Michael Thomas was the surprise winner of the IMPAC Prize for his debut novel MAN GONE DOWN, published by Grove/Atlantic. The judges said: “We never know his name. But the African-American protagonist of Michael Thomas’s masterful debut, Man Gone Down, will stay with readers for a long time. Tuned urgently to the way we live now, [Man Gone Down] is a novel brilliant in its scope and energy, and deeply moving in its human warmth.” Len Vlahos has been promoted to chief operating officer at the American Booksellers Association, filling the position held by Oren Teicher before he advanced to […]
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Publisher of Sweden’s Nicotext Fredrik Colting has now admitted that he wrote 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye and invented the pseudonym JD California. (A photo that ran in the Telegraph depicted a friend of Colting’s who is an actor.) Colting claims not to have understood he was echoing Salinger’s name with his pseudonym: “Somehow, John David California sounded like JD. I didn’t think about that actually. I just thought it sounded cool. Of course afterwards, I see the resemblance.” He has also backed off of his fiery language about the suit and now claims, “I’ve never said this […]
Another High-Profile Resignation at Granta, and More People News
This time it’s at Granta Publications and Portobello Books, where David Graham has resigned as managing director. Announced in a two-line statement, the company says “queries previously directed to David Graham should be directed to Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing.” Graham came over from Canongate in 2006. Also in the UK, Hannah Black is leaving Century to join Harper UK in August as a publisher at Harper Nonfiction, reporting to Carole Tonkinson, the Bookseller reports. At Sourcebooks, Rebecca Frazer has joined the company’s New York office an acquisitions editor for Jabberwocky. She has acquired and edited children’s books for HarperCollins, Simon […]
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Yesterday Barnes & Noble named Katherine Howe’s debut novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane as their latest chainwide “recommended” title. Harper UK’s children’s division is making the same cuts to staff that were recently imposed on the rest of the company, with publishing directors Gillie Russell and Sue Buswell both leaving the company. But managing director Mario Santos tells the Bookseller “both Gillie and Sue have agreed to continue to work with us on specific projects.” But an update of the story says Buswell will join Random House Children’s at the end of June as part-time maternity cover for […]
People
The Bookseller reports that Marcella Edwards has left PFD after less than two years at the agency. Edwards joined the company to manage their estates business and had headed up their initiative to reissue clients’ work in print-on-demand versions. Author Wendy Leigh told the NYDN that the announcement she would serve as co-author with “octomom” Nadya Suleman was “premature.” Leigh says “I was approached,” and adds, “but the talks were.” Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed another $300,000 in proceeds from his autobiography last year, bringing his total book earnings to $1.5 million. Justice Antonin Scalia received almost $100,000 for co-authoring MAKING […]
Noted
Stephanie Hargadon has been promoted to associate publicist at Macmillan Auiod, replacing Liz Noland, who is leaving the company to attend graduate school. Linda Clark Associates has been appointed as scout for Editora Gente in Brazil.