Publishers and Editors

And more from Publisher’s Lunch: lots of moves at Abrams. So many that we’ll quote directly from PL: Multiple announcements from divisions at Abrams. At Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Ron Longe has joined the unit as director of publicity. He was at Routledge most recently. Debbie Yost has been named senior editor for lifestyle books, coming over after 17 years at Rodale. And senior editor Marisa Bulzone has been promoted to executive editor. At Harry N. Abrams, Sharon Huerta has joined the company as trade sales manager. She was at Penguin Putnam. Harry N. Abrams Books

Publisher’s Lunch tells us that Jake Morrissey has joined Riverhead Books as an executive editor. Naturally, we thought this meant he’d be reviewing the memos written by titled staff and making them more readable, but, as it turns out, executive editors only edit executives from other companies. All very confusing, but we won’t spend too much time puzzling over the whole thing. Riverhead Books

No official confirmation on this one, but word on the ‘Net is that Stephanie Maurer will be leaving Silhouette due to the previously announced structural changes. We bonded with Stephanie in a time-honored tradition (no, not our writing…our love of Spike from Cowboy Bebop), and wish her the best.

The Southern California heat wave has broken — convenient as we’re attending an outdoor party on the Westside today. Really, it’s convenient because we’re addicted to sweaters. Which, of course, has nothing to do with anything we’re about to do here. Lots of updates and items caught our attention this week, including a switcheroo. Spanish book publisher Planeta is moving into English-language titles. Yeah, it’s so obvious, we wonder what took so long. Given the rush to capture the Spanish-speaking market in the U.S., this approach has the potential to change publishing dynamics as Planetas current authors have incentive to

Do note expect to find Norma Khouri’s books on the shelf anytime soon (but expect brisk business on eBay). Her publisher has decided to pull the plug on the printing presses. Yes, we remain disheartened, but fascinated. Khouri’s book pulled permanently

When we last visited Text, the independent Australian publisher, they had just entered into a long-term relationship with British publisher Canongate. At the time, we hoped they’d blend their households with minimal fuss. The profile of Michael Heyward in The Age reassures us to the point we wish we were Australian (thus reviving long-dormant fantasies of working on sheep stations and running with kangaroos). Though the article largely focuses on Heyward’s passion — which fairly leaps off the page — it also delves, briefly, into his editorial style: “I often tell writers now what we’re going to do is a

We end our updates on a scream. Yes, that sound you heard was us, not a military jet speeding by. We are happy to share the news that Marie Macaisa will be the series editor for Sourcebooks’s MediaFusion line. We’d love to tell you more about MediaFusion (knowing that authors are inherently nosy), but when we clicked on the MediaFusion link on the Sourcebooks site we got an “Under Construction” symbol. Yes, a sawhorse with blinking warnings lights. It’s 2004, and, well, we have to say something blunt. Either a page is there or it isn’t. It is better to

Bunch o’changes for Harlequin/Silhouette — so many that we couldn’t possibly come up with something clever for each and every item. Thus, we’ll let you pretend we were witty and jump right into the list. Take Brooke Perkins, EA for Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Intimate Moments, off your mailing labels. Tracy Farrell, Executive Editor, will no longer acquire for Harlequin or Silhouette single titles (yes, that’s our brow furrowing because we just spoke with one of her authors, and got a different impression). Jessica Regante is acquiring for Red Dress Ink. We believe this is a sort of promotion for

At Bantam Dell, Elizabeth Scheier is no longer listed as an acquiring editor. No word on whether this means she was promoted or moved to another company. Interested parties should probably pick the up phone to get the whole scoop (and, hey, drop us a line if you do!). Bantam Dell

PublicAffairs has promoted Gene Taft out of the publicity department to the role of associate publisher. Taft will be tasked with improving non-traditional sales, including those via the web. We remain available should he desire our thoughts on this particular topic — we certainly have much to share. PublicAffairs Books