BTW News Briefs

Jon Fine Joins Open Road Integrated Media as Senior Vice President and Publisher

Jon Fine, a legal and business strategist for traditional publishers and digital media startups, will join Open Road Integrated Media (OR/M) as senior vice president and publisher, the company has announced. OR/M’s editorial and production teams will report to Fine.

Previously, Fine spent nine years at Amazon as general counsel and vice president of business development (Brilliance Audio) as well as author and publishing relations director. A member of the New York State Bar Association, he also previously directed legal affairs for Alfred A. Knopf and served as in-house counsel for Saturday Night Live and Dateline at NBC.

Lee Boudreaux Named Vice President, Executive Editor at Doubleday

Effective November 13, Lee Boudreaux will serve as vice president and executive editor at Doubleday, reporting to Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Bill Thomas, Publishers Lunch reported.  

Boudreaux, who began her career in publishing as an editorial assistant at Doubleday, has also worked at Random House and Ecco. Most recently, she was vice president and editorial director of Lee Boudreaux Books at Little, Brown, an imprint created in 2014. 

Tracy Behar Named Publisher, Editor-in-Chief of New Little, Brown Imprint

Tracy Behar has been named vice president, publisher, and editor-in-chief of a new imprint at Little, Brown and Company that will focus on health, lifestyle, psychology, and science, Publishers Weekly reported.

The imprint, which is not yet named, launches next fall. An additional editor and marketer will also be brought on board before the launch. 

Cynthia Nixon to Host 2017 National Book Awards

Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award-winning actress Cynthia Nixon will serve as master of ceremonies for the 2017 National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation announced Tuesday.

At the 68th National Book Awards on November 15 at Cipriani Wall Street, Nixon will give out the awards for books in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. The ceremony will also include the presentation of two lifetime achievement awards. 

In addition to her wide-ranging work as an actress, Nixon is also a director and activist.

Detroit Romance Writers of America Seeks Booksellers to Judge Contest

The Detroit chapter of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) is seeking booksellers to serve as judges for its annual Booksellers’ Best Award contest.

Each year the Detroit chapter’s contest draws national bestselling authors, such as Marie Force, Brenda Novak, and Teri Wilson, as well as first-time authors to participate. Last year, they garnered over 300 book entries.

For more information about the book categories and judging criteria, visit the contest webpage.

SCIBA Announces 2017 Book Awards Winners

The Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) has announced the winners of the SCIBA Book Awards, which honor local authors and illustrators for their works published in the previous year.

This year, SCIBA received 137 submissions in seven categories. Booksellers vote on the finalists and winners, who are announced at SCIBA’s annual meeting and trade show. The winning titles are also featured in SCIBA’s seasonal catalog, in stores and distribution starting in early November.

This year’s winners, announced at last week’s trade show, are:

The Glenn Goldman Award for Art, Architecture, and Photography: Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles, 1925-1965 by Tom Zimmerman with J. Eric Lynxwiler (Angel City Press)

The Fiction Award: The Mothers by Brit Bennett (Riverhead)

The Young Adult Award: Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)

The Middle Grade Award: Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Dial Books)

The Picture Book Award: Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, Kadir Nelson (Illus.) (Dial Books)

The Nonfiction Award: Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath (Dey Street Books)

The T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award: The Force: A Novel by Don Winslow (William Morrow)