Janet Silver

If you remember this year's White House Correspondent's Dinner, you weren't there. Felix Gillette, John Koblin, and Choire Sicha flood the zone in D.C..

Janet Silver is moving from Houghton Mifflin to Nan Talese's imprint at Doubleday. Leon Neyfakh checks in with with Ms. Talese who says, "I called Janet and she sent us a list of the authors she had worked with and the ones who’d said they wanted to come with her, if not immediately then eventually." That list may include Philip Roth and Jonathan Safran Foer. Plus: Islam observers on Wieseltier's Amis review; James Frey's PR Dream Team; Spitzer's bio; Nabokov's unfinished novel.  read more »

On May 1, former Houghton Mifflin publisher Janet Silver starts her new job as an editor at large at Nan Talese’s boutique literary imprint at Doubleday.

Back in January, Ms. Silver and several other editors at Houghton Mifflin were made redundant as part of the company’s merger with Harcourt.

But Ms. Silver and Ms. Talese may have the better end of the stick: The author list Ms. Silver built at Houghton, which included Philip Roth and Jonathan Safran Foer, did not play a small role in Ms. Talese’s desire to recruit her.

“I called Janet and she sent us a list of the authors she had worked with and the ones who’d said they wanted to come with her, if not immediately then eventually,” Ms. Talese said. “We ran down the financials and ... we made an agreement with her that she would stay up there in Massachusetts. It was all done in a rather good fashion.”  read more »

Janet Silver, who lost her position as publisher of Houghton Mifflin's trade division last month when that company was merged with Harcourt, has landed firmly on her feet, joining Nan Talese's eponymous imprint at Doubleday as editor-at-large.

At Houghton, Ms. Silver edited books by Philip Roth, Cynthia Ozick, Jonathan Safran Foer, and a score of other well-known writers. Many in the publishing industry were dismayed when news of her ouster broke. 

In a statement from Doubleday issued this morning, Ms. Talese is quoted as saying, “Over the course of her distinguished career, Janet has nurtured an impressive array of talented writers, providing them the level of support and care their work so richly deserved... Her now joining our imprint is such a natural match, and I am thrilled to welcome her as a colleague.”  read more »

A press release from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt just went out announcing that Becky Saletan, who was previously the publisher of Harcourt Trade, has been appointed vice president and publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Adult Trade.

Janet Silver, meanwhile, is out as vice president and publisher of Houghton Mifflin. She'd been with the company for 24 years, according to HM publicity director Lori Glazer, and spent seven of those as publisher of adult trade.

The shake-up comes as a result of Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep's acquisition of Harcourt's trade and education divisions, which was completed in December.

Ms. Silver follows soon-to-be-former Harcourt Trade president and CEO Dan Farley out the door; Mr. Farley will vacate his post at the end of the month, he told Media Mob over the phone this afternoon, leaving Gary Gentel, who was previously the acting president of Houghton Mifflin trade and reference, at the helm of the newly merged company.

The press release from HMH about Ms. Saletan's appointment reproduced after the jump.  read more »

Janet Silver is out as vice president and publisher of Houghton Mifflin, Media Mob has learned.

The shake-up comes as a result of Houghton Mifflin's acquisition of Harcourt, which was finalized last month.

More details to come.