News from Publishers Lunch

Dan Ruffino has been named managing director of Simon & Schuster Australia, reporting to Ian Chapman, taking over the position that Lou Johnson is leaving. Ruffino, who starts in his new position on January 5, was most recently creative director of the government funded industry-assisting Get Reading! Programme (since rebranded as Better Reading) and prior to that, global digital director for Penguin Group USA. Of Ruffino's hire, Chapman said in a statement: "Dan's many accomplishments and wealth of experience in both traditional and digital publishing will help build on the well-established strengths of Simon & Schuster Australia. He is admired and respected throughout the Australian industry and in the UK and the US, and his expertise and drive will be pivotal to the company's ambitions for even greater success in this key market."

Harper One in San Francisco is adding a new mind/body/spirit imprint, Harper Elixir, launching in fall 2015 under the direction of Harper One associate publisher Claudia Boutote. Libby Edelson has joined the company as senior editor for the imprint (she was at Ecco most recently), and in other respects Elixir will draw on the rest of the team at Harper One. The lead title will by a new book by Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the bestselling THE FOUR AGREEMENTS. The line is expected to build to 15 books a year.

Harper One publisher Mark Tauber says in the announcing, "Forming Elixir is an effort to zero in on a distinct category that has long been one of the cornerstones of our business. Body, Mind, Spirit books have been and continue to be a growing area in the US and overseas, and we feel it is time to sharpen our focus." Boutote indicates that "HarperElixir will be a curated list of books, selected with purpose and intent, for these seekers."