In April, Libby McGuire was promoted to SVP, Publisher of the newly formed Ballantine Bantam Dell. As a result of the merged imprints, Nita Taublib has stepped down as EVP, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Bantam Dell. In other Random House news, Kendra Harpster is joining the Random House imprint in May as a Senior Editor, reporting to Susan Kamil. She was most recently an editor at Viking. Ranjana Wingender has been promoted to Director, Corporate Development, succeeding Nina von Moltke, who was recently promoted to VP, Digital Publishing Development. Thomas Lueke was appointed Manager, Corporate Development. Milena Albert is promoted to the newly created position of VP, Mergers and Acquisitions. Jaime De Pablos will succeed her as Director, Spanish-Language Publishing, Vintage Español.

Michele Martin has left Langenscheidt, where she was Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, and is now agenting under the rubric MDM Management.

Sean McDonald, who was Executive Editor at Riverhead, has gone to Farrar, Straus & Giroux (which Lorin Stein recently departed) as Executive Editor and Director of Paperback Publishing.

New York Times book publishing reporter Motoko Rich is moving over to the Times’ Business Day section to write about the economy, and will also work with Catherine Rampell, an economics writer who edits the Economix blog, reporting to Winnie O’Kelley.

Pablo Defendini has been named Interactive Producer at Open Road Integrated Media. He had been producer at Tor.com.

Seth Russo rejoins Simon & Schuster as VP, Director of International Sales. He held the same title at the company from 1992 to 1997. Russo was most recently the principal of Edureach International Consulting.

Sarah Knight has been named Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster. She was an editor at Shaye Areheart Books.

Colin Fox has been named Executive Editor at Hyperion. He was a Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster.

Marcy Posner, formerly agent and foreign rights director at Sterling Lord Literistic, has joined Folio Literary Management as an agent.

Lottchen Shivers has joined Abrams in the new position of Executive Director of Adult Marketing and Publicity, reporting to Mary Wowk. She had been running Lottchen Shivers Communications. Meanwhile, Susan Van Metre has been promoted to Publisher of Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books, replacing Howard Reeves, who been made Editor-at-Large.

Jeanne Emanuel has joined Perseus Books Group as VP Special and Gift Sales, a new position. She will be based in the Cambridge, MA office. She was most recently VP, Sales for Candlewick Press.

Cal Barksdale has started as Senior Editor at Tuttle Publishing in Vermont. He was at Arcade Books.

Jennifer Graham has been named Production Editor at Avalon and Lia Brown has been named Editor. She had been Managing Editor at Oxford University Press.

Jim Benjamin has started his own consulting company, JAB Associates, focused on finance and operations. He was CFO at Sterling. He may be reached at jabenjamin [at] verizon [dot] net.

Jocelyn Schmidt has been named Director of Brand Management at Penguin Children’s. She was VP and Director of Sales at Random House.

Dedi Felman has left Times Books and may be reached at dediaf1 [at] gmail [dot] com.

PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES

Ballantine Bantam Dell Publisher Libby McGuire (see above) has promoted Jennifer Hershey, SVP Editorial Director, Random House, to SVP, EIC, Ballantine Bantam Dell. Scott Shannon adds the title of Publisher, Ballantine Bantam Dell Mass Market, to his current role as VP, Publisher, Del Rey/Spectra. Kim Hovey, VP, Associate Publisher, Ballantine will now fill that position at BBD. Gina Wachtel, Bantam Associate Publisher, takes on the new role for BBD. Mark Tavani has been promoted to Executive Editor. He was Senior Editor.

At Random House Children’s, Till Wirth has joined New Media Marketing in the new position of Manager, Digital Content and Product Development.

At Oxford University Press, Tim Barton, who is ascending to the role of Managing Director of OUP USA, the UK Academic Division, and Oxford Journals, announced that Niko Pfund will now run US books and journals publishing across Academic and Trade, Medicine, and Law, in the Academic Research group. Scholarly Reference is run by Casper Grathwohl, also Online Publisher, OUP USA; and Higher Education by John Challice.

At Other Press, Paul Kozlowski, Director of Sales and Marketing, has been promoted to Associate Publisher. Editor Corinna Barsan has been promoted to Senior Editor and Katie Henderson to Editor.

At Shambhala, Sara Bercholz has been promoted to Executive Vice President and will also become the family owner representative.

Grace McQuade has been named Managing Director at Goldberg McDuffie Communications. She was Executive Vice President. Goldberg McDuffie also announced the launch of GMC Consulting, a new division aimed at helping “authors, agents and publishers develop creative strategies to meet the challenges of the digital era.” GMC Consulting “will provide authors and agents with guidance from the beginning of the publishing process.” In addition, the division will offer consulting services to authors on positioning and publicity for the launch of a book. Megan Underwood Beatie has been named Deputy Director of GMC Digital. Angela Baggetta Hayes has been named Director of GMC Digital. Both had been VPs at Goldberg McDuffie.

At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Carla Gray has been promoted to Director of Marketing, Adult Books; Candace Finn has been promoted to Subsidiary Rights Manager, in charge of selling all children’s rights; and Emer Flounders has been promoted to Publicist.

At HarperCollins, Lisa Sharkey announced that Matt Harper has been promoted to Senior Editor and Amy Bendell to Associate Editor.

DULY NOTED

Yale Publishing Course Director Tina Weiner announced that the new course, which runs July 18–23, will be titled “Leadership Strategies in a Time of Transition” and will concentrate on “the business of publishing as a global enterprise.”

Erstwhile Publishers Weekly Publisher George Slowik has purchased the magazine from Reed Elsevier and confirmed the recently appointed management of current Publisher Cevin Bryerman and co-editors Jim Milliot and Michael Coffey.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sandbox Summit, which focuses on children’s media, books, toys, virtual worlds, and education, takes place May 18–19 in Cambridge, MA. A panel entitled “A New Chapter for Books: Innovative Approaches to the Oldest Form of Media” will be moderated by Alexandra Kennedy, Executive Director, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art; panelists include Lisa Holton, Founder and CEO, Fourth Story Media; Peter H. Reynolds, children’s book author and illustrator and founder of FableVision; and Ben Vershbow, Digital Producer, NYPL.

The Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup takes place May 24–25 in San Francisco, CA. Speakers include Guy Kawasaki; Sean Horvath, EVP, Branded Entertainment, Alloy Media + Marketing; and Publishing Trends alum Ariel Aberg-Riger, Creative Development and Marketing Director, Fourth Story Media.

IN MEMORIAM

A memorial service will be held for Knopf’s Nina Bourne, who died on April 9, 2010 at the age of 93. The service takes place Wednesday, May 19 at 4:00 p.m. at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.

As Richard Nash, a newbie this year, marveled, “If there’s a tech show that is friendly to culture, this is it.”  As a newbie last year, I couldn’t believe that “creative” and “geeky” coexisted so easily in so many speakers, panels, and attendees. Half a dozen sessions were mindblowing enough that I can recall specifics a year later.

This year, not so much.

True, there were some terrific panels—including, I’m relieved to say, two well-attended publishing-related ones: New Publishing and Web Content, moderated by Jeffrey Zeldman, with Lisa Holton, Erin Kissane, Mandy Brown and Paul Ford; and A Brave New Future for Book Publishing, with moderator Kevin Smokler and panelists Kassia Kroszer, Debbie Stier, Matthew Cavnar, and Pablo Defendini.  There was also a stunning brave new world panel called Imagineering the Fully Digitized and Connected Future that presented a day in the life, 2015-style.

But on balance—and this sentiment was shared by others—a certain pizazz was missing.  Was it that the crowds were bigger, so that some sessions got closed out early?  Was it that, as one person put it, the panels started resembling cliques, made up of like-minded friends who didn’t have a whole lot of creative tension to share? Or was it that, when the audience (this correspondent included) is so busy writing and monitoring tweets on the current panel, as well as those going on concurrently, it was hard to absorb the points being made—and even harder to not to feel that other, better sessions were being missed?  Is sxsw setting itself up to foster a sense of deprivation—why am I here listening to this, when I could have, should have, been there, listening to that?

Which is not to say that the sxsw spirit—and mission—isn’t heads and shoulders above that at most conferences. The attendees are interesting and varied: In no particular order, I met two Finns who developed crowdsourcing software for movie making; a correspondent for L.A. Weekly; a folklorist from Memphis; and an older woman who works in HR at a not-for-profit in New York and was attending the many sessions aimed at nonprofits (a surprisingly big component of the festival).

Should publishers make their way here in 2011?  Yes, because sxsw offers a chance to see options for the future—amazing gaming, interactive software, inventive marketing, creative content development and deployment.  But as Will Schwalbe, a veteran attendee (he’s been going for three years) said, “If publishers come to sxsw to create their own sessions track, they’ll learn nothing. If they come to attend panels on subjects about which they know nothing, they’ll learn an enormous amount.”

Lisa Holton saw many parallels to the way teens are engaging in her company’s first online/offline property, The Amanda Project, which consists of a book series and a highly interactive site where users create their own characters and contribute to the story line. “You start building a house, and then invite everyone in to help you. . . . You have to lose control a little bit” when you ask people to contribute to your existing content, “but you have to embrace that risk.”

Ben Vershbow addressed academic publishing, which is plagued by high costs and a diminishing market, arguing that some of that publishing, which is already moving to a digital and POD realm, will have to be undertaken by libraries, which are also considering hosting academic conferences.

Ann Kirschner talked about students’ approach to research:  “If it’s not available digitally, it’s almost as though it doesn’t exist.” But, she noted, “content is beginning to find its natural platform,” and as users become more conversant with the options, they will be able to adjust to the best method for any given reader experience.

Kirschner also summed up the dilemma facing many users of digital content, especially those on the web: “You can say unmediated, or you can say democratic,” it all depends on how open you are to the experience.

Steve Rubin, former Doubleday Broadway President and Publisher, who began at Bantam Books in 1984 and was most recently Random House Publisher-at-Large, has been named President and Publisher of Henry Holt, reporting to Macmillan CEO John Sargent. Dan Farley will now focus exclusively on his other job as President and Publisher of the recently formed Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, also reporting to Sargent.

Paul Von Drasek has been named Trade Sales Manager of Capstone Publishers. He was Executive Director of Sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Mikyla Bruder has been named Associate Publisher at Timber Press, which was acquired by Workman in 2006. She was previously Executive Editor in the Gift division at Chronicle. Meanwhile, Chronicle announced that former Ten Speed Press Publisher Lorena Jones has taken over as Publishing Director. Jones will begin a digital food and drink publishing program and oversee Chronicle’s food and drink list as a whole. She left Ten Speed in November 2008, prior to Random House’s acquisition of the company.

Former Pantheon Publishing Director Janice Goldklang has joined Globe Pequot Press as Executive Director of Editorial, responsible for all trade programs. Steve Culpepper has the same title and is responsible for the regional travel and outdoor recreation programs.

Crown Executive Editor Heather Jackson announced that, having “thoroughly enjoyed nearly two decades in publishing,” she has resigned in order to “create and produce content in other media, as well as keep a hand on a few editorial projects each year.”

Brendan Cahill has moved to Jane Friedman’s Open Road Integrated Media as VP Publisher. He had been a Senior Editor at Gotham before attending Wharton, where he received his MBA. Most recently, he was at Boston Consulting Group.

Nick Trautwein has been hired as Senior Editor at the New Yorker, succeeding Emily Eakin. He was an editor at the Penguin Press.

Will Pesce, President and CEO, and Steve Smith, EVP and COO, of John Wiley announced the retirement dates and successors for Steve Kippur, EVP and President, Professional/Trade (retirement date July 31, 2010; successor Mark Allin); Eric A. Swanson, SVP, Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly (retirement date October 31, 2010; successor Steven Miron); and Bonnie Lieberman, SVP & General Manager, Higher Education (retirement date April 30, 2011; successor Joseph S. Heider). Heider will be promoted to the role of VP and COO of global effective May 1, 2010 and will continue to report to Lieberman.

Andrews McMeel has hired Linda Jones as SVP of its calendar and greeting card and Accord Publishing divisions, reporting to CEO Hugh Andrews. Jones was SVP Merchandising at Borders.

Abrams has hired Veronica Wasserman as License and Brand Manager for Children’s and Amulet Books. Wasserman previously worked in the Penguin Children’s licensing department.

Diane Bailey is joining HarperCollins as SVP of Human Resources, replacing Jim Young, who left earlier in the year. She will oversee all Human Resources functions for HarperCollins worldwide and sit on the executive committee. She was most recently at Heineken USA.

George Bick has joined the Doug Grad Literary Agency as an Associate Agent. He was most recently SVP, Director of Sales and Associate Publisher at HarperCollins.

Mary Grey James, a former book buyer for Ingram, has joined East/West Literary Agency as a partner agent. James serves as VP and President-elect of the Women’s National Book Association.

PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES

Simon & Schuster EVP, Operations Dennis Eulau has also been named CFO. Eulau takes over from David England, who has resigned. The company has hired David Byrnes in the new position of VP, Finance and Strategic Planning, reporting to Eulau. Elsewhere at Simon & Schuster, Kerri Kolen and Sarah Hochman have been promoted to the position of Senior Editor.

Ben Sevier has been promoted to Executive Editor at Dutton.

Julie Will has been promoted to Executive Editor at Rodale.

John Freeman, former president of the National Book Critics Circle, has officially been appointed Editor of Granta. He was appointed Acting Editor in May after the departure of Alex Clark and will be based in New York and London. His book The Tyranny of Email was published by Scribner in October.

Alison Donalty has been promoted to Executive Art Director in HarperCollins’s Children’s division. She began at HarperCollins in 1994 as an Assistant Designer.

At Dial Press, Noah Eker has been promoted to Editor.

DULY NOTED

Beginning in March 2010, American Vampire, a comic from Vertigo (DC Comics), will be released each month, including two stories: one by short story writer Scott Snyder and the other by Stephen King. King will write about Skinner Sweet, a bank-robbing, murderous cowboy of the 1880s who becomes a new breed of vampire. Snyder’s half will tell the story of a vampire in America during the 1920s. Both stories will be drawn by Rafael Albuquerque, who will continue the series with Snyder after King’s story ends.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The first Self-Publishing Book Expo will be held Saturday, November 7. The press release quotes Bowker figures claiming that the number of books self-published in 2008 increased 132% over the prior year. With a total of 285,394 titles, on-demand publishing surpassed traditionally published books for the first time. The Expo will feature panels and over 25 exhibitors, including authors, self- publishers, and POD companies, and was created by Diane Mancher and Karen Mender.

The Mercantile Library Center for Fiction honors Gerry Howard and announces the recipient of the First Novel Prize on November 9.

“The Wall in Our Heads,” the 2009 Words Without Borders fundraiser, also takes place on November 9. The evening features readings from the group’s new anthology, The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain by Paul Auster, Siri Hustvedt, and Peter Schneider. You can buy tickets here.

“Reading in a Digital Age,” a panel discussion moderated by Bill Goldstein and featuring, among others, New York Magazine’s Adam Moss, the NYPL’s Ben Vershbow, and Fourth Story Media’s Lisa Holton, takes place November 11 at CUNY.

Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, has been named the 2009 winner of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Workshop will hold a cocktail reception and gala dinner in Mehta’s honor on November 13, at At Vermilion. Mehta will receive the award from the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje. The dinner marks the beginning of Page Turner: The Inaugural Asian American Literary Festival, a two-day event showcasing award-winning authors reading together at the powerHouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

The Independent Booksellers of New York City (IBNYC) unite to celebrate Independent Bookstore Week, “a citywide event highlighting the diverse cultural contributions made by indie bookshops across the five boroughs,” November 15–21. The week will kick off with a party at powerHouse Arena and will conclude on America Unchained Day. A special poster designed by New Yorker cartoonist Bruce McCall will be on display in participating shops and available for sale. The IBNYC is an alliance of booksellers working together to promote the cultural, literary and economic benefits of shopping at New York City’s over 60 independent bookstores.

As summer wanes, change remains the constant: Former Simon & Schuster President of Sales and Distribution Larry Norton has joined Borders as SVP, Merchandising and Distribution, reporting to EVP Anne Kubek. Norton will lead the merchandising team and will work out of his Connecticut home. Earlier it was announced that Dave Marsico has been named VP, Midwest at Borders. He had been Market Director at online discounter Meijer. John Melnick has been named VP, Northeast. He had been Zone VP at Michael’s Stores. Mike Steele has been named VP, West Coast. He had been Director, Store Operations.

Longtime Baker & Taylor sales executive Bill Preston, SVP for retail and international, has left the company. He may be reached at wpreston1311 [at] aol.com.

CEO of Reed Business Information USA Tad Smith has joined Cablevision as President of Local Media, a new division that will organize local media and programming assets under one business unit, reporting to COO Tom Rutledge.

Jim Joseph has officially been named President and Publisher of Globe Pequot Press after serving as interim President following the departure of Scott Watrous, and previously as COO. Lawrence Dorfman has also been promoted to VP, Sales. He was Executive Director of National Accounts. Following the departures of Michelle Lewy and John Groton last month, Gene Brissie, erstwhile EIC of Lyons Press, has returned to his own literary agency, James Peter Associates, and may be reached at gene_brissie [at] msn.com. A search has begun for an Editorial Director.Andy Ward, Executive Editor of GQ Magazine, has accepted the position of VP, Executive Editor of the Random House imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, reporting to Susan Kamil, RH Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director of Dial.

Yulia Borodyanskaya, who left Kaplan earlier this summer, has gone to McGraw-Hill as International Rights Director in the Higher Ed division.

After a brief hiatus, Julie Bennett is rejoining Ten Speed Press as Editorial Director, reporting to Publisher Aaron Wehner. She previously worked for the publisher for nine years. Dawn Yanagihara joins the company as Senior Editor. She worked in a number of roles at Cook’s Illustrated and was most recently Senior Editor at Weldon Owen.

Lauren Weidner has been named Associate Sales Manager, Latin America/ Caribbean at Simon & Schuster. She comes from HarperCollins, where she was International Coordinator. Meanwhile, Jessica Wiener has been named Marketing Director for HarperStudio. She was with Hyperion. She replaces Sarah Burningham, who has left the company to concentrate on her writing and launch her freelance PR, marketing, and branding firm, Little Bird.

Jacqueline Murphy has been named in-house Subsidiary Rights Director at FinePrint Literary Management. She had been Executive Audio Editor at HarperCollins. Laura Wood, previously Associate Publisher of Council Oak Books, and Ward Calhoun, Senior Editor at Hylas Publishing, have also joined the agency.

Teresa Fogarty has been named a partner in the Los Angeles–based BookstoFilm.tv. Fogarty was most recently Marketing and Publicity Manager for IBPA (formerly PMA). She joins Rocky Lang, as well as the newly arrived Scott Barker.

PEN American Center, the largest branch of International PEN, announced the appointment of Steven L. Isenberg as Executive Director. For the past six years, Isenberg was a Visiting Professor of Humanities at the University of Texas (Austin). Isenberg succeeds Michael Roberts, who resigned in June after 11 years, to pursue a new career interest.

Mark Greenberg, Editor-in-Chief of Getty Publications, has left the museum, which has begun a search for his successor.

PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES

Kristin Fassler has been named Deputy Director, Marketing Department, Ballantine and Bantam/Dell, reporting to Sanyu Dillon. Fassler joined RH in 2004. Carolyn Schwartz has been appointed VP, Director of Ad/ Promo, reporting to Stacey Witcraft. She was Deputy Director of Creative Marketing at Bantam. Jennifer Smith will return to Ballantine as Editor, reporting to Libby McGuire. Smith began her publishing career at ICM in 2003 and came to RH in 2007 as Associate Editor.

At S&S, Tracy Nelson has been named National Account Manager for Barnes & Noble. She was responsible for selling and marketing the entire adult list to bn.com and will also continue to sell and market e-books on bn.com. Additionally, Christine Weag has been promoted to Associate National Account Manager. She joined the company in 2008. Megan Noyes has been named Manager of Digital Operations, Supply Chain at S&S. She had been Database Operations Analyst. Bill Kinneman has been named Director of Business Intelligence, Supply Chain. He had been Associate Director of Business Analysis. Veronica Lee has been named Sales Manager, International Sales. She had been Regional Associate Manager, Asia Pacific.

At Holt, Helen Atsma has been promoted to Senior Editor. She moved from Little, Brown in 2007 as an editor.

DULY NOTED

For over a decade, publishing houses have been a mainstay of Everybody Wins!, a literacy and mentoring organization. Power Lunch, EW!’s flagship program, pairs volunteers from local businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations with students in nearby public elementary schools for weekly lunchtime reading and conversation. EW! currently partners with four publishing houses: RH, McGraw-Hill, Penguin USA, and Scholastic. They are seeking new partners in publishing who can offer volunteers, book donations, in-school author events, and other language arts–related activities. Interested parties should contact Tom Schroeder: tschroeder [at] everybodywinsNY.org or (212) 965-2291.

HarperCollins is publishing invisible I, the highly anticipated first book in The Amanda Project series, at the end of September, to tie in with the just-launched website. (PW starred review here.) T.A.P. is the brainchild of Fourth Story Media’s Lisa Holton, who created the multiplatform media company after leaving Scholastic, where she was President of Trade Publishing and Book Fairs.

The search for Michael Healy’s successor as Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group is underway. Send nominations and applications in strict confidence to search consultant Angela Henry at BISGedsearch2009 [at] gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Kassia Krozser of Booksquare.com and agents Jenny Bent and Richard Curtis are some of the featured speakers at the annual Writers Digest conference, September 18–20 at NYC’s Marriott Marquis.

The New York Center for Independent Publishing (NYCIP) will present “The Next Chapter in Publishing” October 2 at its headquarters (20 W. 44th St.). Speakers will include Jeff Rivera of GalleyCat, Chris Kenneally from the Copyright Clearance Center, Mark Coker of Smashwords, and Fran Toolan of Netgalley.

A is for Antitrust, B is for Book, C is for Copyright, and D is for Digitize: A Conference on the Google Book Search Lawsuit will be held at New York Law School, 57 Worth St., October 8–10, 2009. Academics and practitioners will examine the settlement through the lenses of copyright, civil procedure, antitrust, the publishing industry, information policy, and literary culture. The conference is timed to coincide with the rescheduled fairness hearing in the Google Book Search case, which will be held October 7. E-mail infolaw [at] nyls.edu for more information.

The Goddard Riverside Community Center’s Gala will honor Josh Marwell, HarperCollins President of Sales, on October 26 at the Loeb Boathouse.

CLMP’s annual fundraising Spelling Bee will take place October 26 at Diane von Furstenberg’s studio. Spellers include Michael Cunningham, Jonathan Burnham, and Francine Prose.

Founder and President, Fourth Story Media

Since there are enough dire predictions rolling in at a steady clip, here are some potential positives to be taken in context of a year we all acknowledge will be challenging.

• More wagons venturing further into the digital frontier: There is still a wide spectrum of opinion on how fast publishing will move toward digital, and what that word means exactly (or even generally). For some, it means digitizing the files, offering more e-books, figuring out the Google settlement, and perhaps doing a Twitter campaign or two.

For others, it means offering more content via the web, finding online distribution/affiliate partners, and experimenting with new revenue models (while trying to remember that our current ones often look rosier on an acquisition P&L than they do on the balance sheet, so perhaps experimenting isn’t as risky as it seems). For Fourth Story Media and our partners, it means believing that the word “publish” is not bound between two covers, but instead defined by the art and craft of connecting great writers with their audiences. We will continue to publish stories over multiple platforms, cultivate multiple revenue streams, and follow our audience—children and young adults, for whom “digital” is synonymous with breathing.

While most of these steps will be small and guarded, there will also be some bigger developments, as some publishers begin to see ways to create the distribution channel as well as the content.

• Small is the new big: Having taken the leap into small business ownership from the corporate world just over a year ago, small is seeming more and more attractive, especially in the wake of Black Wednesday, Gloomy Thursday, and Madoff Monday. Why? Because our size and focus allow us to spend most of our time immersed in the world of online media and digital creation. We’ve changed the business model for two of our projects based on shifts in the online revenue market with little cost, fuss, or very many meetings. Our marketing team spends very little time in meetings, which means more time to spent in the market—finding the hottest new sites for our audience, making great contacts in new media, coming up with brilliant new viral campaigns based on recent experience. We’ve discovered a rich pool of talent across all fields including editorial, design, programming, and business development. They are fast, flexible, and because they love what we’re doing, are committed to us and our projects to a degree that is increasingly rare in any field. And as word gets out about what we are doing, great talent—from emerging writers and illustrators to established veterans—are seeking us out, hungry for a new creative experience.

We are a small start-up, which means cost-cutting, efficiency and bootstrapping are not a brutal, painful shift but a daily way of life. We believe that by staying small and focused on what we do best, and then partnering with powerhouses like our friends at HarperCollins for their publishing, sales, marketing, and distribution muscle, we can bring new ideas, creativity, and innovation to our industry.

So perhaps there will be more small, independent “studios” in the near future, and perhaps some of us will become the electric cars of the digital publishing world.

Holton is the former president of Scholastic Trade Publishing and Bookfairs. (Full disclosure: MPI has a consulting relationship with Fourth Story Media.)

Carl Raymond has been recruited by Scholastic’s Trade president, Lisa Holton, to the newly created position of Director of New Media Projects. He was most recently Adult Publishing Director of DK.

HarperCollins Group President Brian Murray announced that Joe Tessitore, President of Collins since 2004, will retire from full-time publishing by November 1. In his memo, Murray said Tessitore “will continue to work with Collins to facilitate a smooth transition while we begin searching for a successor.” Last month Marion Maneker, VP Publisher of Collins Business left the company.

Meanwhile, HC announced that Mike Brennan has joined the company as SVP and Director of Sales for the Morrow/Avon sales group. He was previously at Penguin as VP, Director of National Accounts.

Following Bertelsmann’s announcement that it would buy Time Inc.’s stake in Bookspan, Chief Executive Markus Wilhelm has left the company and BMG Columbia’s CEO Stuart Goldfarb takes over. Howard Weill (hweill@verizon.net), George Richter, Matthias Epp and others have also left the company. Separately, the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency announced that Victoria Skurnick, Editor-in-Chief of the Book-of-the-Month Club, will become an agent starting May 21. She will be reachable at vskurnick@levinegreenberg.com or (212) 337-0934.

In other agent news, PW reports that Peter McGuigan is leaving Sanford Greenburger to start his own firm with Yfat Reiss. It will be called Foundry Literary and Media. . . .The Gersh Agency announced that Phyllis Wender, who runs Rosenstone/Wender, will launch its New York-based book agency and will bring agents Sonia Pabley and Susan Cohen with her. . . . Publishers Lunch reports that Holly Root has joined the Waxman Agency. She had been at Trident Media . . . Putnam Executive Editor Dan Conaway has joined Writers House as an agent and editorial consultant.

Don Linn, previously President of Consortium Distribution which is now owned by Perseus, has been hired as Head of Business Development at Taylor Corporation (taylorcorp.com).

Following Perseus’ acquisition of PGW, President Rich Freese will leave the company after July 31. Director of Marketing at PGW Tracy Fortini is also leaving then and may be reached at tracyfortini@hotmail.com.

Perseus announced that the field sales forces will be combined to create one organization headed by Elise Cannon. Dave Tripp, who has headed field sales at Perseus, will move to national accounts. Rick Monteith will head a single ID/mass merchandisers group. Sarah Wolf and Eric Green will direct a bi-coastal special sales team.

Don Sturtz of Fujii Associates and Ted Heinecken of Heinecken & Associates, the principals of two Independent Publishers Representative Groups in the Midwest, announced plans to merge their companies effective January 1, 2008. Operating as Fujii Associates with Don Sturtz as President and Principal, the new company will consist of all current sales and back office personnel of Fujii, most of the present Heinecken sales force, and Heinecken himself.

The Taunton Press announced that Jim Childs, Publisher of its book division has moved to Oxmoor House in Birmingham, Alabama. He will be Associate Publisher, reporting to Publisher Brian Carnahan.

Joyce Meskis, owner of the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, will become director of the University of Denver Publishing Institute in January. She continues as owner and manager of the Tattered Cover and succeeds Elizabeth Geiser, who is retiring after more than 30 years as founding director of the Institute.

In children’s book news, Michelle Nagler has joined Bloomsbury as Editorial Director for children’s books. She was Senior Editor at Simon Pulse for the past four years. . . . Kim Shannon is joining as S&S Children’s as Director of National Accounts. She was a national account manager at Random House.. . . Chris Satterlund has joined Scholastic as District Sales Manager, reporting to Margaret Coffee, Director of Field Sales. Satterlund had been the co-owner of Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood, Washington and had also worked at Scott’s Bookstore. . . . Deborah Brodie, one of the three founders of Roaring Brook Press, will be leaving on May 16. . . . Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher Brenda Bowen has left the Disney Book Group. . . .

Judy Courtade has gone to Black Dog & Leventhal, in the Sales Director position Mary Wowk held before she moved to Abrams. Courtade was most recently at Random House. And Abrams Inc. announced that Beau Friedlander will join the company as Editorial Director for Abrams Image, effective June 1. Friedlander, who was most recently at Chelsea Green, will report to Leslie Stoker, who will now become SVP, Publisher for Stewart, Tabori & Chang and Abrams Image.

In the UK, Editorial Director Nick Webb has left Duckworth to resume writing. Peter Mayer and Tracy Carns (who rejoined Overlook last Fall to launch Rookery Press) will take over management for now. Trade books will now be published under the Duckworth/Overlook banner, while academic books will carry just the Duckworth name.

Palgrave Macmillan has hired Luba Ostashevsky as Editor. She was at Grove Atlantic.

S&S announced that Ben Lee has accepted the position, recently vacated by Michael Perlman, of National Account Manager, Adult, for Sam’s and BJ’s. He was most recently at Random House.

Broadway’s Morgan Road imprint is closing and Publisher Amy Hertz and two other editorial staff members will leave the company shortly as a result.

PROMOTIONS

At Disney Book Group, Jonathan Yaged has been promoted to VP, US Publisher. Yaged was VP of Business Development and Strategic Planning.

At HarperCollins, Shelby Meizlik has been promoted to Senior Publicity Director and Teresa Brady has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity, for Collins. Also, Sarah Burningham has joined the Morrow publicity department as an Associate Director of Publicity. She was Associate Director for Regan Books. Helena Brantley has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity for HC SF (now Harper One). And at the “Creative Development Team” at HC Lisa Sharkey announced that Executive Editor Maureen O’Brien and Senior Editor Doug Grad and Matt Harper (who has been promoted to Editor), will also be reporting to her.

BISG announced the promotion of Angela Bole to the new position of Associate Director. Formerly she was Marketing and Communications Manager at BISG, Marysue Rucci has been promoted to Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster’s adult trade imprint, a title that has not been in use at S&S in recent years.

At Sterling, Jason Prince, formerly VP, Sales & Marketing was appointed VP, Associate Publisher. Jeremy Nurnberg, formerly Director of Trade Sales, was promoted to VP, Trade & Institutional Sales. Frances Gilbert, formerly Editor-in-Chief, Children’s Books, was promoted to VP, Editorial Director, Children’s Books. Josh Wood, formerly Trade Sales Manager, was promoted to Director, Trade & Institutional Sales. Ron Davis, formerly VP, Special Sales, was appointed to VP, Special & International Sales.

Grace McQuade, Vice President, Director of Public Relations at Goldberg McDuffie Communications, has been promoted to Executive Vice President. She joined the firm in 1996.

MAY EVENTS

PEN World Voices and Words Without Borders will hold an event on May 9th, “Reading The World,” an evening celebrating literature in translation from around the world, with translator Ann Goldstein introducing her translation of Primo Levi; New Yorker Fiction Editor Deborah Treisman introducing a story by Hannah Krall and Alane Mason introducing “Meteorite Mountain” by Can Xue. Go to SymphonySpace.org for further information and tickets.

The New Yorker Conference happens May 6-7. For a mere $1200 you too can see the future as interpreted by Ken Auletta, Cory Booker, Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Buford, Arianna Huffington, and others. Go to NewYorker.com.

DULY NOTED

Weldon Owen announced that it is launching Gold St. Press, a new imprint that will be distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. The name comes from a small street on the side of Weldon Owen’s building, an old vinegar warehouse in the Barbary Coast section of San Francisco. The new venture, which will produce its first list in the fall, is directed by WO’s VP Sales and New Business, Amy Kaneko. WO was acquired a year ago Sweden’s Bonniers.

Congrats to Library of America, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this May.

David Nudo has left The NYT where he was Managing Director of book advertising to become Publisher of Publishers Weekly assuming overall business and editorial responsibility for the magazine. Nudo had earlier worked at Library Journal. PW Editor-in-Chief Sara Nelson tells PT “I am thrilled to have someone of David’s talent and experience as we embark on several, new, exciting initiatives.”

David Rosen has left Abrams, where he was running the Image imprint. He will continue to work on freelance projects. He may be reached at delarose@aol.com or 917 545 1951. Director of Specialty Retail Bill Wolfsthal has also left Abrams, to become Associate Publisher of Skyhorse Publishing, the new company launched by Tony Lyons, from The Lyons Press. The first list of books is planned for Spring 2007. Mark Weinstein, formerly with McGraw-Hill, has been hired as Senior Editor, along with Brando Skyhorse (who donated his name to the venture), formerly at Grove Atlantic.

In Publicity, Amy Corley has returned to Workman from Crown as Executive Director of Publicity. (Former Exec. Dir. Kim Hicks – kimchicks@nyc.rr.com – is remaining at home following the birth of her son, Hyatt.) Chris Dao has joined Krupp Kommunications as Publicity Director. She was at Warner Books for the past six years.

Tim Bent has gone to OUP as Executive Editor Trade History. He had been Senior Editor at Harcourt.

Judy Courtade, VP, Director of Sales at Random, has left the company and may be reached at judy@tcourtade.com or 212 255 0250.

Jennifer Bergstrom, VP and Publisher of Simon Spotlight Entertainment/S&S announced that Michael Broussard has joined the imprint as Acquisitions Manager. Broussard worked as an agent at Dupree/Miller and Associates as an agent, and at ReganBooks.

Neil Levin has left the company he started, Publisher Marketing Group, for National Book Network, as SVP of this company and its subsidiary, Rowman & Littlefield.

Ken Wright, who was most recently VP, Associate Publisher at Scholastic, has become an agent at Writers House, and will continuing his consulting work.

Jake Klisivitch has gone to Palgrave Macmillan as an editor, working primarily on politics. He was previously at Plume. . . . Elizabeth Bewley has been named Senior Editor at Intervisual Books/Piggy Toes Press, reporting to Publisher Debra Mostow-Zakarin. Bewley previously worked for St. Martin‘s and Regan Books. . . Alexis Banyon, most recently with Candlewick Press, has joined innovativeKids as Sales Manager for specialty accounts and independent sales groups. . . Shana Drehs has joined Sourcebooks as Senior Editor for trade. Most recently she was an editor at Crown. Liesa Abrams has joined Aladdin/S&S Children’s as Senior Editor. She was at Razorbill/Penguin.

Chris North, who was Managing Director of Phaidon Press, moves to a position as VP Books at Amazon UK. He starts on October 2 and his new email is cnorth@amazon.co.uk

Stephen Isaacs has joined Bloomberg Press as Executive Acquisitions Editor. Most recently he was an Executive Editor at McGraw-Hill. He reports to editorial director Jared Kieling and will divide his time between Chicago and NYC offices.

Sara Bogush has joined William Morrow and Avon as the new Online Marketing Manager. She comes from Doubleday Broadway where she was Online Marketing Associate.

Running Press announced that Kelli Chipponeri has joined the company as a Senior Editor for Children’s Books and Miniature Editions. She was previously at Penguin and S&S.

PROMOTIONS

Plume Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher Trena Keating is going over to Dutton as Editor-in-Chief, reporting to President and Publisher Brian Tart. And Mitch Horowitz has been promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Tarcher.

Sanyu Dillon, Director of Marketing at Random House, has taken on the added title of Associate Publisher trade paperbacks.

Melanie Cecka has been named Publishing Director for both Bloomsbury Children’s Books USA and Walker Books for Young Readers. She was Co-editorial Director of Bloomsbury Children’s.

Ellie Berger, SVP of trade publishing at Scholastic, has been promoted to Publisher and Andrea Davis Pinkney, Publisher, hardcover and early childhood has become an Editor-at-Large reporting directly to President for book fairs and trade, Lisa Holton. VP, Business Development Corinne Helman will “expand her role in the division, overseeing all business operations, planning and financial analysis.”

Philip Turner continues as Editor-in-Chief, Carroll & Graf but has adds the titles of Editor-in-Chief, Thunder’s Mouth Press, VP Avalon Publishing Group, and will be starting up Philip Turner Books, an imprint of C&G. Will Balliett continues as Publisher and Editorial Director of C&G and VP Avalon and becomes Publisher and Editorial Director, TMP.

Lightning Source/Ingram announced the appointment of Ron Powers to the position of VP of Sales and Client Services, reporting to David Taylor, SVP of Global Sales. Most recently, he was VP of Product Management and Merchandise for Ingram.

At Goldberg McDuffie, Angela Baggetta Hayes has been promoted to Director of Publicity.

Liz Kessler has been named Director of Editorial Production for Spark Publishing, and Maria Dente has been named Managing Editor reporting to Kessler. Kevin Baier joined the Spark Publishing group, as Art Director, moving over from B&N Publishing.

Karin Schulze has been promoted to Assistant Director, Foreign Rights at Crown Publishing. She was previously the Foreign Rights Manager and joined Crown in 1999.

HarperCollins announces the promotion of Barbara Lilie to Marketing Director for HarperMedia. She will direct all audiobooks, downloadable audiobooks and e-Books marketing campaigns.

OCTOBER EVENTS

The New Yorker Festival, which runs October 6-8 is kicked off by Fiction Night, featuring paired readings by Jonathan Safran Foer teamed with Edward P. Jones, Lorrie Moore with Julian Barnes, and many more. Book signings accompany many of the conversations, readings and panels. For information go to festival.newyorker.com

The winners of the Quill Awards will be presented on October 10th at the gala at the American Museum of Natural History, and will be hosted by NBC News’ Lester Holt. the awards television special, hosted by Al Roker and Natalie Morales, will air on Saturday, October 28, 2006. For information go to www.thequills.org

Finalists for the 2006 National Book Awards will be announced on October 11 at City Lights Books in San Francisco. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a co-founder of the store, will make the announcement. The Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner takes place on Wednesday, November 15.

The second annual New York Times Great Read in the Park is Sunday, October 15 in Bryant Park. The Great Brunch featuring Mary Higgins Clark, Sebastian Junger, Alice McDermott, Anna Quindlen and Tavis Smiley; and The Great Tea featuring mystery writers Tess Gerritsen, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts and Jed Rubenfeld, will be held at The Hudson Theatre in the Millennium Broadway Hotel. The Gently Used, Greatly Loved Book Sale will also be held, with proceeds benefiting the New York public libraries and the Fund for Public Schools. For further info: www.nytimes.com\greatreads

DULY NOTED

19th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair, will be held December 2nd & 3rd, at the Small Press Center. 3,000 to 4,000 attendees are expected, with over 100 independent presses taking part. Got to http://www.smallpress.org, for further information.

Peter Workman is the honoree at “An evening of Fond Tales and Gentle Roasts,” a benefit for Goddard Riverside. The gala takes place at Tavern on the Green on November 20. Call 212 873 4448 or email bookfair@goddard.org. The 20th Annual New York Book Fair takes place November 17-19.

MAZEL TOV

Roz Parr of Vintage and Charlotte Abbott of Publishers Weekly took the law into their own hands at their Brownstone in Brooklyn on Saturday at an intimate Marriage Ceremony which also commemorated their 10 years together. Many publishing types in attendance.

The early sessions offered packagers and publishers practical workshops, and the presenters, which included Jim Becker (becker+mayer!) on P&Ls, Parachute’s Susan Knopf, Stonesong’s Judy Lindon and Rodales’s Zach Schisgal on “proposals that sell,” as well as several other well-versed pros, delivered useful nuggets of hard won experience. Susan Knopf told the audience that Stonesong founder Paul Fargis had once warned her that proposals submitted in 8 1/2 ” x 11″ “fall to the bottom of the In Box,” and should be avoided at all costs. Jim Becker explained why, despite the enormous outlay, cash flow — as well as profits — improve when packagers deliver finished books. At a later session Nancy Hall and Perseus’s J. McCrary divulged useful information on selling to display marketers (if possible, do it before selling the project to a publisher), finding custom publishing clients, and preparing for international editions.

The final panel of the day brought together Perseus CEO David Steinberger, Scholastic Book Fairs and Trade President Lisa Holton, Chronicle President and CEO Jack Jensen and DK Publisher Carl Raymond in a lively discussion about the future of the industry and how each participant viewed the opportunities available to his or her company. Steinberger defended his model of small publishers clustered around a distributor (CDS) by theorizing that “size is the enemy of creativity.” He admitted that, when he first came to Perseus and looked at growth options, owning a distribution company presented a clear opportunity. Jack Jensen talked about Chronicle’s aggressive move into direct-to-consumer sales, both online and with its two stores. He and Lisa Holton agreed that having retail interactions with consumers helped the editorial process. Carl Raymond talked about the many ways in which DK is modifying its original mission, including developing product specifically for the US market, extending successful travel series into lifestyle areas, and doing more “book plus” projects. As each panelist presented, fellow panelists were seen jotting down notes, and following the session, spent time on the stage with follow up questions to their colleagues.

PT’s Lorraine Shanley moderated the ‘Future Trends and Strategies’ panel.

HarperCollins announced the appointment of Tina Andreadis as VP, Director of Publicity, for Harper Trade. She was formerly Deputy Director of Publicity at Warner Books. Elizabeth Viscott Sullivan has been named Senior Editor for Collins Design, and imprint of Collins. She reports to Marta Schooler, VP and Publisher.

Liate Stehlik is joining Avon as SVP Publisher — she was Associate Publisher at Pocket Books.

Ann Jackson, erstwhile of Time Inc., has been named CEO of WRC Media, parent of Weekly Reader. Emily Swenson resigned as President of Weekly Reader last month and Neal Goff has taken her place.
Lifestyle public relations firm Susan Magrino Agency has hired David Thalberg, former SVP at the book publicity agency, Planned Television Arts (PTA), for the newly-created role of Executive Director. Thalberg will report to agency President, Allyn Magrino.

Will Lippincott has resigned from Booz Allen – where he was editor of their publication strategy + business effective January ‘06 – to assume his agency duties full time at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin & Co. A search is underway for his replacement.

Jean Feiwel, Senior VP and Publisher has left Scholastic after 22 years with the company. Trade Sales Director Jack Perry (jackwperry38@ hotmail.com),who came to Scholastic from Sourcebooks last year, has also left, as has former Director of Marketing, Jennifer Pasanen.

Ann Marie Resnick has been hired for the new position of VP, Marketing and Promotion in the book club division. She was VP, Marketing at Columbia House.

Gene Brissie has left Kensington, where he was Editor in Chief of Citadel Press, for The Lyons Press, where he is Associate Publisher. He may be reached at 203 458 4656 or Eugene.Brissie@globepequot.com.

Carlo De Vito has left Penguin where he founded Chamberlain Brothers, and may be reached at CDdeVito2@aol.com. He will be consulting part time with erstwhile Running Press colleague John Whalen in a new publishing venture, Cider Mill Press to be distributed by Sterling.

Ken Brooks has been named VP Global Production and Manufacturing Operations at Thomson Learning. He had been running his own company Publishing Dimensions.

Garrett White has been hired as the new Programs Coordinator at the New York office of the American Academy in Rome. His responsibilities include managing Rome Prize Competition and the Publications Program, and overseeing the Academy website. White is the former Director of Publications at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

John Loudon has been named executive editor for religion books at Rowman & Littlefield and its Catholic imprint, Sheed & Ward. He was previously with HarperSan Francisco for 27 years. Meanwhile, the company has bought the assests of M. Evans & Co., one of the last remaining independent New York publishing houses.

Willa Perlman, who has left The Cheyenne Group, has announced the formation of a new firm, Ligature Partners, which will provide executive recruitment and consulting services

The Collins McCormick Literary Agency is now ‘Collins Literary’ and ‘McCormick & Williams’, with Leslie Falk and PJ Mark as part of the latter’s team.

Mary Ellen Curley, most recently Associate Publisher of the former Harper Information Group has been named Director of Development for English literature and composition at Longman Publishers, a division of Pearson Education. She may be reached at maryellen.curley@ ablongman.com

David Wilk, Senior VP of Client Services, has left CDS, following its purchase by the Perseus Books Group. He has been named VP of Strategic Business Development at Resolution, Inc. based in Vermont and will serve as Resolution’s liaison to the book industry.

Bob Wallace has resigned as head of the Wenner Books line to “pursue other opportunities.”

James Benjamin former Senior Vice President Operations has left Baker & Taylor and may be reached at jabenjamin@verizon.net.

Although apparently not announced, some time last summer Chris Capen closed down his Tehabi Books packaging imprint, unable to find needed investment.

PROMOTIONS

Dedi Felman has been promoted to Executive Editor at OUP filling Tim Bartlett‘s position who went to RH.

Barb Burg was named SVP, Executive Director of Publicity and Public Relations, and Theresa Zoro was promoted to Director of Publicity at Bantam Dell. Susan Corcoran has resigned effective year-end after fifteen years in publicity.

At St. Martin‘s: Christina Harcar, Director of Rights, has been named a new VP; Monique Patterson is now Senior Editor; Jennifer Enderlin has been promoted to Associate Publisher for Griffin trade paperbacks and continues as Associate Publisher of mass market; Matthew Baldacci is now VP and Director of Marketing and Publishing Operations; and Joseph Rinaldi moves up to Director of Publicity for Thomas Dunne Books and Associate Director of publicity for St. Martin’s.

Jodi Harris has been promoted to executive editor in charge of Harper Kids Entertainment.

Roy Lipner has been named to head Kaplan Publishing, a new division that combines Kaplan’s existing trade publishing operation with its test prep operation, which was previously part of a joint imprint with S&S. Lipner was President of Kaplan’s existing publishing operation, Dearborn, and will continue to run it. Kaplan Publishing’s two divisions, test prep and now, trade, will be run by Maureen McMahon and Cynthia Zigmund respectively.

Disney‘s Children’s Book Group has announced the following promotions: At Hyperion Books for Children, Executive Editor Donna Bray moves up to Editorial Director. The Disney Press and Disney Editions lines have been consolidated under Wendy Lefkon, now Editorial Director. And Victoria Saxon has been promoted to Executive Editor. All three will report to Disney Children’s Editor in Chief Brenda Bowen.

Joe Bulger has been named VP, Client Management & Business Development in the newly created Distribution Client Unit at Simon & Schuster reporting to Joe D’Onforio. He was VP Business Operations in the Supply Chain department.

NOVEMBER EVENTS

The Mercantile Library‘s Fall Benefit Awards honoring James Purdy and Nan Talese takes place at The Century Club on November 8th. For information call 212.755.6710.

“Making Books Happen,” The American Book Producers Association conference, takes place on November 9 at the Players Club. This year’s MC and keynote is PW Editor Sara Nelson and speakers include Perseus CEO David Steinberger, Chronicle‘s Jack Jensen and Scholastic‘s Lisa Holton. For information go to www.abpaonline.org.

On November 10 the Goddard Riverside Meet-the-Author Dinners take place at homes in and around New York. On November 18 the Book Bash takes place, and on November 19th and 20th the Book Sale runs. Go to www.goddard.org/events/bookfair for details.

The National Book Awards take place on November 16 at the Marriott Marquis (see Calendar page 8). Included in the list of honorees and presenters is Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, Garrison Keillor, Joan Didion, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Ed Doctorow.

The Small Press Center‘s 20th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit will take place on November 30th . This year’s recipient of the Ben Award will be given to Peter Workman, by Steve Riggio. CBS‘s Mario Bosquez is the evening’s host. Meanwhile, the Eighteenth Independent and Small Press Book Fair will take place December 3-4 at The Small Press Center, 20 West 44 Street. There will be workshops, panel and readings. Publishers can still register to exhibit. For information email info@smallpress.org or go to www.smallpress.org.

Following the immensely entertaining and successful event last year, CLMP is holding its Second A(nother) Good Spell benefit Spelling Bee at 7pm on November 14th. The event will take place at Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue. Register online at www.clmp.org/bee

DULY NOTED

Mazel Tov to former editor of PT, Jeff Byles, on the November release of his first book, Rubble: Unearthing the History of Demolition (Harmony). Byles will be reading at the Center for Architecture, 536 Laguardia Place, on November 22, at 6:30pm. For more information call: 212.968.1961