Timothy Bartlett will return to Basic Books (where he worked from 1998 to 2000) on November 8 as senior executive editor, overseeing their lists in politics, economics, and current affairs. He’s currently senior editor at Random House. NataÅ¡a LekiÄ has been promoted to managing editor at Atlas & Co. At Harper UK Children’s, Helen Mackenzie Smith has been hired as publishing director: picture books and color. She has worked for Random UK Children’s for over 14 years. Pulitzer-winning author Dr. Edward O. Wilson and “conservationist” (and actor) Harrison Ford are working with PEN to create the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for […]
Personnel
People, Etc.: Janklow Hires NYT’s Julie Just, Phaidon’s New CEO, and More
Children’s book editor of the New York Times Book Review Julie Just will join Janklow & Nesbit as an agent in November. Mort Janklow says in the announcement, “It has been our intention for some time to expand the range of agency services we offer to include in a major way children’s and young adult literature.” Lynn Nesbit calls Just “the ideal person to spearhead this new effort.” Phaidon Press, which recently hired Amanda Ridout as managing director, has now appointed David Davies as chief executive officer, starting November 29 and based in London. He is currently managing director at […]
People, Etc.
Heidi Metcalfe will join It Books as an associate director of publicity next week. Most recently she was a senior publicity manager at Free Press, where she’s been since 2006. At the Random House Publishing Group, Debbie Aroff has been promoted to senior manager, brand marketing. Christina Mamangakis has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as publicity manager. She was previously a publicist at Scribner. The New York Journal of Books has launched an online-only site of original book reviews from a pool of over 100 experienced reviewers. It’s founded by Ted Sturtz, on “an extended break from a long career in […]
Awards, People, Etc.
The new Barnes & Noble Recommends trade paperback selections are Lisa Genova’s Still Alice and Mary Karr’s Lit: A Memoir. The Booker Prize will be awarded this evening in London. Ladbrokes had suspended betting last week after 50 percent more money was wagered on a single title–Tom McCarthy’s C–on Wednesday than had been bet in total since the longlist was announced in July. Most illuminating, though, was the revelation that for all the attention the Booker betting draws, Ladbrokes took just 10,000 pounds of wagers up until Wednesday, when another 15,000 pounds was bet on McCarthy alone. Traditionally the favorite […]
Remembering Bookseller Carla Cohen, 74
Founder and co-owner of Washington, DC’s much-admired Politics and Prose bookstore Carla Cohen died this morning following her battle with a rare cancer of the bile ducts. The Washington Post remembers her as “a former urban planner who conceived of Politics and Prose as a salon where Washington readers and writers could gather to challenge each other in discussion about the big ideas of the day — a place that would reach beyond customers’ pocketbooks and become part of their lives.” Cohen and fellow owner Barbara Meade put the store up for sale earlier this year. In a obituary posted […]
People, Etc.
Karen Thompson has been promoted to editor at the Simon & Schuster adult trade imprint, both acquiring her own list as well as looking to “maximize and revitalize parts of the backlist.” Erica Gelbard has been promoted to publicity manager at Grand Central. The UK Crime Writers Association gave its awards to Belinda Bauer‘s author BLACKLANDS for best crime novel; Simon Conway‘s A LOYAL SPY for best thriller, and Ryan David Jahn‘s ACTS OF VIOLENCE for a previously-unpublished author. Bauer is the only of three who is currently in print in the US. But like some of the Booker-shortlisted books, […]