nook accessories group Jackie Corso, as well as other members of that group, according to employees. Spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating told us: “We’ve been very clear about our focus on rationalizing the Nook business and positioning it for future success and value creation. As we’ve aligned Nook’s cost structure with business realities, staffing levels in certain areas of our organization have changed, leading to some job eliminations. We’re not going to comment specifically on those eliminations. “We believe we have a strong management team […]
Sharp’s New Film Company Bringing Gabaldon and Others to Screens
File this one under “interesting development we haven’t seen covered for publishing yet” rather than “news”: Open Road co-founder Jeff Sharp is now also ceo and president of film/TV production company Story Mining & Supply Co. It’s backed by chairman and executive producer Jim Kohlberg — the private equity master who is Open Road’s lead financier through Kohlberg Ventures and a board member of the ebook publisher. (Kohlberg has also been a film producer, writer and director for some time.) You’ll be hearing more about the company this summer when Starz is set to air their 16-episode series based on […]
People, Etc.
At Gotham/Avery, Lindsay Gordon has been promoted to associate director of publicity. Beth Ineson has been appointed to the new role of executive director, book marketing, sales, and operations at Boston Common Press, starting March 3. Most recently she was head of field sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ineson will oversee expansion of the marketing and distribution of efforts of the Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen, and Cook’s Country lines of cookbooks. Annie Kelley has returned to Schwartz & Wade Books as senior editor. Previously she was youth editor at Booklist. Simon & Schuster UK will combine its adult and […]
Penguin Random House Will Close the Two Penguin Warehouses By June 2015
Penguin Random House leaders Markus Dohle and Madeline McIntosh announced Wednesday afternoon that the company will “regrettably” close two of their four current warehouse/operations centers by June 2015, in Pittston, PA and Kirkwood, NY. They describe it as part of “the difficult, yet necessary, decisions we have made regarding our future warehouse network.” “Additionally, several support and distribution functions for Penguin currently performed in Pearson’s Cranbury, and Old Tappan, NJ offices will be relocated during this same time frame, as will Penguin’s Inside Sales department.” As a result, all US fulfillment operations will be merged into the Westminster, MD and […]