Calling all mavericks, visionaries, thinkers, and dreamers!
Over the past four years the PW Star Watch program, launched in association with the Frankfurter Buchmesse, has become a September ritual. The program, which identifies rising stars in the book industry, selects 40 honorees and five finalists from among the more than 250 nominees in all areas of publishing and book retail. The goal of the program is to celebrate those throughout the industry who are making an impact today and in the future.
The first superstar selected was Helen Yentus, art director at Riverhead Books. “It was nice to be selected [to go to Frankfurt],” Yentus says. “The art department is rarely considered in the same thought as the Book Fair, which people see traditionally as a rights fair. It made a difference to everyone in the art department that I was highlighted in that way.”
Representatives from PW, the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, and Frankfurter Buchmesse select one of the finalists as a “superstar,” who wins an all-expenses-paid trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair. The winner is announced at the annual Star Watch party held in New York to celebrate all the honorees.
Winner of the second year’s award, Andrew Eliopulos (né Harwell), executive editor, HarperCollins, says of the trip to the book fair, “Meeting with international publishers and hearing their thoughts on why a book that succeeded in our market did not succeed in theirs, or vice versa, immediately expanded the way I view potential acquisitions.”
The 40 honorees go far beyond their daily duties and responsibilities, push boundaries, and demonstrate a passion for books with fresh ideas, boundless energy, and optimism for the future of the industry.
Gabriella Page-Fort, last year’s winner, says of the program, “I love the emphasis on inspiring young people in publishing. It’s even harder to envision a career path today than it was when I got started, so I find it’s extremely important to model how indirect the routes have been for visionary people coming out of different environments. There are many definitions of that elusive word ‘success’ and this program helps spotlight how wonderfully varied the lives of publishing professionals can be.”
Last year’s other finalists were Suzanna Hermans, co-owner of Oblong Books; Daniel Loedel, an editor at Scribner; Andrea Montejo, owner of the Indent Literary Agency; and Colleen AF Venable, an art director then at Workman and now at Macmillan’s new children’s imprint, Odd Dot.
This year, the program expands to include publishing professionals in Canada, as well as the U.S.
