Editors

Today Hyperion publisher Ellen Archer announced that the company has hired Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard as editor-in-chief of Hyperion.

Most recently, Dyssegaard has served as executive editor of Smithsonian Books at HarperCollins. During her 25-year career, she also worked as a senior editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and an executive editor at Ballantine Books.

Here's more from the release: "While at Smithsonian Books, Dyssegaard served as liaison, collaborating with Smithsonian’s magazines, networks, and membership groups. She also edited narrative nonfiction such as the New York Times bestseller 'America's Hidden History and the national bestseller 'The Gardner Heist' as well as 'The House,' '747,' 'Baseball Americana,' 'The Perils of Peace,' and 'Perfect Spy.'"

A novel by Kirkus Reviews editor Elaine Szewczyk is television-bound, with actress Judy Greer (who starred in Miss Guided) attached to the brand new project.

Variety reports that ABC has ordered a script for Szewczyk's novel, "I'm with Stupid." The book recounts the adventures of a literary agent's assistant who accidentally extends a love affair with a South African park ranger. GalleyCat caught up with Szewczyk this morning, getting an exclusive interview about the project.

Szewczyk explained: "In the last several months I'd been approached by various Hollywood folks about turning the novel into a sitcom or film. Eventually I was asked to go to LA to meet with networks. Offers came thereafter, in large part, I suspect, because I have great hair. My mother has great hair too. She has five husbands. I'm excited to write the script. I know the characters like I know my own friends, and this just gives me a chance to torture them further. The characters, I mean, not my friends. My friends have suffered enough."

In a recent interview, a writer gave a behind-the-scenes look at the work-life at one of the country's most coveted literary workplaces--dispelling some myths about job titles.

When The New Yorker hired 26-year-old Amelia Lester to serve as managing editor of the prestigious magazine, GalleyCat readers responded passionately. This week the interview series Big Think ran a long interview with New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin about how the office works.

Here's an excerpt from the video interview: "There didn't used to be any of those titles, but now there are and I don't know who that is now, but oh, maybe 10 or 15 years ago it was somebody who was the same age; we called him editor boy, and the managing editor is not like the managing editor of a news magazine who's in charge of something. He's actually a sort of traffic cop who makes sure that whatever piece is ready for that issue gets in or something."

Is email dangerous? Just days after being elevated to editor of the print literary journal Granta, one author explained how digital communication has altered the writing landscape.

Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was the newly-appointed editor of Granta, John Freeman. Freeman talked about his new book, "The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox"--a look at how email may have some unexpected side-effects on our reading, writing, and thinking. In addition, he talked about why Granta has managed a record-breaking print run in this difficult economy.

Here's more from the interview: "There is a sacredness of text which is lost. It's tiring on your eyes. You spend more time connected to machines than ever before. The average office worker spends more time with their computer than with their spouse. When you think about that, you realize, 'Wow, this is like a marriage, and this is not working.'

Kate Duffy, the beloved Kensington Books editorial director, passed away today.

Last year, Publishers Weekly recorded that video interview with the editor, a touching tribute to a life lived with books. Barnes & Noble Book Clubs credits the editor to rescuing Judith McNaught's novel, "Whitney, My Love" from the slush pile.

Here's a memorial post from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: "When I tried to explain to my husband why I was so blown away by meeting Kate and talking with her at RWA, I couldn't figure out how to explain who she was in romance. She wasn't just an editor or a fan of the genre. 'She's the Julia Child of romance,' I said."

On October 5th, Arianna Huffington will go head-to-head with Oprah Winfrey--opening her own book club and books section at The Huffington Post.

According to the NY Observer, the new site will be helmed by Amy Hertz, an editor at Dutton who will maintain her position at the publisher while working on the HuffPo books project. Even more surprisingly, the new site hopes to establish a partnership with The New York Review of Books, as the country's literary criticism leader teams up with the new kids on the book block.

Here's more about the project, from the article: "She said she met Ms. Hertz while she was meeting with publishers about her 2006 book, 'On Becoming Fearless... In Love, Work, and Life.' Ms. Huffington eventually went with Little, Brown and Company for the hardcover print but '[Amy] and I have really connected and she was somebody that I really wanted to bring onto the project,' she said."

As the media world heads into the 21st Century, one of America's iconic magazines is becoming more and more like a publisher--planning e-reader content and selling special edition bookazines.

Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was Richard Stengel, Time magazine's managing editor. He talked about creating "bookazines" while covering the deaths of Michael Jackson and Senator Ted Kennedy. He also shared thoughts about digital readers and magazine readership.

Here's an excerpt: "I was an early convert to the Amazon Kindle, and one of the things we saw was that people were buying content, even apart from books, when it wasn't that great--or as good as it was online or in print. To me these devices are in some ways, one of the future forms of journalism and content ... What is a magazine story on an e-reader, when e-readers are full color, when there's video and audio? We're looking into all those things right now. To me, it's a very fruitful category going into the future."

As newspaper book coverage has declined, The Daily Beast has pushed hard to publish more literary content at Book Beast.

Following the launch of a new entertainment section entitled Sexy Beast, today's special guest on the Morning Media Menu was Rebecca Fox, Director of Editorial Development & Operations at the bustling website. The show began with a discussion about New York City's remarkable recovery following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. We also discussed The Daily Beast's evolution, a new advertising model for Twitter, and author James Patterson's multi-million dollar book deal with Hachette Book Group.

Here's more from the interview, as Fox explained why the site recently hired Lucas Wittmann, a 26-year-old W. W. Norton editorial assistant, to helm the books section. "Personally, I always love when you've got the perspective of people who have spent different amounts of time working in their respective industries--it keeps things lively, it keeps things juicy. There are a lot of things we can bring to one another--perspectives that make for more dynamic content."

News broke this afternoon that 26-year-old Amelia Lester has scored one of the most coveted editorial spots in the literary world, hired by David Remnick to serve as managing editor of the prestigious magazine, The New Yorker. In response, Twitter hummed with praise, surprise, and soul-searching from readers around the country.

The NY Observer reports that Lester had served as an editor at the Paris Review. Here's more: "[Lester] used to be a fact-checker at The New Yorker and checked all-star writers Seymour Hersh and Jane Mayer. She's replacing Kate Julian, who is moving to Washington, D.C. where her husband just got a job."

GalleyCat found a few scattered pieces Lester wrote for the online side of the magazine, but we especially appreciated her short piece about novelist Salman Rushdie's habit of making short cameos in movies. (Via Mediaite)

The New York Observer took a long hard look at the celebrated magazine publisher Condé Nast today, giving literary types some reassuring news. The article cites unnamed sources that think New Yorker editor David Remnick "will be exempt" from working with the restructuring experts from McKinsey & Company.

Even if the New Yorker is spared layoffs, the magazine company faces some tough decisions--a hot-button issue on today's Morning Media Menu. The special guest was FishbowlNY editor Amanda Ernst (pictured), who was directly affected by Condé Nast layoffs.

Click here to listen to the whole show, but here's a quote from Ernst: "I worked there for a short three months, and then I was a victim to their across-the-board five percent cost-cutting ... I think it's really funny that all of a sudden people are like, 'Oh my god, the culture of Condé Nast is falling apart.' It's been falling apart for the last year! Didn't you see all the magazines closing? Didn't you see all your colleagues leave?"