Cover Stories: Rachel Cugnoni, Children's books

The year is not two months old yet, already, the book world has seen many shifts. Following Caroline Michel's departure for HarperCollins, Random House has appointed Rachel Cugnoni as publishing director of its Chatto, Cape, Vintage Division. A former Cape publicist, Cugnoni presided over the launch of Yellow Jersey, RH's sports imprint. She is liked and respected, and will ensure continuity, but as yet lacks Michel's high-octane glamour. Meanwhile, Hodder Headline, now part of W H Smith, has announced its US launch. A start-up from scratch has always been viewed as a high-wire act, so Hodder is piggybacking Simon & Schuster, using that company's facilities – not to mention its offices in Rockefeller Center.

* The Harry Potter effect still benefits children's authors, as publishers jostle for the next big thing. In the wake of his début Sabriel, Garth Nix has signed a seven-book, six-figure deal with HarperCollins for a series aimed at nine-to-13-year-olds. Philip Ardagh, whose Eddie Dickens trilogy has sold over 250,000 copies for Faber, has been snapped up by the Americans for a six-figure sum. Meanwhile, the mother-and-daughter team of Louisa Young (an Independent reviewer) and 10-year-old Isabel Adomakah Young have hit the same magic sum with a Puffin trilogy to appear under the pseudonym of "Zizou Corder".