Melody Guy, who directs Villard's Strivers Row imprint, has been named a senior editor at Ballantine Books and will take over the direction of One World, an imprint specializing in multicultural titles. One World has been without editorial leadership since Anita Diggs, its former director, left Ballantine in April 2002. Guy will continue to direct Strivers Row.
One World has published about 20 books a year and Strivers Row has issued from nine to 12 books a year. Although the move combines two formerly separate units, Guy said she expects the changes to help both book programs. "It's good to have them under the same umbrella. I don't expect much to change," she said, adding that she does not expect the number of titles to be reduced. Books for both programs are acquired by editors throughout Ballantine and Random House, she explained, and she will coordinate their publication. "I can learn from One World's diverse list and readership, and we can bring some of Strivers Row's program, our reader's guides and conversations with authors features to One World."
Guy also announced that One World has preempted world rights to Complicity: How the North Chained Itself to Slavery by Anne Farrow and Joel Lang, both reporters for the Hartford Courant. Originally published as a special section in the Courant, the book looks at that newspapers historic role supporting the slave trade.
Guy, who worked at S&S before joining Villard in 1997, was the first editor of Strivers Row, an imprint specializing in African-American title's that was launched in 2000. Guy has acquired books by C. Kelly Robinson and Tajuana Butler. One World was founded in the early 1990s and was one of the first imprints to focus on a multicultural market, specializing in titles for African-American, Asian, Latin and other minority readers.
