Publishers and Editors

Over at M.J. Rose’s Buzz, Balls & Hype, the letters to Santa continue. Or, in this case, letters to the Book Biz Santa. For the past three days, she’s posted a series of three letters to publishers from authors (common theme: without authors, there would be little to publish). We strongly recommend checking out all three days (this being a blog, you scroll up to get to the end…it’s like a fun game only with a mouse). Just a few favorites from Day One: 1. No more legs, asses or boobs on the covers of women’s fiction. Believe it or […]

Bloomsbury Publishing has named Kathryn Belden to the position of executive editor. She’ll be handling both non-fiction and fiction. (Via Publisher’s Lunch) Bloomsbury Publishing

Atria Books continues to grow, adding Peter Borland as senior editor. He’s in the non-fiction group, focusing on popular culture, narrative non-fiction, and memoirs and biographies. (Via Publisher’s Lunch) Atria Books

Whew — sometimes you wonder how one keeps up with all the changes that happen inside a publishing house. Over at Orion Publishing Group, it’s been a bit like musical chairs (only, we suspect, without the music). For those keeping track, Jane Wood is now editor-in-chief. Kate Mills is switching from editorial director to deputy publishing director. This is because Jon Wood is now publishing director for Orion Fiction. Probably other minor shuffling has also occurred (if we’re getting the gist of this, there appears to be an unfilled editorial director’s office out there). Orion Publishing Group

We have heard that, contrary to what was previously announced, Harlequin will continue to publish its Historical line in North America. Recent changes at the publisher had left this line in mail-order-only limbo. While acquisitions will continue out of the U.K. office, the following contacts have been established: Mary Theresa Hussey and Ann Leslie Tuttle (New York) or Karin Stoecker and Linda Fildew (United Kingdom). Also, after a period of suspending acquistion, it appears the American line has been resurrected (okay, it really wasn’t dead, but it surely wasn’t looking good for recovery). the line will be coordinated through Toronto

We haven’t given the Penguin UK warehouse troubles sufficient attention. Normally we’d blame the weather, but, well, darn it, it has been cold and rainy this year. Very perplexing. We do regret our lack of care and attention to this issue because the story is fascinating on so many levels. In order to catch everyone up, we will do a high-level summary (if it’s details you want, the Internet is filled with them): due to a new system that didn’t work, bad things happened at the warehouse. The books suffered. They always do. They do not blame Penguin’s staff for

When did you first realize that editors are people, too? Oh, sorry. Okay, let us be the one to break the news: editors put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us (except, we suppose, those who do that two-legged, lying back on the bed thing). Of course, sometimes editors can be too human, as Tod Goldberg discovers when he interviews Gina Frangello, editor of Other Voices (“Cities in Dust”? That should never be admitted, especially when it can come back to haunt you). Goldberg’s been guesting over at The Elegant Variation, so don’t

Over at Marlowe & Company, new nameplates have been ordered. Kylie Foxx has been named senior editor while Sue McCloskey was promoted to associate editor. Via Publisher’s Lunch Marlowe & Company

Over at Avalon, Sandee Rosten has left her marketing position to take on the role of associate publisher. She’s based in the New York office. Avalon Publishing Group

Torstar, parent to Harlequin Books (no, we don’t have time to look up the corporate structure, we may not have proper corporate names), has reported another drop in earnings. This is a scary trend. The article is unclear, but seems to suggest that the company’s net sales were in line with other publishers (either that or the net sales were in line with the U.S. division — if only we spoke Canadian). Thankfully, all the balance sheet gobbledy gook is summarized neatly for us: “In the simplest terms, in book publishing we sold fewer books than we expected, leading to