Atria Loses Loeber, Mender
In two job moves affecting Atria Books, Justin Loeber and Karen Mender will be leaving the S&S imprint. Loeber, who has been Atria's director of publicity, will take on the title of senior v-p, executive director of marketing and publicity, at Regan Media come January 3. Reporting directly to Judith Regan, Loeber will remain in New York City until the operation makes its move to Los Angeles next summer.
And in a staff memo last week, Atria publisher Judith Curr said Mender, the imprint's v-p and deputy publisher, will be stepping down at the end of the year. Mender, who Curr said was leaving to "explore new opportunities," was instrumental in launching Atria in 2001.
Ziccardi Goes To Pocket
Anthony Ziccardi has been named deputy publisher at Pocket Books, filling the vacancy left by the recently departed Liate Stehlik, who now holds the top spot at Avon. Ziccardi had been publishing director of mass market and Del Ray at Random House. He will report to Pocket's executive v-p and publisher, Louise Burke, and will start December 19.
McDonald Rises at Riverhead
Following the departure of Riverhead copublishers Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau for Random House, Sean McDonald has been named executive editor of the imprint. McDonald, who previously held the title senior editor and online creative director at Riverhead, will continue to work on a range of literary and pop culture titles.
Wiley to Launch in Asia
John Wiley & Sons is opening an editorial office in its Singapore headquarters to develop an Asian-Pacific publishing program for the professional market. Ann-Marie Halligan, currently an editorial director at Wiley's Chichester, England, subsidiary, has been named STM publishing director for Asia Pacific, charged with developing a program that will publish both books and journals. Halligan will move to Singapore in February, and Wiley also plans to appoint editors in China, Taiwan, Japan and India next year.
S&S to Distribute Treasure Trove
Simon & Schuster has taken over worldwide distribution for the Treasure Trove Inc. publishing program. Launched last year by Michael Stadther, the company self-publishes A Treasure's Trove, which has sold more than 500,000 copies since it was released one year ago. S&S has already begun distributing the company's second book, The Official Solution Book to A Treasure's Trove, and will distribute Treasure Trove's 2006 list.
CDS Lands Planeta; NBN Adds Three
Perseus Books' CDS division will assume the warehousing and fulfillment functions for Spanish-language publisher Planeta beginning January 1. Planeta will continue to use its own sales force to sell its list.
CDS competitor National Book Network is adding three small presses to its roster; the Hedonist Guides, published by London-based Hg2 Publishers; Saltwater, the Australian publisher of the Rocky River romance line; and Muscle Magazine books.
Holtzbrinck Online for Libraries
Holtzbrinck has launched a new Web site dedicated to librarians and library patrons. HoltzbrinckLibrary.com features information on the house's current and forthcoming books, promotional details on authors' tour dates and online reading groups, and recommendations geared to both teens and adults.
McCain with Kids in NYT
Though Random House has marketed Sen. John McCain's new book, Character Is Destiny, as an adult title, it landed on the New York Timeschildren's bestseller list. According to RH, the book's placement isn't the result of a mistake but, rather, a judgment call by the newspaper. (Character appears on PW's adult list this week). While a Random spokesperson said that the house is happy with the placement—orders have already started to come in from children's accounts—McCain's people were unavailable for comment.
