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Amazon.com has hired publishing big hitter Laurence Kirshbaum to run its New York Publishing office.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal the former c.e.o. of the Time-Warner Book Group and more recently a literary agent, has accepted the role of publisher for Amazon's New York publishing office, and will start on 5th July. Publishers Marketplace reported that Amazon announced the move to a group of agents Sunday night. Reporting to Amazon's Jeff Belle, the piece says that Kirshbaum is charged with building "something that will look like a general trade publisher", with "a specific focus on non-fiction, but also literary fiction".
Amazon has recently launched two publishing imprints, and Kirshbaum's plan is to found new imprints under the Amazon Publishing umbrella, with a focus on acquiring high quality books in literary and commercial fiction, business and general non-fiction. Kirshbaum will also assemble an editorial team to work with him.
Megan Thompson and Susanna Einstein will now run Kirshbaum's literary agency. Kirshbaum founded the agency in 2005 after stepping down from Time Warner.