PEOPLE
So much for summer doldrums:
André Bernard VP Publisher of Harcourt is leaving to become a vice president at the Guggenheim Foundation, starting after Labor Day. He replaces Thomas Tanselle, who is retiring after 28 years. Harcourt’s current Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher, Rebecca Saletan, will take over as Publisher.
Jill Cohen, former Bulfinch Publisher, has been named SVP New Business Development at Bobbi Brown.
Owen Laster is retiring from William Morris in January, after 45 years with the ten percentery.
Former Saks executive George Jones took over as President and CEO of the Borders Group bookstore chain on July 17. Jones succeeds Greg Josefowicz who will remain as a consultant to the company. The role of Chairman will now be held by Larry Pollock, a Borders board member
Candlewick Press has hired Jonathan Ackerman as VP of sales, starting at the end of August, reporting to COO Mike McGrath. Most recently, he was National Accounts Manager of MBI Publishing.
Editorial Director of Potter Craft, Shawna Mullen, who has been commuting to work from Boston for awhile has left the company. Amy Pierpont, previously Senior Editor at Pocket and Downtown Press, will be joining Potter as a Senior Editor reporting to Doris Cooper. Tammy Blake was named Publicity Director at Broadway. She had been at Crown, where she held the same title.
Marcus Leaver, Sterling’s EVP and COO announced that Jim Benjamin has been named VP of Finance and Operations, succeeding Joe Guadango, who is retiring. Benjamin comes from Baker & Taylor. And Carlo de Vito who had been consulting with Sterling since leaving Penguin’s Chamberlain Brothers, now joins full time launching a new imprint Sterling Innovation.
Nancy Hancock has gone to Rodale as Executive Editor Health and Wellness. She had been at S&S and had previously worked at Rodale. Leslie Schneider, Director of Trade Sales is leaving Rodale to be the volunteer coordinator of the Bronx Zoo, a division of the Wildlife Conservation Society. She may be reached at Leslies28@msn.com.
Colin Robinson has joined Scribner as Senior Editor. Robinson, who stepped down as publisher of The New Press at the beginning of the year, will report to Scribner VP and Editor-in-Chief Nan Graham.
Steve Black, President and Co-Founder of Perseus Books Group’s CDS, is leaving the company. Replacing Black as VP Client Services is Sabrina Bracco, rejoining CDS from Bear Stearns. Previously, Bracco had been Director of Sales Operations at Perseus, Business Manager at PublicAffairs as well as a Perseus Sales Rep.
Kensington Books Editorial Director Karen Thomas is moving to the Hachette Book Group effective September 1. No announcement has been made about who will replace her.
Kurt Schoen, former President of American Greetings‘ Plus Mark division, will become President and COO of NACSCORP, the subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores that acts as a wholesaler to college and other stores and provides retail services, College Marketplace reported. He replaces Len Jardine who is retiring after four years in the job.
Sally Hertz is joining Ingram Publisher Services. She has been consulting recently. She will “spearhead new client acquisition for IPS reporting to Phil Ollila and working in Nashville.
John Oakes Publisher of Four Walls Eight Windows from 1995 through acquisition by Avalon in spring 2004, is leaving the company. For the past two years, he was Publisher of Thunder’s Mouth Press and co-publisher of Nation Books. He may be reached at jghoakes@gmail.com.
Ann Godoff has hired Vanessa Mobley as Senior Editor of The Penguin Press. Mobley was most recently at Holt and previously at Basic. She has published two Pulitzer winners: Samantha Power‘s A Problem from Hell (2003) and Caroline Elkins‘s Imperial Reckoning (2006). Jofie Ferrari-Adler, who left Viking earlier this spring, has gone to Grove/Atlantic as an Editor. Brendan Cahill has left Gotham, and will attend the Wharton Business School. He can be reached at: brendanjcahill@yahoo.com
Mark Levine, formerly Sales Director at Holt and St. Martin‘s and most recently Marketing Director at Beaufort Books, has founded Mark Levine Book Editorial and Marketing Services. He may be reached at 201-653-5453 or leevyne@aol.com.
Kim Hovey announced the appointment of Ali Kokman as Manga Marketing Manager for the Del Rey imprint, a new position. Kokmen worked at CPM Press, the graphic novel publishing division of Central Park Media, as Director of Book Sales. In 2007 Del Rey will be publishing 150 manga titles, according to the announcement.
Julia Woods has resigned her position as President of the McGraw-Hill Canada’s Professional division, and is going to Russell Reynolds.
Ben Schrank has been named president and publisher of Penguin’s Razorbill imprint reporting to Doug Whiteman. He was Editorial Director at Alloy.
Debra Matsumoto joins Ten Speed as Senior Marketing and Promotions manager. She was Publicity Manager at North Atlantic Books.
PROMOTIONS
Julie Saidenberg has been named VP of Trade Sales and Marketing at Shambhala Publications. She had been Marketing Director and an Associate Publisher there.
At HarperCollins, Brian Grogan has announced the promotion of Jeff Rogart to VP, Director of Mass Retail Sales. Ronnie Gambon has been given the position of Director of Digital Asset Operations. Reporting to her will be Heather Aschinger, promoted to Senior Web Content Producer; Sarah Thai, promoted to Web Content Producer; and Les Glass, continuing his role as Digital Asset Manager. Mary Schuck has been promoted to VP, Creative Director overseeing Harper, Harper Perennial, Harper paperbacks, Ecco, Amistad, HarperAudio and Avon Trade Paperbacks. Will Staehle has been promoted to Art Director of Harper.
AUGUST EVENTS
The Audies are (almost) here: The first entry due date is August 11 for all titles published between November 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006. Information about Audiobook of the Year will be released separately in September. The Gala takes place on June 1, 2007 at the Rainbow Room.
The PMA is soliciting entries for the 2007 Benjamin Franklin Awards. Books published January 1- June 30 should be submitted by August 31; those published in the second half of the year should be submitted by December 31. The fee is $80 per title for members and $180 (which includes membership in PMA) for the first title for non members.
DULY NOTED
The New York Post delivers the ultimate story that combines food, God and The Word, in “Heavenly Bodies,” a look at recent religious diet books published by a range of presses, from The Hallelujah Diet (Destiny Image) to Clear Body, Clear Mind (Bridge Publications) and The Prayer Diet (Citadel). Best comment, from Jeff Sharlet (www. therevealer.org) at NYU‘s Center for Religion and Media: “The irony is the New Testament make it clear you can eat absolutely anything.”
DM News reports that Borders recently achieved 56% “open rates” in June for its customized Borders Rewards e-mail program. Borders Rewards is a loyalty program that drives in-store sales and provides the company with online customer data for the first time. DM notes that, because of its partnership with Amazon.com, Borders lacks access to any customer data for people buying books via borders.com, so Borders Rewards focuses on driving in-store sales and collecting customer data. The program asks customers for an e-mail address when they buy products in stores. Borders Rewards members can sign up for My Borders Weekly, a customized e-mail that lets customers select from 31 options. The e-mails’ open and click-through rates and store sales are tracked by coupon numbers.
The 2006 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Laura Bush, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public. www.loc.gov/bookfest
A scholarship fund has been set up for Dan Lundy‘s children. Lundy who died last month was VP and Director of Academic Marketing at Penguin. Make checks payable to “Scholars Edge” and send to: Airinhos M. Serradas, C/O Jared and Damon Lundy College Savings Plan, Total Estate Asset Management, Inc., 185 Madison Avenue, 8th. Floor, New York, NY 10016.
