At Writers House, Stephen Barr has been promoted to senior agent. Brian Jud will take over as executive director of the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN) on January 1, following the resignation of Brad Flora. Jud is an author, book-marketing consultant, seminar leader, television host and a partner in Premium Book Company. Rachel Burkot has been named assistant editor for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Danielle Plafsky will join Knopf as assistant marketing manager on January 2. Previously she was a marketing associate for Harper. Daniel L. Knotts has been named coo of R.R. Donnelley, replacing John R. Paloian, who is retiring after over 25 […]
Personnel
Shanks to Stay On After Merger
Penguin USA ceo David Shanks has written to clarify the allegation from legal documents in September we referenced yesterday to a plan for him to step down in early 2014, now vowing to stay on as Penguin faces their merger with Random House. “I find the potential for this venture to be so exciting that I want to state for the record that, as of this time, I have no intention of leaving publishing any time soon,” Shanks writes. The previous report referred to “an internal succession plan that assumed that this scenario would occur if a certain set of circumstances […]
People, Etc.
As part of an organizational readjustment at Perseus, all three distribution – Consortium, Perseus Distribution and PGW – and their respective leaders Julie Schaper, Sabrina McCarthy and Susan Reich, will now report directly to coo Joe Mangan. In addition, the sales department, headed by Matty Goldberg, will now report directly to cfo Charles Gallagher, as will the supply chain division led by Greg Anastas. Chelsea Green is celebrating their first year as an employee-owned enterprise with a $2,500 cash bonus to employees. President and publisher Margo Baldwin quips, “If Random House can give all their employees a $5000 bonus for 50 Shades […]
People
In the UK, Rosie de Courcy will join her former husband Anthony Cheetham at Head of Zeus as senior editor, acquiring fiction. Most recently, she helped establish Preface at Random UK’s Cornerstone. Constable & Robinson has purchased self-help publisher How to Books, which has a list of over 500 books.
People
At Balzer + Bray, Sara Sargent has been promoted to associate editor. In the UK, Joel Rickett has been promoted to publisher of Viking UK and Portfolio UK. Ruth Alltimes will move to Harper Children’s UK as publishing director, fiction in January, reporting to fiction and licensed properties director, Rachel Denwood. She has been publishing director of the fiction list at Macmillan Children’s UK. Patti Smith discusses with Billboard her plans for a few books she is working on “simultaneously,” including her next memoir. She says it “is in more of the ‘Just Kids’ vein and even in the similar time period, […]
People, Etc.
At William Morrow/Avon, Tessa Woodward has been promoted to editor. Anne Hoppe will join Clarion Books as senior executive editor on January 23. Previously she was executive editor at Harper Children’s. Esi Sogah will join Kensington as senior editor on January 2. She was most recently associate editor at Avon. Midpoint will take over distribution in the US for gift, reference and cookbook publisher New Holland UK. They were previously distributed by Sterling. (Midpoint already distributes New Holland Australia.)