At Frankfurt, new hires get a chance to shine and veterans take the time to announce their departures. Which is why HarperCollins UK is reeling from the news that Trevor Dolby, Nibbie winner for Editor of the Year, is leaving the company this week. Publishing News talked to his boss, MD and Publisher of Harper Nonfiction Belinda Budge: “Trevor has tremendous talents and he’s a publisher of vision and integrity. I was hoping he could be persuaded to stay. But he is going out on a high: the U2 book looks fabulous and the Gordon Ramsay is going to be huge. He’s done a fantastic job.”
No word on where Dolby will land next but as PN Daily put it, “given his skills, he might launch out on his own, or work in the hinterland between agenting and packaging.”
When Anya Serota left John Murray for Canongate, that left a spot open at the top. That’s effectively been taken by Heather Barrett, who moved over from Transworld. A week later, she’s made her first buy: Charles Bock‘s BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN, the story of a 12-year-old boy who disappears in the desert near Las Vegas. The book will likely appear in early 2008, the first buy of what Barrett hopes will be 12 to 15 novels a year for John Murray. “I have a mission to go out and acquire with a real sense of daring. I’m looking for intelligent, upmarket fiction, primarily appealing to women.”
Caroline Gascgoine, the former literary editor for the London Times, is also quick out of the gate, making a deal before she’s even officially started at her new job as Hutchinson‘s publishing director. She bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Romeo Dallaire‘s CHILD SOLDIERS from Jennifer Shepherd at Random House Canada for a five-figure sum after making a brief visit to Frankfurt to “get a feel of the fair.”
And remember Ravi Mirchandani? The former Publishing Director of Heinemann is now trying his hand at literary scouting, at least for Frankfurt’s duration. He will be working with Ros Ramsay on behalf of her clients Ambo/ Anthos, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Droemer and Il Saggiatore. He will, separately, be scouting for Carol Janeway of Knopf.