Wendy Wolf has been named vp, associate publisher of Viking, where she has worked since 1994. She will continue as editorial director of non-fiction as well. Keith Richards’ LIFE (Hachette Audio) won Audiobook of the Year at the 2011 Audies, given out last night by the Audio Publishers Association. Full List Ned Beauman, Stephen Kelman, and Anjali Joseph were shortlisted for the 2011 Desmond Elliot Prize for first novel published in the UK. The winner will be announced on June 23. Starting this month, AudioGO has partnered with Soho Press to release up to 12 audiobook titles a year from […]
Personnel
People: Grann to Retire; Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency Opens; and More
After more than 40 years in publishing, and more than 10 years with Doubleday, editor-at-large Phyllis Grann will retire from the company on June 9. “Phyllis is among the towering figures who have shaped book publishing,” said Knopf chairman Sonny Mehta in a statement. “We know her as a brilliant editor and savvy businesswoman, but more important, in my view, is the role she has played as a confidant and mentor to many in our industry. I certainly have learned a great deal from her.” Grann says, “as much as I have enjoyed the work, I now feel it is time […]
Larry Kirshbaum to Lead New Amazon Publishing Operation In New York
Amazon announced to a group of agents Sunday night that Larry Kirshbaum will leave agenting and return to publishing, serving as vp and publisher for Amazon Publishing’s New York office, effective immediately (officially starting July 5). Kirshbaum, who celebrates his birthday on Monday, says “On my sixty-seventh birthday, I’m reinventing myself.” Reporting to Amazon’s Jeff Belle, Kirshbaum is charged with building something that will look like a general trade publisher, with “a specific focus on non-fiction, but also literary fiction,” Belle says, since Amazon has already been rolling out other imprints focused on genre fiction. In the note to agents, […]
People, Etc.
Karen Ball is joining the Steve Laube Agency. For nearly 30 years she has worked on successful fiction lines at Tyndale, Multnomah, Zondervan, and, most recently, the B&H Publishing Group, where she was an executive editor. She will work from her office in Oregon. Publishing veteran Elizabeth Van Doren joined Highlights for Children and Boyds Mills Press as executive editor, book publishing. At Vintage UK, Victoria Murray-Browne has been named editor and Kate Watson joins as press officer. Previously Murray-Browne was an editor at John Murray and Watson was acting press officer at Dorling Kindersley.
People, Etc.
Kate Elton will join HarperCollins UK as publisher of Harper Fiction, replacing Lynne Drew, who is giving up the position for personal reasons (though she will continue to edit select authors.) Elton spent the past 15 years at Random House UK, where she was publisher of Cornerstone’s Arrow and Century imprints. Larry Bennett has joined Bookmasters as president of its international sales division, focusing on growing the company’s foreign-language book development and distribution efforts in the US and abroad. Previously he managed Baker & Taylor’s digital print media program. PEN American Center has announced a new award for picture book […]
People, Etc.: S&S Opens Division In India
Simon & Schuster has created a New Delhi-based sales, marketing and publishing company, Simon & Schuster India. The company’s exclusive sales agent on the subcontinent Rahul Srivastava will run the new unit locally as director of sales and marketing, reporting to S&S UK executive director Kerr MacRae. HarperCollins India will handle fulfillment and distribution, with “operations expected to commence August 1.” Inventory will come mostly from S&S UK, and they will offer titles from all of S&S’s divisions worldwide and distribution clients. Samantha Dell’Olio has joined book and author publicity firm Nissen Public Relations as publicity manager. She was most […]