Chairman emeritus of Writers House Al Zuckerman is retiring 47 years after founding the agency. “A true legend of the industry,” the agency writes, “At the beginning of his storied career, Al was a one man shop, taking business meetings in a bank lobby; he retires having overseen the growth of the company to the industry-leading agency it is today, with over twenty agents and fifty employees. At the core of his success was Al’s extraordinary understanding of storytelling, begun with his doctoral thesis on Hamlet at Yale’s famed Drama School and continuing on through his own work as a […]
Personnel
People, Etc.
Kathy Belden has been promoted to editorial director at Scribner, announced by editor-in-chief Colin Harrison and publisher Nan Graham: “Kathy’s books and authors have transformed the Scribner list…. This is a reflection of Kathy’s exceptional contributions to the imprint — her advocacy for the books edited by her colleagues; her mentorship of younger staff and counsel to older; her work to make systems better serve our staff and authors; her commitment and leadership in all matters DEI; her nourishing of the community — even and especially now that we are physically apart; her wisdom and grace, generosity and humor.” Rebecca […]
Briefs
Excerpted Former president Barack Obama’s forthcoming book is excerpted in The New Yorker. David Remnick writes that “the second volume will come when it comes.” People At Open Road, Mary McAveney adds chief revenue officer to her chief marketing officer role, and Daniel Shemesh adds chief operating officer his role of chief financial officer. Initiatives The National Book Critics Circle‘s board voted to create and share a Criticism Equity Pledge, in addition to its anti-racism pledge, which was released on June 11 and causes a controversy resulting in mass board resignations. They wrote on Twitter, “A majority of the board’s […]
People, Etc.
At Berkley, Michelle Vega has been promoted to executive editor; Sarah Blumenstock to editor; and Jenn Snyder to assistant editor. Jessica Mangicaro becomes marketing manager; Elisha Katz marketing coordinator; and Natalie Sellars marketing coordinator. Tara O’Connor has been promoted to publicist. At Thomas Nelson, Mark Glesne will become senior director of marketing, focusing on the Max Lucado and Lysa TerKeurst author brands, and Stephanie Tresner will become director of marketing. Best of As usual, Publishers Weekly starts off the Best Books of 2020 season. Their top 10: Nonfiction The Address Book, by Deirdre Mask (St. Martin’s) Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson (Random […]
Briefs
At Random House Children’s, Lauren Diaz Morgan has been promoted to associate manager, subsidiary rights. Jake Eldred becomes senior managing editor. Amanda Orozco has joined Transatlantic Agency as literary agent. She was previously with Park & Fine Literary and Media. Talent agency Markham Froggatt and Irwin has joined The Curtis Brown Group in the UK. Picks Farrar, Straus announced that Severance by Ling Ma is December’s NYT-PBS NewsHour Now Read Book Club Pick. Awards Anna Burns won the International Dublin Literary Award for Milkman. Thinkingdom Media Group’s Astra Publishing House, minedition Switzerland, minedition France, and Thinkingdom in China are backing […]
People, Etc.
At Writers House, Maria Aughavin has been promoted to evp, finance; Albert Araneo moved up to evp, business affairs; and Cecilia de la Campa is now evp, global media & licensing. Jonathan Morris has been promoted to production coordinator at Random House Children’s. Rights At the end of the year Penguin Random House Canada is taking back in-house the sub-rights business that they turned over to The Cooke Agency International in 2009, in “a strategic shift…in order to drive international growth across our publishing.” Adrienne Tang has been hired as vp, subsidiary rights, reporting to ceo Kristin Cochrane. Tang was at Kids Can […]