Doubleday threw a party last night for Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau, who were celebrating the official launch of their new imprint at Random House (read all about it).

Wait, no, it’s not an imprint—Doubleday Broadway president Stephen Rubin made a point of this during his speech. “A new publishing house!” he said, twice. “Not an imprint.” He emphasized that this does not happen every day.  read more »

Spiegel & Grau has hired Tina Pohlman from Harcourt and named her senior editor for hardcovers and editorial director for paperbacks, it was announced today. At Harcourt, which is in the middle of a messy merger with Houghton Mifflin that has left several high-level people without jobs, Ms. Pohlman was editorial director of the paperback imprint Harvest Books.  read more »

Comedian Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame has sold his autobiography to Spiegel & Grau, a young division of the Doubleday group at Random House that is about to launch its first full list.

Cindy Spiegel, who runs S&G with Julie Grau, told Media Mob today that Morgan will work with author Anthony Bozza, who recently helped Slash of Guns 'n' Roses write his memoirs for HarperCollins. Spiegel said the book was acquired shortly before the holiday, but has yet to be officially announced.  read more »