Novelist and former Seventeen magazine columnist Ben Schrank has been named editorial director at 17th Street Productions, the book packager for young adults that is a subsidiary of Alloy Entertainment. Schrank succeeds Eloise Flood, who moved to Simon & Schuster last month as publisher of the children's paperback division.
Les Morgenstein, president of 17th Street, said that Schrank's background in the trade publishing and literary worlds reflects the evolution of the company. "We're doing individual novels now, whereas in the past it was strictly a series business," Morgenstein said. The decision to produce novels is in keeping with 17th Street's strategy of broadening its market base from "teens and tweens" to college students as well as 20-somethings.
17th Street has a three-book deal with MTV Books for the Alphabetical Hookup List as well as the novel Don't Sleep with Your Drummer. Little Sister's Last Dose will be released next year as the first book in a three-book agreement with Pocket for an adult mystery series. Morgenstein observed that producing books for an older audience was a natural move for 17th Street since Alloy's marketing efforts are aimed mainly at college students.
Expansion into an older market notwithstanding, 17th Street's primary market remains YA, and the company has had big hits recently with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (Delacorte) and Gossip Girl by Cicely Von Ziegesar, which Little, Brown's children's books division has published as part of a four-book deal. Morgenstein said Gossip Girl is a good example of 17th Street's strategy to "create properties that have a lifeblood beyond books." The company created a Web site to promote the title before it was released and Morgenstein has signed a script deal with Fox for a possible Gossip Girl television show.
Film and TV development is a major focus of 17th Street right now; Fearless, The Spy Girls, The Black Book and Tahoe Search and Rescue series all have script deals with different networks. Have a Nice Life (AlloyBooks) is in development at MTV, while The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is in development at Warner Bros. for a possible feature film.
