Laura Geringer, publisher of the eponymous Harper Children’s imprint for 17 years (and a Harper employee since 1980), “has announced her decision to leave her position” at the end of the month. Susan Katz says in her memo Geringer “looks forward to having more time to pursue her career as a writer, to devote her energies to the development of a new business with the capability of delivering story content on multiple platforms, and to channel more time into First Book.” The imprint is best known for picture books by William Joyce, and the IF YOU GIVE A … series […]
More Personnel News
David Morton, who has run Rizzoli’s architecture program since 1987, has been promoted to the new position of associate publisher, architecture. At St. Martin’s, Tom Stouras has been promoted and is adding supply chain management to his current responsibilities, taking the new title of vp, supply chain and sales operations. Steve Faber is being promoted to inventory director, supply chain and Debbie Derevjanik will become director of analysis and forecasting, supply chain, both reporting to Tom Stouras. Alison Indrisano has been appointed president and ceo of National Geographic School Publishing, including Hampton-Brown, which it acquired in 2006, starting in early […]
September Indie Next
Here are the ABA’s latest monthly picks: In Hovering Flight: A Novel, by Joyce HinnefeldMy Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq, by Ariel SabarAmerica Eats! On the Road with the WPA — the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin Feasts That Define Real American Food, by Pat WillardThe Good Thief: A Novel, by Hannah TintiAnathem: A Novel, by Neal StephensonFine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, by Annie ProulxFeather Man, by Rhyll McMasterJust Breathe, by Susan WiggsHurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir, by Michael GreenbergAmerican Wife: A Novel, by Curtis SittenfeldCity of […]
Boys Books? Gross
Boys are increasingly left out of reading. As the WSJ puts it, “Scholastic and other publishers are heeding the research of such academics as Jeffrey Wilhelm, an education professor at Boise State University. Prof. Wilhelm tracked boys’ reading habits for five years ending in 2005 and found that schools failed to meet their ‘motivational needs.’ Teachers assigned novels about relationships, such as marriage, that appealed to girls but bored boys. His survey of academic research found boys more likely to read nonfiction, especially about sports and other activities they enjoy, as well as funny, edgy fiction.” The paper uses the […]
Coelho on His "Online Journey"
Novelist Paulo Coelho writes in the New Statesman about his decade-long adventures in connecting with fans and readers electronically. His starting point was significantly different from that of many of his peers: “in my case, I was never very keen on the notion of the reclusive author working in solitude, and have always tried to interact with my readers. So I’ve spent a lot of time on my website, knowing that it is one of the rare public platforms, besides the traditional book signing, open to me.” That genuine desire for constructive engagement with his audience, and a creative willingness […]
Scholastic Announces Direct-to-Home Continuities Sale
Scholastic announced that it has “entered into a definitive agreement” with private-owned Sandvik of Norway to purchase their US direct-to-home continuities business. Sandvik’s primary business is “operating consumer-direct, age-appropriate children‘s book clubs, using email and the Internet to reach their target audience of parents with children up to age seven.” The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.Release