BTW News Briefs

Third Place’s Wendy Ceballos Joins ABRAMS as Indie Ambassador Rep

Wendy Ceballos, formerly of Third Place Books in Seattle, has joined the sales department at ABRAMS Books in the newly formed position of sales manager and indie ambassador.

Reporting to Elisa Gonzalez, ABRAMS’ executive director of trade sales, Ceballos will oversee the publisher’s commission rep force, coordinate with in-house marketing and publicity staff, and work closely with the American Booksellers Association and ABA member stores. She previously spent 20 years at Third Place, most recently serving as director of events and marketing for the store’s three locations.

“For the first time, ABRAMS will have a dedicated person managing all aspects of the independent bookstore channel,” said Gonzalez. “With our ever-growing publishing program across adult, children’s, gift and stationery — and the newly launched narrative nonfiction imprint Abrams Press — support of this channel is crucial to our business. I’m excited to see Wendy bring her uniquely qualified experience as well as a fresh pair of bookselling eyes to this opportunity.”

Colin Dickerman to Join FSG as Vice President, Executive Editor

Beginning September 18, Colin Dickerman will move within Macmillan, from Flatiron Books to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG), where he will serve as FSG’s vice president and executive editor, Publishers Lunch reported.

Dickerman, a founding editor of Flatiron, has already acquired and edited some fiction for FSG, including The Sellout by Paul Beatty. In his new position, Dickerman will acquire titles on pop culture, narrative-based history, popular science, memoir, and literary fiction.

Scribner Australia to Launch in 2018

Simon & Schuster Australia will launch Scribner Australia in 2018 with Kristina Olson’s novel Shell as its first title, Australian trade publication Books & Publishing reported.

Suzanne Baboneau, managing director of adult publishing at Simon & Schuster U.K., called Shell a “beautifully wrought, many-layered novel that transcends time and place,” saying, “I haven’t read anything quite like it since Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.”

Since acquiring world rights to Shell, Scribner Australia has also signed two rights deals with Scribner in the U.K. and Atria in the U.S.

BISG Announces Industry Award Shortlist

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has announced the shortlist for its 2017 industry awards, Publishers Weekly reported. Shortlisted nominees include:

• Pat Payton (Bowker) and Richard Stark (Barnes & Noble), nominated for the Standards Bearer Award
• The BISG Rights Committee, chaired by Ashley Mabbitt (Wiley) and Dominique Raccah (Sourcebooks), nominated for the Explorer Award
• Connie Harbison (Baker & Taylor) and Pat Payton (Bowker), nominated for the Community Builder Award
• Angela Bole (Independent Book Publishers Association) and Dave Cramer (Hachette Book Group), nominated for the Industry Champion Award

All winners, including the winner of BISG’s 2017 Distinguished Service Award, Macmillan Learning CEO Ken Michaels, will receive their awards at BISG’s annual members meeting on September 25 in New York.