John Schoenfelder Joins Little, Brown’s New Crime Fiction Imprint

Earlier this fall, Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch announced that the company would start its own imprint devoted to crime and suspense fiction. Back when I reported the news they were still looking for an editor to acquire and oversee the imprint, but now they are no longer: starting January 11, John Schoenfelder will take the reins for the still-unnamed imprint, which is on track to publish its first titles in early 2011.

In the accompanying announcement, Pietsch said about Schoenfelder: “His

deep knowledge of the field, his broad idea of what suspense fiction

can encompass, and his marketing creativity struck us as just right for

our idea of what this imprint can be–a place for novels that aim to

knock our socks off by gripping us from the first page, whether they’re

thrillers, crime novels, or supernatural suspense.”

Those who read and write noir and suspense know Schoenfelder well from

his most recent stint as assistant editor for Thomas Dunne/SMP, where

his authors – usually published or are about to be published by Minotaur – included Alan Glynn,

Russel McLean,John McFetridge, David Moody, Cortright McMeel, Craig McDonald and David Wong. But I’ve long suspected his tastes were more varied and, given the right environment, he could stretch his editorial muscles that much further. Suffice to say I’m looking forward to seeing what books make up the new imprint’s first list, and which authors he signs up thereafter.