John Mendelson will join Candlewick Press in mid-May as svp, sales and digital Initiatives. He is currently director of trade sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where he has worked for more than a decade in a variety of sales positions. At Random House UK’s Harvill Secker, among the many lines affected by recent layoffs, Liz Foley moves over from Vintage UK to serve as publishing director, reporting to publisher Dan Franklin, as Geoff Mulligan leaves the post but continues to edit his authors on a freelance basis, the Bookseller reports. Stuart Williams has been promoted to editorial director; and Rebecca […]
Personnel
Experiment Launches, People, and More
Matthew Lore has announced the launch of The Experiment, a nonfiction trade publisher launching this fall and backed by Richard Gallen, focused on health, nutrition, fitness, psychology, relationships, self-help, parenting, sexuality, science, and the environment. Lore, who previously oversaw Marlowe & Company and then was executive editor at Da Capo Press/Lifelong after Avalon was sold to Perseus, says “we’re called The Experiment because every book is a test of new ideas and because the curiosity and clear-headed thinking that characterize scientific experimentation are more crucial in publishing now than ever before.” PGW will distribute the line, which starts with six […]
People, and More
Erin Stein has joined Little, Brown Children’s as senior executive editor of franchise and licensed book program, managing ongoing franchises as well as movie and media tie-in programs, overseeing new licensing opportunities and helping to shape the middle grade and YA paperback program. Previously she was at Harper Children’s. At Kensington, Peter Senftleben has been promoted to assistant editor. The BISG provided the wrong link to their TRENDS survey of publishers’ sales yesterday; the correct link is: http://www.digisurvey.com/login.php?u=trends&p=survey
Lucki to Step Down at HMH; Financier O'Callaghan Will Run Publisher
CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Tony Lucki, 60, is retiring on April 15 according to an internal memo reported by the WSJ. Barry O’Callaghan, the 39-year-old genius who built the parent company with a mountain of over $7 billion debt will make himself ceo, while still running Education Media & Publishing Group. Lucki will keep his title as nonexecutive chairman of the publisher, and O’Callaghan says “he’s going to continue to be my publishing mentor.” “Our biggest challenge is the U.S. economy,” O’Callaghan tells the Journal. “Our biggest customers are the states of Florida and California, and we all know […]
People
Denise Oswald will take over as editorial director of Soft Skull Press and senior editor at Counterpoint on April 20, filling the slot vacated by Richard Nash. Most recently she was senior editor at Farrar, Straus. Bowker ceo Annie Callahan will now also serve as coo of ProQuest. Both units are owned by Cambridge Information Group. At Riverhead, Sarah Bowlin has been promoted to assistant editor.
ABA Stays the Course Naming Teicher New CEO
The ABA has picked longtime chief operating officer Oren Teicher to succeed Avin Domnitz as the organization’s CEO. President Gayle Shanks writes to members, “His encyclopedic knowledge of everything associated with ABA’s past and current programs, coupled with his thoughtful and insightful analysis of how ABA can meet our future challenges, combined to make him our clear choice.” Shanks also notes that “as recommended several years ago by our Governance Review Committee, details surrounding the new CEO contract will be made available to the membership after they are finalized. The Board wants to assure the membership that the terms of […]