Latest in Book Publishing

Seasoned WME agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh is shifting to a new role at the agency. She will focus on live events and continue developing Together Live, a separate business she founded and co-owns with the agency. Walsh, who rose through the lit department and has branched out into representing speakers and conferences…

Penguin Random House has begun a major re-organization under CEO Markus Dohle, who announced today the appointment of Madeline McIntosh as head of the newly created Penguin Publishing Group. McIntosh was U.S. President and Chief Operating Officer of PRH. The move also signals the end-of-year departure of Susan…

Markus Dohle, CEO of Pearson plc’s Penguin Random House,  announced this morning a changing of the guard at the publishing giant, marking the end of one era and the transition to another. Key in the statement is the appointment of Claire von Schilling to the position of senior v.p. and director of corporate…

Publishing veteran Rick Horgan, whose position as v.p. and executive editor at Crown was eliminated in May after nearly a decade with the the house, is joining Scribner with the same title. The hire, effective August 25, was announced this morning by Scribner senior v.p. and publisher Nan Graham. Scribner is an…

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– HarperCollins Publishers today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Thomas Nelson, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of the calendar year, is subject to regulatory clearances and other customary closing…

The Penguin Press has tapped Scott Moyers as publisher, the imprint announced today, part of a push to expand its frontlist by 50% during the next year. Moyers was senior editor when Penguin launched in 2003. Since then, Penguin has had three of its titles win Pulitzer Prizes.

Aasif Mandvi, the actor/comic best known for being Middle East correspondent on Comedy Central’s Daily Show With Jon Stewart, has closed a deal with Chronicle to write an untitled book of semi-autobiographical essays. Topics include a young Indian boy’s dream of becoming The Fonz, and what it’s like for a Muslim child…

EXCLUSIVE: CBS Films just closed a movie option deal for the young adult novel Level 2, right around the same time its sister company Simon & Schuster Children’s Books closed a publishing deal. Value of both is around $500,000, and there is a second book in the publishing component for the author, Lenore Appelhans…

First, it was the Charlie Sheen HBO show that never was. Now comes the Charlie Sheen memoir about his eight years on CBS’ Two and a Half Men. In his daily update to TMZ, the troubled star says he is working on a tell-all book about what happened behind the scenes of the hit show. That is, of course, if there is…

Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan, whose credits include the fourth through seven Saw installments as well as the upcoming Hellraiser remake and the sequel Piranha 3 Double D, are moving into publishing with a Little Brown deal for their first novel, Blacklight. The book is the story of a ghost hunter private eye with…

Simon & Schuster today is about to market the heck out of O, its anonymously written and self-proclaimed provocative novel about Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. That’s right — the campaign that hasn’t happened yet. Supposedly, it’s penned by someone “who’s been in the room with Obama”. This is kinda…

EXCLUSIVE: Gersh has hired Joseph Veltre to become head of its book department, where he will broker publishing deals and sell books for film and TV. Veltre had spent the past six years running The Veltre Company, and he’ll bring all his clients with him when he joins the Gotham Gersh office on February 1. Veltre’s…