PEOPLE
As widely reported over the last month, while BN.com staffs up, layoffs continue at both Barnes & Noble and Borders. About 40 people were let go from Barnes & Noble recently, including Bob Wietrak, Lee Stern, Marcella Smith, Mo Stewart, and buyers Dan Mayer, Dave Hathaway, and Kim Corradini.
At Borders, just after New Year’s, Legal Counsel Thomas Carney, CIO Scott Laverty, SVP Marketing Bill Dandy, and SVP Business Development and Publisher Relations Larry Norton were gone. In mid-January the company announced that another fifteen staffers had been let go, including nine regional merchandising managers, four event marketing managers, and two district manager positions. On January 17, Borders continued with the news that it laid off 45 employees—40 at corporate headquarters and 5 in its distribution centers.
Leigh Feldman has left Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman after twenty years, to join Writers House.
Richard Sarnoff has left his positions as Co-Chairman of Bertelsmann, Inc., and President of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments to join Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and its affiliate Weld North as a senior advisor. Bertelsmann CFO Thomas Rabe will take over at BDMI. Sarnoff joined Bertelsmann in 1987.
Julie Saidenberg has been named Publisher of Shambhala Publications, reporting to President Nikko Odiseos, who took over late last year after Peter Turner left the company. Saidenberg has been with Shambhala since April 2000, most recently as VP, Sales and Marketing.
Peter Costanzo is the new Director of Digital Content for F+W Media, where he will develop enhanced e-books, apps, and other digital products. Previously, he was Director of Online Marketing for the Perseus Books Group.
Larry Hughes has been named Associate Director of Publicity at Free Press, reporting to Carisa Hays. He had been running his own business, LH Communications, and prior to that was Director of Publicity for HarperBusiness.
St. Martin’s has hired Laura Clark, formerly of Portfolio, as Marketing Manager.
At NBN, Rich Freese announced seven staff cutbacks, including Gail Kump, Director of New Business Development since February 2010, and VP Sales, Spencer Gale.
Kaplan has hired Babette Ross as Marketing Director. She was previously Associate Director of Sales Administration at Random House.
Cary Goldstein has been named Publisher of Twelve, replacing Susan Lehman. He was Associate Publisher for the imprint. Meanwhile, Karen Thomas, former Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing, has left to freelance, including digital publishing and agenting.
There’s been an unusual amount of movement in editorial this month. Marjorie Braman has left Henry Holt, where she has been VP and Editor-in-Chief since 2008. Prior to that she was Executive Editor at HarperCollins. She will concentrate on freelance editorial projects.
Adam Korn has returned to HarperCollins as Executive Editor, Morrow. He was most recently a literary agent at DeFiore and Company.
Kate Hamill is leaving her position as editor at HarperCollins’s It Books to join the business development team at Scribd.
David Moldawer has joined McGraw-Hill Professional as a senior editor. He was at Portfolio.
Cherise Fisher has left Plume, where she was Editor-in-Chief.
Zack Schisgal has left Touchstone, where he was Executive Editor.
Mary Ellen O’Neill has joined Workman as a Senior Editor. Most recently, she was Publisher of Collins Lifestyle and Editorial Director of Cookbooks/Executive Editor at Morrow.
At Publishers Marketplace, Emily Williams has been hired as Digital Content Producer. She was formerly a scout, writer, and literary consultant. Sarah Weinman joins as News Editor. She is a writer and journalist.
Christine Pride has joined Hyperion as Senior Editor. She was an editor at Crown.
Wharton School Publishing has hired Shannon Berning as Executive Editor. She was at Kaplan.
Kevin Moran has been named Director of Marketing at Skyhorse Publishing. He was Operations Director at Overlook Press.
Brian McBride has stepped down as Managing Director, Amazon.co.uk, and will be replaced by Christopher North, who was VP, Media Products at the company.
David Breuer, Chief Executive of Royal Academy Enterprises, has moved to the Quarto Group as Director of Co-Edition Publishing, succeeding Piers Spence, who’s retiring to raise rare pigs.
PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES
Katherine Nintzel has been promoted to Senior Editor at Morrow. Pamela Spengler-Jaffee has been promoted to Senior Director of Publicity for the Morrow/Avon division, and Danielle Bartlett has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity.
Gretchen Young has been promoted to VP, Executive Editor of Hyperion and Editorial Director of ABC Synergy, reporting to Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Dyssegaard. Young will expand her editorial liaison role with the ABC Television Group and will acquire for Hyperion.
At Norton, Brendan Curry and Tom Mayer have been promoted to Senior Editors.
At Random House Publisher Services, Skip Dye announced that Lane Jantzen has been appointed VP, Sales Director and Chuck Errig has been promoted to VP, Imprint Sales Director.
VP and Associate Publisher Mauro DiPreta announced that Kevin Callahan has been promoted to Director of Marketing for It Books and Harper Design.
In children’s publishing: Julie Strauss-Gabel has been promoted to VP, Publisher of Dutton Children’s. Lauri Hornik will return to a sole focus on Dial, where she remains Publisher and President. Dial will expand from 50 titles a year to 75, including a number of authors and illustrators who had previously been published under the Dutton imprint.
At HarperCollins, Executive Director of Publicity Sandee Roston annnounced that Alison Verost has joined the Children’s publicity department as Assistant Director of Publicity. She was at Penguin Young Readers Group.
At Little, Brown Children’s, Alvina Ling moves up to Executive Editor; Audrey Sclater is now Marketing Creative Director; Victoria Stapleton is Director, School and Library Marketing; Ames O’Neill is Publicist; Lola Harley is Associate Project Manager; and Alison Impey is Associate Art Director.
At Random House Children’s, Dennis Shealy has been promoted to Editorial Director of Licensed Publishing. Shealy started working at Golden Books 17 years ago.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Center for Fiction will host agent and author Betsy Lerner on February 16; a celebration of Philip Roth on February 24, and a reading by the NBCC fiction finalists on March 8.
The 15th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards take place at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York on Monday, March 7. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, author and NBC News’ Chief Medical Editor, and Jamie Raab, EVP, Hachette Book Group and Publisher, Grand Central Publishing will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by the awards program from 7–8:30 p.m.
From February through April 2011, the National Book Foundation hosts poetry events in several cities. The kickoff, a panel discussion entitled “Lineage: American Poetry Since 1950,” takes place on February 24 at the New School.
IN MEMORIAM
Jonathan Dolger, former editor and head of the eponymous literary agency and husband of editor and author Jane Isay, died at the end of December. Isay wrote, “A wonderful man, a brilliant editor and agent, delicious husband, devoted Pop-Pop. It happened in a terrible month, but he lived to celebrate the 21st anniversary of our finding each other again.”
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The memorial service for literary agent and editor Manie Barron, who died January 8, will be held at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue (between 50th and 51st) on Saturday, February 5 at 11:00 a.m., with a reception to follow.
