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Agencies Deepen Commitment to Publicity
In an era when cutbacks have driven publishers to shrink already small publicity and marketing teams, a handful of literary agencies have hired full-time staffers to work on what was traditionally publisher-only domain. What's striking about the agencies that are hiring in-house publicists is that many are small, boutique firms.
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Balliett Leaving Hyperion to Head Thames & Hudson
Will Balliett is leaving as editor-in-chief of Hyperion to become president and publisher of Thames & Hudson Inc.
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Levitz Steps Down at DC; Nelson to Head Revamped DC Entertainment
Paul Levitz will step down as president and publisher of DC Comics, which in turn will be reorganized and renamed DC Entertainment. Diane Nelson, formerly president of Warner Premier, Warner Bros. direct-to-DVD unit, will take over as president of DC Entertainment.
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Kichler Named IBPA President
Florrie Binford Kichler had been named to the newly created position of president of the Independent Book Publishers Association.
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Weinstein Books Constricts
After rumors surfaced before the Labor Day weekend that Bob and Harvey Weinstein's publishing unit, Weinstein Books, was shuttering, the company's publisher, Judy Hottensen, shot down the chatter and said the division is not closing, though one editor was laid off.
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A Tribute to Karla Kuskin
I didn’t know Karla well. I’d read and admired her poetry, but I met her in person only three times, casually, at book-related events. And then, several years ago, I put together my first collection of poems, made some sketches, and had the nerve to send her the dummy, hoping she’d take the time to look it over. She did — it came back weeks later, covered in Post-its. She not only critiqued and revised the poems but also suggested clever changes...
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Karla Kuskin, 1932—2009
Author and illustrator Karla Kuskin died on August 20, at the age of 77. Her career as an author spanned half a century, with her first book, 'Roar and More,' published by Harper & Row in 1956. Since then, Kuskin wrote more than 50 books for children, most often in rhymed verse, including 'The Philharmonic Gets Dressed'; 'Soap Soup'; 'In the Middle of the Trees'; and 'Moon, Have You Met My Mother?' HarperCollins will publish her book 'A Boy Had a Mother Who Bought Him a Hat' in March 2010.
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Writer Beware Busier than Ever
In 1998, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America founded Writer Beware, a program aimed at exposing scams, educating writers and maintaining a database of questionable literary agents, publishers, editorial services and literary contests. With the Internet making it easier than ever for publishing con artists to operate, Writer Beware has never been busier.
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Change Maker: Allan Kornblum
Allan Kornblum—along with a handful of other upstart publishers in the 1970s—created a new model for American publishing, what came to be called “the small press movement.”
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Former Firebrand Agents Hangs New Shingle
Michael Stearns, a former editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, who recently left his agent position at Firebrand Literary, is starting a new endeavor called Upstart Crow Literary. Chris Richman and Danielle Chiotti, who worked with Stearns at Firebrand, are joining him in the new venture. Stearns and Richman will focus exclusively on representing children's book authors while Chiotti will handle a range of fiction and nonfiction authors.
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Bowen to Join Greenburger Agency
Brenda Bowen, who left HarperCollins in February, is moving in a new direction, signing on as a literary agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, beginning July 6. Bowen will represent authors and illustrators of children’s books for all ages (preschool to teen) as well as graphic novels.
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Krieger to Retire from Aladdin
Ellen Krieger, v-p and associate publisher of Aladdin, will retire at the end of June.
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Josalyn Moran to Run Chronicle Children's Division
Josalyn Moran, who has been v-p of children’s books at Barnes & Noble for the past nine years, will oversee and spearhead the growth of the company’s children’s publishing program, encompassing books and other formats.
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Schroder to Leave Candlewick
Candlewick Press continues to realign its sales and marketing areas and will bring its digital development and theatrical/marketing liaison work in-house. As a result, Friday will be the last day for Charlie Schroder, who has worked with Candlewick on licensing and development for the past three years.
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Janet Silver Joins Zachary Shuster Harmsworth
Janet Silver, former v-p and publisher at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is going the agency route. Silver, who took an editor-at-large post at Nan Talese after the Houghton cutbacks (and was then a casualty of layoffs at Random House), is taking on the post of agent and editorial director at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth.
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Dallanegra-Sanger Heading to Macmillan Children’s
Joy Dallanegra-Sanger will join Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group in the newly created role of senior v-p, director of marketing. Dallanegra-Sanger will start at Macmillan on May 4, reporting to Macmillan Children’s president Dan Farley.
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Sales Changes at Candlewick
John Mendelson, director of trade sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in Boston, is crossing the river to take on the newly created position of senior v-p of sales and digital initiatives at Candlewick Press in Somerville, Mass., starting May 18.
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Rodeen Literary Open for Business
Children’s book agent Paul Rodeen, who learned his craft as assistant to George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic for three years, before opening an SLL Chicago satellite office four years ago, has opened his own literary agency. Rodeen Literary Management, headquartered in Chicago, will represent both veteran and aspiring children’s book authors and illustrators.
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Esther Margolis
When I meet Esther Margolis at her Newmarket Press office—crammed with books and papers and marked-up screenplays stacked against one wall— in midtown Manhattan, it's early January and the industry is in a panic—panic about layoffs, cutbacks, the reorganization at Random House. Still, Margolis seems unfazed by the doom and gloom.
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Alex Clark
These days, we expect news to travel nearly as fast as it happens. But if, as Ezra Pound said, “literature is news that stays news,” where does the old-fashioned literary quarterly fit in with our fast-paced world, where even literature is expected to keep up (think of online publications like DailyLit and PoetryDaily, which deliver a new immortal text each day)? One answer can be ...
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