Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blogs Posts of The Week 01/13-01/17

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

A 19th Centrury Prediction on The Rise of Audiobooks

 

Audiobooks Dominate in Libraries According to Newly Released Report 

 

If Tiktok is Banned What Happens to Booktok?

 

Sitting on The Sidelines and Making Reading Cool to Kids

 

Meta Used Pirated Books to Build AI 

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blogs Posts of The Week 01/06-01/10

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

What’s The Best Way to Track Your Reading? 

 

One of These Manuscripts is Not Like the Other…Or is it?- Entangled Publishing Faces Copyright Battle 

 

Are Men’s Reading Habits a National Crisis?  Evidence Points to No 

 

Welcome to the Zibbyverse- Understanding the Book influencer 

 

The Newsletters Demystifying the Publishing World

 

Be sure to check out Publishing Trends thoughts on newsletters here!

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blogs Posts of The Week 12/30-01/03

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

How 2024 Became the Year of Audiobooks

 

Need a Goal for 2025? Here’s How to Read 100 Books

 

Are You Reading for Yourself or Your Social Media? 

 

Will Eliminating the Department of Education Help Children’s Literacy Scores? 

 

England Provides a Phonics Check for Children Should the US Join? 

People Round Up, Early January, 2025

PEOPLE

(This is a summary of moves that have taken place over the last month.)

At Simon & Schuster, Melissa Vogan has joined Simon Spotlight as senior editor. She was most recently editor and content manager at Epic for Kids. Shannon Rygg has joined the children’s digital marketing team as assistant marketing manager. She was most recently social media & digital marketing associate at Union Square & Co. (now part of Hachette). 

 

At Hachette, Michael Pietsch, former CEO and then chairman, ended his 33 year long career at the company on December 31st. Nan Rittenhouse, former publicist at Simon Element, joins Grand Central Publishing as senior publicist.

 

At Macmillan, Kaitlyn Cullen has joined as trade sales associate. Anna Skudlarek is joining Macmillan Audio as associate marketing manager of social media and advertising. She was previously a marketing associate at Algonquin Books. Heather Follette has joined as executive assistant. Sarah Vogel has joined as junior payroll associate.  

 

Penguin Random HouseMegan Evans, previously events and consumer engagement manager at Abrams Books, has joined Random House Children’s Books as marketing manager. Havilah Sciabbarrasi has joined Random House Books for Young Readers as editorial assistant. Ten Speed Press has Dena Rayess as editor, she was previously associate editor at Chronicle Books

 

At Scholastic, Doris Allen, formerly senior sales associate at HarperCollins, has joined as district sales manager. Amanda Book, formerly associate marketing manager Laurence King Publishing, has joined as young adult associate marketing manager.

 

Sourcebooks, Patience Bramlett has joined as senior production editor. Jianna Castellano has joined as marketing assistant. Tracey Bozentka has joined as national accounts manager. Kate Leboff has joined as quality assurance lead. Michelle Wozny has joined as senior production designer. Annette Mims has joined as senior marketing and publicity associate. Kate Riley has joined as a marketing and publicity assistant. Emily Janakiram has joined as publicity manager.

Feminist Press:  executive director and publisher Margot Atwell will step down in February after three years with the press. She will continue to edit select projects, and the company is conducting a nationwide search for her successor.

 

USA Today, Clare Mulroy has joined as the paper’s new book reporter.

 

As reported in December, Phaidon Press, Bob Miller became CEO of Phaidon Press and its affiliated companies  The Monacelli Press and Artspace on January 1, 2025. Until the end of July, he was president of Flatiron Books, which he founded in 2013.  He took over from Keith Fox, who announced in November that he would step down at the end of the year.

 

At Chronicle Books, Jenny Goodman Abrami returns to the company as executive director of global sales, overseeing all trade, mass market, and specialty sales teams in the US. Most recently she was VP, sales & strategy at Sasquatch Books, and associate publisher of the Little Bigfoot imprint. Abrami will report to VP of sales, Kim AndersonAmanda Weirich joins in the newly created position of director of international sales and subsidiary rights, reporting to Abrami. 

 

Carter Hasegawa, senior editor of Candlewick Press has left and can be contacted at carterhasegawa@gmail.com

Logos Press:  Stacy Masucci, formerly publisher of bioscience, translational medicine, psychology and neuroscience at Elsevier, has joined Logos as director, publisher relations & rights. Stacy can be contacted at stacy.masucci@logos.com.

 

At Big River Consulting, Meredith Baker, founder, retired effective 01/03/2025.

___

In Agency News…

Trident Media Group has promoted Mark Owen Gottlieb to senior vice president; he will continue to serve as literary agent.

 

Sterling Lord Literistic, president and later chair of the agency Peter Matson has retired after six decades in publishing. He established his firm, Literistic, in 1979 and then acquired Sterling Lord Literistic in 1987.

___

PROMOTIONS

Hachette has promoted Madeline Jones to senior editor at Algonquin. Jovanna Brinck has been promoted to assistant editor.  Hachette Audio has promoted Kim Sayle to senior vice president and deputy publisher. Ana Maria Allessi has been promoted to president and publisher.

 

At Penguin Random House, Todd Doughty has been promoted to senior vice president, deputy publisher, publicity and communications. In his expanded role, he will take on additional responsibilities of overseeing subrights, with Suzanne Smith. Estel Corriveau has been promoted to retail advertising associate.

 

Catherine O’Mara has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Random House Children’s Books. Megan Mitchell has been promoted to assistant marketing director. Mariana Batista has been promoted to marketing associate at Random House Children’s Books. Tara Grieco has been promoted to assistant director. Lauren Adams has been promoted to director of marketing and licensed and proprietary brands. Cleo Papadopoulos has been promoted to production associate.  

 

Erin Reilly will be promoted to VP, adult mass merchandise & distributor sales as of February 1, 2025. Her portfolio will expand to include all adult mass merchandise classes of trade, along with the four national distributor accounts.

 

Harper Group has promoted Jennifer Civiletto to senior director of backlist. Lisa Erickson has been promoted to executive director at Harper Perennial. Megan Looney has been promoted to associate director of marketing at Harper Perennial. Daniel Duval has been promoted to marketing associate.

 

Macmillan has promoted Jazz Key to sales manager for e-commerce.

 

Abrams, Diane Shaw has been promoted to vice president and creative director of the adult division. Monica Shah has been promoted to vice president of sales and sales operations. Liz Frew has been promoted to senior director of sales, international and distribution client publishers. Kathleen Spinelli has been promoted to senior director of sales, international and distribution client publishers. Shelby Ozer has been promoted to associate director, online and digital sales, distribution client publishers. Jay Salton has been promoted to manager, special markets. 

 

ReaderLink has promoted Breanna Meadows to senior account representative.

 

The New Press has promoted Julia Fink to subsidiary rights and sales associate. 

 

Catapult Book Group has promoted Vanessa Genao to assistant publicist. Tracey Danes has been promoted to associate production editor. Dan Lopez has been promoted to associate editor.

 

Association of American Publishers has promoted Isabel Rowader to director of communications. Carl Maxwell has been promoted to senior vice president of public policy.

 

Transit Books, Lizzie Davis has been promoted to the newly created position of executive editor.  

 

The Poetry Project has promoted Nicole Wallace to executive director.

____

DULY NOTED

President Obama has released his “Favorite Books of 2024”  list. 

 

The Booker Prize has announced that Sarah Jessica Parker will be a judge for the 2025 Book Prize along with Ayobami Adebayo, Kiley Reid, and Chris Power.

 

President Jimmy Carter died at 100 years old on December 29th, 2024. In addition to his lifelong commitment to humanitarian pursuits, he also authored 32 books. He will be honored with a state funeral on January 9th, 2025.

 

Author, David Lodge, best known for his Booker Prize nominated novels Small World and Nice Work died today. He was 89 years old.

____

EVENTS

Jan 11-19th

Cukurova Book Fair

Adana, Turkey

Jan 17-19th

Albuquerque Comic Con

Albuquerque, NM

Jan 24-27th

ALA LibLearnX

Phoenix, AZ

Jan 24- Feb  4th

Cairo International Book Fair

Cairo, Egypt

Jan 27-30th
Educational Book and Media Conference

Las Vegas, NV

Jan 28- Feb 9th

Kolkata International Book Fair

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/16-12/20

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Under the ‘Knife’- Conversation With Graphic Designer Behind Salman Rushdie’s Memoir

 

The Unexpected TikTok Moment for Dostoevsky

 

AAP Releases October 2024 StatShot Report 

 

From Faulkner to Popeye Who Will Enter Public Domain in 2025? 

2024 in Review   

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/09-12/13

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

The Copyright Dilemma in The Age of AI? 

Can Literary Prizes Survive Protests? 

The Worry of Librarians Amidst Down Children’s Sales 

Harvard Releases Public Domain to Ai 

Strand Booksellers Strike a Deal For New Contract

People Round Up, Early December, 2024

PEOPLE

At Simon & Schuster, William Scarlett, formerly deputy director of publicity at W.W. Norton & Company, has joined Simon Element as publicity director.

Erin Kibby joins Atria Books as senior marketing manager. Addie Gilligan joins Scribner as a publicist. Niamh Hoban has joined Simon & Schuster as videographer and video editor. 

 

At Hachette SVP of human resources, Andrea Weinzimer, will be leaving at the end of December after twenty years at the company.  She will be succeeded by Carrie Bloxson, SVP of culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion at HBG and Hachette UK.

 

At HarperCollins, Hannah Phillips has joined William Morrow as executive editor.  She was previously at St. Martins Press.

 

Penguin Random House: Deb Wood will join Knopf Cooks as design director. At Putnam, Ruoxi Chen has joined as executive editor. Bantam Books has named Wendy Wong as editor. 

 

Macmillan Publishers announced that former senior editor at Avid Reader Press, Julianna Haubner is joining Flatiron Books as executive editor.  

At Ingram Content Group, SVP of content acquisition international David Taylor will retire in June 2025 after 22 years with the company.

Justin Alvarez has joined as manager of consumer marketing sales. 

 

At Scholastic, Chandler Rawson, formerly digital intern at PR by the Book, has joined as field sales assistant. 

 

At ReaderLink, Anna Herling has joined as senior national account manager.

 

Adrienne Westenfeld, books and fiction editor at ‘Esquire’ magazine, has left the company and can be contacted at adriennewestenfeld@gmail.com.

 

Midwest Independent Booksellers Association sees executive director Carrie Obry step down from her position. Grace Hagen will serve as interim executive direction while the board conducts a search for a replacement.

 

Hoopla Digital, Christina Faubert has joined as senior account manager of digital acquisitions.

 

University of North Carolina Press, Susan Garrett, sales director, will retire effective January 31. 

Broadleaf Books, Rachel Sammons joins as publicist and can be contacted at chollyrns@gmail.com. She was formerly trade marketing associate at Barefoot Books.

In Agency News…

At P.S. Literary Agency, Mireya Chiriboga, formerly assistant editor at HarperCollins, has joined as a literary assistant. 

 

Martin Literary Management, Alicia Brooks, formerly agent at Jean V. Nagger Agency, has joined as senior literary manager and can be contacted at alicia@martinliterarymanagement.com.

 

Miller Bowers Griffin Literary Management sees Brooke Mondor join as associate agent.

___

PROMOTIONS

At Simon & Schuster, Michael Andersen joins Simon & Schuster’s corporate marketing team as senior director of audience insights. He was previously the director of cultural intelligence at Simon ElementImani Seymour has been promoted to senior manager of multicultural marketing and social media. Carolyn Kelly has been promoted to editor at Avid Reader Press. Mia Robertson has been promoted to associate editor at Simon & Schuster, moving over from Gallery Books.

 

Penguin Random House: Jen Donovan, previously senior acquisitions editor of Penguin Random House Audio, has been promoted to executive acquisitions editor. Marissa Secreto has been promoted to associate marketing manager at Penguin Random House Audio. Sana Iqbal has been promoted to associate marketing manager Penguin Random House Audio. Robert Guzman has been promoted to director of marketing at Penguin Random House Audio. Juliette DeSena has been promoted to assistant director of social media at Penguin Random House Audio. Brian Laurito has been promoted to marketing and publicity associate at Penguin Random House Audio. Taylor Noel has been promoted to director of marketing for Ballantine, Bantam, and Dell.

 

At Macmillan Publishers, Chris Sergio has been promoted to SVP and creative director. Julie Will has been promoted to SVP and editor-in-chief of nonfiction at Flatiron Books

 

Scholastic, Brianna Peterson has been promoted to senior marketing operations coordinator. Julia Hines has been promoted to senior metadata coordinator. Travis Paulson has been promoted to metadata optimization coordinator.

 

ReaderLink, David Banks has been promoted to senior Microsoft Dynamics 365 finance and operations functional analyst.

 

Johns Hopkins University Press has promoted Wendy Queen to the role of  chief transformation officer.

 

University of North Carolina Press, Molly Koecher has been promoted to chief financial officer. Brock Schnoke has been promoted to digital marketing. Liz Orange Lane has been promoted to assistant sales manager. 

 

Longleaf Services, Clinton Bullock has been promoted to senior manager of operations.

____

DULY NOTED

Union workers from The Strand Bookstore went on strike, Saturday, December 7th, asking for owners to pay more than minimum wage. The union and the store’s management are set to discuss contracts again on Monday, December 9th.

____

EVENTS

Al Dhafra Book Festival

Dec 4-10th

Abu Dhabi, UAE

 

The Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit

Dec 10th

New York, NY

 

Comic Arts LA

Dec 14-15th

Los Angeles, CA

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/02-12/06

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Welcome to the “Errors Tour” Book – Did Taylor Swift Make a Mistake By Self-Publishing? 

 

Is BookTok Past its Prime?

 

Ai Aftermath- How Ai is Devaluing Traditional Publishing  

 

Thank Thoreau for “Brain Rot” – Oxford’s Word of The Year

 

Costco Cuts Books From 500 Locations

 

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/18-11/22

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Microsoft Enters the Publishing Scene with Launch of Imprint 

 

What Can We Expect From Taylor Swift’s “Publishing Era”?

 

What Makes a Word of the Year?

 

HarperCollins Embracing Ai but What Does This Mean for Author’s Rights?

 

The Battle of the Audiobooks Continues as Amazon Music Adds Unlimited Audiobooks    

 

People Round Up, Mid November, 2024

PEOPLE

Andrea Walker has joined the Harper Group as VP, executive editor, acquiring literary fiction, commercial crossover fiction, and suspense, as well as select narrative nonfiction and memoirs. Walker was previously the VP and executive editor at Random House.

 

At HarperCollins, Odette Fleming, previously assistant director of marketing for Harmony Books and Rodale Books, has joined the Morrow Group as associate director of marketing. Erin Merlo has joined the Morrow Group as senior marketing manager.

 

Grove Atlantic has announced that VP, associate publisher Judy Hottensen will step down on January 1st, 2025.

 

Hachette Book Group sees Jennifer Goddard join as senior director of communications. She was most recently director of marketing and communications at St. John’s University.  Gabrielle Gambrell  joined Hachette as SVP, Chief Communications Officer in August of 2024.

 

At Simon & Schuster, Julia Ashley Romero has joined S&S’s Children’s Publishing as digital marketing assistant. Sarah Yamshita has joined Beach Lane Books as editorial assistant; she was previously project editor at Oxford University Press

 

Ariana Abad has joined Penguin Random House as a publicist at Berkley. She was  formerly associate publicist at Bloomsbury. Elizabeth Lynch, formerly editor at Disney Publishing Worldwide, has joined Penguin Young Readers as senior editor.  

 

At Abrams, Melissa Orilia has been named CFO, starting November 18th, reporting to president and CEO Mary McAveney. She will oversee finance, IT, and data operations. She was previously controller at GroupM, and prior to that was controller at Cohm & Wolfe.

 

Phaidon Press announced that CEO Keith Fox  will step down at the end of the year. He has been with the company since 2014. Elizabeth Keene has joined as senior editor at Monacelli. She was previously associate editorial director at Thames & Hudson.

 

At Wattpad, Aron Levitz has been named co-president of Wattpad, while remaining president of Wattpad Webtoon Studios. Levitz will lead alongside co-president KB Nam, both will report to founder and COO of Webtoon Entertainment Junkoo Kim. Sabena Singh has joined as public relations lead.

 

At Quirk Books, Jhanteigh Kupihea has resigned as president and publisher and will leave the company on December 31st.  She will be taking a sabbatical from publishing. Founder and chairman David Borgenicht returns to his role as president effective immediately and will serve as interim publisher.

 

Oxford University Press sees Maria Metzler, formerly acquisitions editor at Penn State University Press, join Hendrickson Publishers as acquisitions editor and can be contacted at mmetzler@hendrickson.com

 

Kensington Publishing sees Ericka McIntyre join as Western editor.

 

Shaelyn McDaniel joins Candlewick Press as senior digital marketing manager. 

 

Alynn Rusell is leaving Nosy Crow where she was marketing manager and can be contacted at russell.alynn@gmail.com.

 

BINC Foundation has Mary O’Malley join as program coordinator.

 

Rasheeda Saka joins as assistant editor at Seven Stories Press.

 

At Deep Vellum & Dalkey Archive Press, Nadine Santoro is joining as publicity director. Santoro was previously the publicity and events coordinator at Feminist Press.

 

At FMcM, Annabel Robinson, previously publicity director at Bloomsbury and Welbeck, has rejoined as communications director.

___

In Agency News…

Howland Literary has Rebecca Angus join as agent.

 

Root Literary has Jessica Saint Jean join as an agent. She was previously at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

 

Georgia Bodnar has launched Noyan Literary, a boutique literary agency that focuses on both fiction and nonfiction. She was previously an agent at UTA after working in editorial for Viking Press.

___

PROMOTIONS

At Simon & Schuster, Natasha Puetz has been promoted to assistant manager of subsidiary rights at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Andrea Welch has been promoted to editorial director at Beach Lane Books and Daniella Collins has been promoted to associate editor.

 

HarperCollins has promoted Katie Tull to director of integrated marketing and analytics for the Morrow Group and HarperCollins Children’s. Cat Clyne has been promoted to senior editor at Canary Street Press and Graydon House.

 

At Penguin Random House, Ellen Whitaker has been promoted to marketing manager at Knopf. Todd Portnowitz has been promoted to senior editor.  Wendy Wong has been named editor at Bantam Books.  She was previously associate editor at Ballantine.

 

Macmillan Publishers has promoted Vanessa Aguirre to editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Maxine Charles has been promoted to associate editor.

 

Scholastic has promoted Melanie Wann to associate manager of trade sales. Sydney Niegos has been promoted to associate marketing manager for middle grade. Matt Poulter has been promoted to associate director of Graphix marketing. Victoria Velez has been promoted to associate publicist. Annie Krege has been promoted to sales coordinator of national accounts. Jennifer Rivera has been promoted to library and education sales coordinator. Abby McAden has been promoted to associate publisher and senior director. Jody Corbett has been promoted to executive editor. Maya Marlette has been promoted to senior editor. Anjali Bisaria has been promoted to assistant editor. Renée Levy has been promoted to advertising analyst. Zoe Kelley has been promoted to marketing coordinator. 

 

At Cambridge University Press, Michael Baron has been promoted to deputy head of sales. Alex Beguin has been promoted to sales manager.

 

Sourcebooks has promoted Audrey Baresella to senior communications marketing manager. Anthony Feliciano has been promoted to database administrator. 

 

ReaderLink has promoted Mimi Oey to senior production manager. Bethany Roberts has been promoted to senior category manager. Jean Westcott has been promoted to senior sales manager. Kathyn Chipinka Dalby has been promoted to director of business development and custom publishing. Alicia Garcia has been promoted to senior director of product management. Andi Landes has been promoted to VP of publishing operations and inventory management. Jeremy Schubert has been promoted to director of fulfillment planning. 

 

Candlewick Press has promoted Julia Ottaviani to contracts and royalties coordinator. Taylor Mobley has been promoted to graphic production specialist at Candlewick.

 

Chronicle Books has promoted Annabella Oh to associate director of trade sales. Olivia Monical has been promoted to trade sales coordinator.

____

DULY NOTED

As has been widely reported, publishing consultant and industry observer Mike Shatzkin, who was respected, beloved and, now, mourned by many, died on November 7th after a battle with lymphoma. 

 

Bruce Degen, author and illustrator, best known for his work on the Magic School Bus picture book series, died on November 7th after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

____

EVENTS

Feria Internacional del Libro de Santiago

Nov 10-19th

Santiago, CL

 

Nov 20-24th

Vienna International Book Fair

Vienna, AT

 

Salon du livre de Montréal

Nov 27- Dec 1

Montreal, CAN

 

Guadalajara International Book Fair

Nov 30- Dec 8th

Guadalajara, MEX