Religion Bookline Short Takes: March 2009
by Marcia Z. Nelson -- Publishers Weekly, 3/23/2009 10:35:00 AM
Evangelical Christian publishing veteran Jonathan Merkh is settling in to his new chair and position as vice president and publisher of Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Merkh told RBL late last week that he was "getting acquainted with everyone and the team" at the West Monroe, La., publisher, which last year published the bestselling Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope by Don & Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak. While it was too early to describe plans, Merkh, a Nashville resident, said he could provide S&S/ Howard with a Nashville presence. "My desire is to bring the experience I have and add value to what’s being done there," said Merkh, who worked for 14 years at Thomas Nelson Publishers and served as senior v-p and publisher of the Nelson Books Division and was most recently with the William Morris Agency.Harvest House has launched AmishReader.com, an interactive website for fans of Amish-themed fiction. The site promotes titles and also offers a “question of the week” featuring reader-submitted questions about the Amish or Amish fiction titles or authors. Yes, there will also be recipes.
EP Books will be distributed by Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service in Carlisle, Pa. The new partnership agreement is designed to help the British publisher strengthen its U.S. presence, said EP CEO Graham Hilton in a press release.
Sally Sampson Craft has been named director of digital publishing at InterVarsity Press. Craft is an IVP veteran with more than 20 years’ experience in the house’s marketing and sales and creative services departments. Craft will offer leadership for current and emerging digital publishing strategies.
Sana Krasikov has won the 2009 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Krasikov won for her debut short story collection, One More Year (Spiegel & Grau). Awarded through the Jewish Book Council, the $100,000 prize is given to emerging writers of Jewish literature; Krasikov was cited for her fresh vision and future potential to further contribute to the Jewish literary community.
