FinePrint Literary Management Announces Expansion; New Hires
FinePrint Literary Management, LLC, announced today the hiring of two new literary agents, Laura Wood and Ward Calhoun, as well as a new in-house subsidiary rights director, Jacqueline Murphy.
Laura Wood comes to FinePrint with more than twenty years in the publishing industry, including stints at Crown’s Harmony Books, Duke University Press and Columbia University Press. Most recently, Wood was Associate Publisher of Council Oak Books. She holds a Master’s Degree in Publishing Studies from New York University. Wood will be specializing in serious nonfiction, in the areas of science and nature, business, history, religion, and other areas by academics, experienced professionals, and journalists as well as commercial fiction with a fantastical twist and high-concept science fiction.
Ward Calhoun got his start in publishing at John Boswell Associates, a literary agency/book packager. While there he helped develop several best-selling humor titles including French for Cats and O.J.’s Legal Pad, as well as the HarperCollins 365 Ways to Cook… series. His next stop was Bishop Books where he acted as both a writer and editor on several books for Sports Illustrated. Most recently, Ward has been working as a Senior Editor at Hylas Publishing in Irvington, New York. Calhoun will be specializing in nonfiction titles in the areas of sports, humor, and pop culture.
FinePrint’s third new hire, director of subsidiary rights Jacqueline Murphy, brings with her more than 19 years of experience in subsidiary rights, licensing and editorial. For the past four years she was the executive audio editor for HarperCollins’ Harper Media; prior to that she was longtime director of subsidiary rights at Harcourt, with past stints in sub rights at National Geographic, Walker & Company and Scholastic Book Clubs.
“Jacqueline’s experience in both adult and children’s sub rights is extraordinary, and she brings a depth of publishing experience and a willingness to share it that has enriched all of us at the agency,” said FinePrint CEO Peter Rubie.
These three new hires further the expansion begun by FinePrint at the start of March 2009 with the hiring of former Weinstein Company exec Brendan Deneen as a literary manager and in-house dramatic rights agent, and the formation earlier this summer of FinePrint Productions, a sister company that focuses on feature film/television production of book-to-film and graphic novel-to-film properties.
“In the two years since FinePrint was created, we’ve managed to weather a difficult economic environment and not only stay afloat as a company, but also find a way to restructure and expand our ability to serve our clients,” Rubie said. “We’re optimistic here about the future of publishing; it's a challenge we’re looking forward to meeting over the next few years.”