PEOPLE
Larry Kirshbaum will join the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency as a Senior Agent starting February 24, the WSJ reported. Scott Waxman says, “He’ll be an independent agent building his own list like every agent does.” Kirshbaum was an agent for his own firm, LJK Literary Management, between 2005 and mid-2011 before becoming President of Amazon Publishing. (His former colleagues at that agency reconstituted as the Einstein Thompson Agency when Kirshbaum left.)
George Coe has been announced as President and CEO of Baker & Taylor following the retirement of Arnie Wight. He has been President of B&T’s Library and Education division since 2000.
Earlier in January it was announced that Bill Saperstein, Barnes and Noble VP for Digital Products Hardware Engineering “is no longer with the company.” Jim Hilt VP and GM for Global Ebooks and MD of the international Barnes & Noble unit based in Luxembourg, was leaving as well. Michael Huseby, former CEO of the Nook division, moved into the top CEO spot left by William Lynch, who has been hired as CEO of Savant Systems, a home-technology automation company.
Tim Bartlett has gone to Macmillan as Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press. He had been an Editor at Oxford University Press, Random House, and Basic Books. Meanwhile, Macmillan VP, Director of International Sales Judith Sisko will retire after this year’s London Book Fair in April, after more than 22 years with the company. Prior to Macmillan, Sisko worked at Henry Holt, WH Smith and Simon & Schuster.
Namrata Tripathi will join Dial for Young Readers as Editorial Director, reporting to Lauri Hornik, helping to oversee the acquisition and development of Dial’s list in addition to editing her own projects. She was previously Executive Editor at Atheneum.
Nicole Melander has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as SVP, Digital Strategy, reporting to CEO Linda Zecher. Melander who was previously Chief Technology Officer at Achieving the Dream, will work closely with the company’s content, marketing, alliances, and technology.
Alexis Gargagliano has been named Executive Editor at Atavist Books. She was formerly Senior Editor at Scribner, and she will specialize in acquiring literary fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for her list.
Michelle Komie will join Princeton University Press as Executive Editor for Art and Architecture. She previously worked in the same position at Yale University Press. Anne Savarese is now Executive Editor for Literature at Princeton University Press.
Marisa Vigilante will join Rodale as Senior Editor, effective February 5. She was most recently an editor at PRH.
Beth Vesel has joined the Irene Goodman Literary Agency as a Senior Vice President. She previously ran the Beth Vesel Literary Agency for ten years, and before that was a Senior Agent at the Sanford J. Greenburger Agency for fourteen years.
Laurie Muchnick is joining Kirkus Reviews in February as Fiction Editor, following the resignation of Elaine Szewczyk. Muchnick has written and edited book reviews for more than 20 years, most recently at Bloomberg News, and currently serves as the President of the National Book Critics Circle.
Publishers Lunch reports that ICM Agent Heather Schroder left the firm recently to start her own agency, Compass Talent. Her first deal under the new banner is with Flatiron Books.
Brooks Sherman has joined the Bent Agency. Sherman was previously an Agent at FinePrint Literary Management.
Molly Barton, Global Digital Director at Penguin and founder of Book Country, has accepted a faculty position at Wesleyan University. She will also consult for publishing-related start-ups.
Jane von Mehren has joined Zachary Shuster Harmsworth as an Affiliate Agent after more than 25 years as an Editor and Publishing Executive, most recently as an SVP and Publisher, Trade Paperback at the Random House Publishing Group.
Justin Hargett has joined the Portfolio, Sentinel, and Current imprints as Senior Publicist. Previously he was a Publicist at Basic Books.
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP (CDAS) announced the addition of publishing attorney Alex Gigante, formerly Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs for Penguin Group (USA), who has joined the firm as Special Counsel. Through October 2014, he also will continue his association with Penguin Random House in the part-time position of Senior Counsel.
Kelley L. Allen has been named Director of eBooks at Humble Bundle. Allen was formerly the Director of New Media at Random House and Director of eBook Acquisition at Sony, and she was most recently at Kobo. Read More »
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know. 
