Penguin Children’s announced a reorganization of its imprints, with Razorbill merging with Putnam Children’s. The Razorbill list will now be published under Putnam Children’s, with the last Razorbill titles publishing in spring 2024. Subsequently, the imprint will be phased out. Jen Klonsky, president and publisher of Putnam Children’s and Razorbill writes in an announcement, “I have come to the conclusion that while Razorbill was founded as a cutting edge teen fiction list, it has, over the years evolved into a broad general interest Children’s list that aligns perfectly with the mission of Putnam, and so it makes sense to merge these […]
Personnel
Pagnamenta Joins Kneerim & Williams to Form New Agency, Calligraph
The Kneerim & Williams Agency and The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency have joined together to form a new literary agency, Calligraph, based in New York and Boston. Katherine Flynn and Zoë Pagnamenta serve as managing partners, joined by Alison MacKeen as partner. Kneerim & Williams co-founder John Taylor (Ike) Williams says in the announcement, “I am thrilled we are uniting with Zoë and her distinguished agency. My late co-founder and friend, Jill Kneerim, and I had long treasured our friendship with Zoë and admired her many successes. My colleagues and I look forward to working with her and her team to […]
PRH to Combine Production Departments
Penguin Random House has initiated the process of centralizing production, managing editorial, and production editorial into single company-wide departments servicing all divisions and imprints, ceo Nihar Malaviya announced to staff on Wednesday. One clear objective is efficiency, as Malaviya writes: “When fully implemented, this new structure will better serve our authors by utilizing resources efficiently, exploring new technologies, and standardizing processes where it makes sense. And bringing teams together will expand professional-development opportunities for our production, managing editorial, and production editorial colleagues while scaling our established excellence and expertise in bookmaking.” He also says, “This change will ensure that book […]
Four Indigo Directors Resign; Reisman to Retire In August
Four of the directors at Canadian retailer Indigo have stepped down. One the four, Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa, “indicated that she was resigning as a director because of her loss of confidence in board leadership and because of mistreatment” according to the company’s press release. No reason was given for the resignations of Frank Clegg, Howard Grosfield, or Anne Marie O’Donovan, which leaves the company with seven directors. Additionally, controlling owner Heather Reisman announced that she will retire and step down as executive chair and a director as of August 22. “The time has come for me to retire from […]
Scribe Media Shuts Down, Lays Off Staff
Ghostwriting and publishing services firm Scribe Media abruptly shut down yesterday, laying off its staff. Wednesday evening the company sent an email to employees’ personal email addresses, stating: “Based on unforeseen business circumstances and faltering business based on unavailability of additional capital, Scribe is forced to shut down its operations and layoff employees at our Austin location on May 24, 2023.” An employee said staff was initially notified in a Zoom meeting, with company email access and healthcare cut off by the end of the day, and the company offering no severance. The employee estimated layoffs numbered 85 to 100 […]
People: Glusman Steps Down As Norton Editor-In-Chief, with Gerstle to Take Over
Vice president, editor-in-chief of Norton John A. Glusman will step back from managerial duties in July, becoming vice president, executive editor, and continuing to acquire. Glusman has been editor in chief since 2011. Dan Gerstle is promoted to editor in chief. Chairman and president Julia A. Reidhead said, “This change, coming at a time when Norton is celebrating its centenary year, underscores the shift that is essential to the continuity and well-being of our independent, employee-owned firm. Under John’s leadership, Norton Trade has thrived, collectively achieving record sales in 2020 and 2021 and enjoying a bounty of awards… We are […]