The Revolving Door

Robert Allen has been named editorial director at Macmillan Audio, the company announced today.

Allen's publishing career began as Baker and Taylor sales manager, followed by a move to Bantam Doubleday Dell sales. While there, he rose to vice president of sales marketing at Doubleday Broadway and then publisher of Random House Audio. Since then, he co-founded Brands-to-Books agency, working with clients like TV Guide and Housing Works.

Macmillan Audio publisher Mary Beth Roche had this statement: "I think Robert is going to be a spectacular addition to our audio team ... Robert's broad publishing background in both sales and acquisitions makes him ideally suited for this position."

As you may or may not have heard, this GalleyCat editor will now be working full-time at mediabistro.com. He will continue editing this site along with senior editor Ron Hogan and correspondent Jeff Rivera--working to build a stronger site and jump start some new projects.

Here's more about the job from the LA Times: "Mediabistro is known for offering classes to journalists and wannabe journos, and now it will create a similar smattering of classes for publishing professionals and authors. Two things Jason Boog mentioned to Jacket Copy are helping people learn how to get books formatted for the Kindle and a class on iPhone apps. And odds are that something marketing-ish -- say, using Facebook, Twitter or the social networking platform of the future -- will be available too."

We are grateful for your support over these last few years, and look forward to working with you in the future. With this new position, we can follow more leads, increase publishing curriculum and partnerships, and help shape the eBook Summit next month. Email us at jason [at] mediabistro [dot] com or write us on Twitter--send your tips, suggests, requests, and hopes for future GalleyCat projects.

Greenleaf Book Group has hired David Leach as Director of Book Sales, a brand new job for the publisher.

Previously, Leach had served for 12 years at Thomas Nelson, ultimately serving as national key account manager, special sales. He will work in Greenleaf's corporate office in Austin, Texas.

Here's more, from the release: "In addition to increasing sales of Greenleaf's list to existing and new accounts, Leach will oversee the improved integration of the company's distribution and marketing departments. CEO Clint Greenleaf says, 'David is a key new hire for us. His contacts and experience in special sales combined with his passion for literacy make him a great asset to our team.'"

After five years as editor-in-chief of the Paris Review, Philip Gourevitch has stepped down--leaving open one of the most coveted spots in literary journalism.

Most recently, Gourevitch was the co-author of "Standard Operating Procedure." According to the NY Observer, Paris Review Foundation director Terry McDonnell, New York Review of Books editor Bob Silvers, and Paris Review founder Peter Matthiessen will lead a literary search party to replace the editor.

Gourevitch admitted that he was worn out from working on a new book while editing the journal. Here's more from the article: "Mr. Gourevitch said he felt like he'd done a pretty good job holding it together, but that he felt 'extremely exhausted;' at the end. 'I didn't want to do that again,' he said."

Former William Morrow publisher Lisa Gallagher has joined Sanford. J. Greenburger Associates as a literary agent, months after the publisher lost her job in a massive restructuring at HarperCollins.

In 2000, Gallagher moved from London to help found the U.S. offices of Bloomsbury Publishing. Founded in 1932, the SJGA agency represents a number of authors, including Dan Brown, Nelson DeMille, and Robin Preiss Glasser.

Here's more from Heidi Lange, vice-president of the agency: "Gallagher is that rare publishing professional whose talents include a strong editorial insight, marketing expertise, and keen business sense. She has a reputation for being extremely pro-author, working closly with writers on all aspects of a book's publication, and yet she never loses sight of the realities of the marketplace."

Today Macmillan CEO John Sargent announced that Steve Rubin will become president and publisher of Henry Holt at the beginning of November.

The current Henry Holt president Dan Farley will turn his attention towards managing the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. In September, Rubin resigned as executive VP and publisher-at-large for Random House, a position he assumed in February following massive restructuring at the conglomerate. Before that, he had served as Doubleday Broadway Group's former publisher.

Here's Rubin's statement, from the subscription-only article: "Throughout my career, I have always strived to publish those exceptional books that bridge the gap between commerce and literature. I believe that Holt is the perfect place to do this, given that its sister companies are the distinguished Farrar Straus and the powerhouse St. Martin's Press, I can't wait to work more directly with books and authors in developing a tight, powerful, focused list."

Less than a year after joining Penguin Press as a nonfiction editor, Nick Trautwein is leaving to become a senior editor at The New Yorker.

According to the NY Observer, Trautwein will replace Emily Eakin--despite a hiring freeze at Condé Nast. As we noted yesterday, the literary magazine also hired a managing editor this year as well.

New Yorker editor David Remnick had this emailed statement, from the article: "Anyone whose resume includes playing sax in Chubby Checker's touring band has got to have something going on. And from everything I have seen, Nick Trautwein, really does." You can find out more about his jazz experience in this exclusive GalleyCat video from last year...

Former Zagat Survey SVP of marketing and interactive John Boris will now serve as managing director of Lonely Planet Americas, All Things Digital reports.

The article also explores the famous travel guidebook company's digital efforts this year, noting that 75 percent of the company's profits still come from the print side. Nevertheless, digital efforts are growing as the company interacts 700,000 registered users and will launch Amazon Kindle editions of guidebooks that include "all or part" of 600 guidebooks on the international version of the digital reader.

Here's more from CEO Matt Goldberg, interviewed in the article: "Goldberg--who came to Lonely Planet early this year from Dow Jones, where he was SVP of digital strategy and operations, including for WSJ.com–noted that Lonely Planet’s digital businesses have doubled their revenues to $20 million this year via premium pricing and advertising."

The publishing world lost two pillars of academic support this week, as Stanford University shuttered a publishing program and a Columbia University professor has postponed his book review seminar.

According to a Publishers Marketplace (subscription only) report, the Stanford Publishing Course for Professionals has ended after more than 30 years of teaching publishing. Here's more form the gloomy article: "Longtime director Holly Brady is leaving Stanford--saying she 'expects to continue the conversation from another vantage point here in Silicon Valley'--and her staff has been dismissed."

On the other side of the country, Columbia English professor James Shapiro has put his book reviewing seminar for undergraduates on "infinite hiatus." Blaming the rapidly-eroding pay scale for book reviewers in the age of blogs, Shapiro explained in a NY Observer article: "[W]hat's no longer there is the possibility of training a generation of book reviewers since, as you know, newspapers around the country are shedding their book reviews, or shrinking these sections."

Author and journalist Mary C. Hickey is returning to Ladies' Home Journal, filling a new editorial spot that includes curating book features at the magazine.

Besides writing for a number of magazines, including People, More, Life, The Washington Post, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and Working Mother, Hickey is a published author. In 1992 she co-authored the Penguin title, The Working Mother's Guilt Guide.

Here's more from the release: "she will be overseeing the magazine's books coverage, along with relationships, news stories and general features. Hickey was most recently Deputy Editor at Parents magazine, where she worked for nine years...Hickey has more than 20 years of experience in magazine, newspaper and academic journalism, and worked for Ladies' Home Journal from 1994-1996."