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Little, Brown science fiction and fantasy imprint Orbit has appointed Jenni Hill, previously of Solaris Books, as commissioning editor.

Hill will report to editorial director Anne Clarke, and will take up her post on 31st October. While at Solaris, she worked with authors including James Lovegrove, Gail Z Martin and Emily Gee.

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On Tuesday we posted about an editor gig at Orbit, and now it looks like the Hachette division is looking for an enthusiastic publicist to join its New York team, too.

In this role, you’ll be asked to develop and implement seasonal publicity campaigns for science fiction, fantasy and Manga, supporting the Yen and Orbit imprints. You’ll need to put your creative thinking cap on to conceive of original plans for key titles, which will include media outreach, as well as industry and author events.

To be considered, you should have two to three years of publicity experience, and a well-rounded knowledge of trade book publishing. Extensive contacts are a big plus, and a passion for science fiction, fantasy, Manga and genre publishing is a must-have. Hands-on team players who work well under pressure should apply here.

For more job listings, go to the Mediabistro job board, and to post a job, visit our employer page. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This week, Orbit is looking for a new editor, and Amazon is hiring a senior manager of site merchandising and product management. HarperCollins is searching for an online marketing manager, and Random House needs an senior publicist for its children’s division. Interested? Get the scoop on these gigs and more below, as well as on mediabistro.com.

• Editor Hachette Book Group/Orbit (New York, NY)
• Online Marketing Manager HarperCollins (Watertown, NY)
• Senior Publicist Random House (New York, NY)
• Publishing Product Manager Bloomsbury Publishing (New York, NY)
• Senior Manager, Site Merchandising & Product Management Amazon (Seattle, WA)

For more job listings, go to the Mediabistro job board, and to post a job, visit our employer page. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Fantasy author Trudi Canavan has become the latest writer to top the landmark figure of one million print book sales through UK Nielsen BookScan.

Total sales through Nielsen BookScan to the week ending 6th August 2011 are 1,001,030 copies, worth £7,668,463.68. 

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Little, Brown imprint Orbit has acquired a new urban fantasy trilogy which has already attracted attention in the US.

Editorial director Anne Clarke bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the first three books through Evan Goldfield at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

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Soulless by Gail Carriger. 2009. Orbit. 384 pages.

Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening. Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event. To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire.

I wanted to love this one. I did. I wanted to feel something close to love. But I didn't. That's not to say I thought it was awful--it wasn't. I think the very things that I didn't enjoy will be the very things that other readers will love most.

Soullless and I got off to a good start. I loved the early scenes in the novel: Alexia in the library confronting the vampire, Alexia dealing with the aftermath of the vampire's death, Alexia battling it out verbally with Lord Maccon. I enjoyed the world-building of the first hundred pages--seeing how Alexia fit in (and didn't quite) with London society, and not just Alexia, but how vampires and werewolves fit into London society. I loved the writing too. There were places in the text where I felt certain that this would be a book I loved.

Alexia doesn't quite fit in with the mortals or the supernaturals. She's soulless; her soullessness neutralizes the "superpowers" of vampires and werewolves. (Her touch can take away a vampires fangs, or change the werewolf back into human form. Temporarily of course.)

There is a mystery to be solved. There is danger too. But for me this danger, this threat, almost takes a backseat to the romance. Because a little over hundred pages Soulless turns into a romance book. You know, a romance book.

For readers who love romance novels, for readers who really love romance novels--especially paranormal romances--there is much to love in Soulless. And this new direction will probably be a very welcome one. You may even think, finally, this story is getting somewhere. It's about time.

Mini-spoiler.

It becomes more about how long can Alexia keep her hands off a certain someone--or a certain someone keep his hands off her--than anything else.

Bigger spoiler.

After Alexia is caught in a compromising situation, it becomes the oh-so-familiar story of:

Well, I don't want to force you to marry me against your will.
You're not forcing me to marry you.
No, you're just saying that, you don't really want to marry me.
Yes, I do.
No, you don't.
Yes, I do.
No, you don't. I'm not beautiful enough.
Yes, you are.
No, I'm not...

And, for me, once it goes there...it doesn't really matter that Alexia has fallen for a supernatural. Soulless could be one of a hundred romances. Not that Lord Maccon is like every other hero in a romance novel, he's not. He's Scottish. (A plus in my books). And he's a werewolf. (I'm indifferent to werewolves, so no plus for me. But hey, for some readers, maybe this appeals?) And Alexia isn't quite your typical heroine. She is brave and fierce in some ways. But why does she have to be so dow