PEOPLE
The big news this month was the long-anticipated promotion of Carolyn Reidy to the position of President & CEO of S&S, following Jack Romanos‘ retirement announcement. Following that move, Michael Selleck has been promoted to the newly created position of EVP, Sales and Marketing for S&S Inc.. He was SVP Sales & Marketing for the Adult Division. Dennis Eulau has been promoted to the newly created position of EVP, Operations from SVP and GM for the Adult Division. Larry Norton, President of Sales & Distribution, is leaving the company at the end of the year. Reidy also announced that Simon Spotlight Entertainment will now join the Pocket Books unit, with SSE VP and Publisher Jen Bergstrom reporting to Pocket’s EVP and Publisher Louise Burke. Simon Pulse remains under the Children’s Publishing Division.
Richard Charkin has resigned from CEO of Macmillan to become Executive Director of Bloomsbury.
Amy Hertz is returning to Penguin as Editor-at-Large at Dutton, reporting to Brian Tartt. Most recently, she was the VP and Publisher of Morgan Road Books, an imprint she founded in 2004. Before deciding to run her own imprint, Amy had been an Executive Editor of Riverhead.
Gina Centrello announced that Nancy Miller, SVP Executive Editor at Random House, is leaving the company in October.
Charlotte Abbott is leaving Publishers Weekly but will remain as a contributing editor. She is available to pursue other freelance opportunities as a publishing consultant and writer. She may be reached at 718 619-6794 or at abbcha@gmail.com.
David Shanks announced the appointment of Jeff Gomez to the position of Senior Director of Online Consumer Sales and Marketing at Penguin, effective October 29th. Gomez was most recently the Director of Internet Marketing for Holtzbrinck Publishers and is the author of the forthcoming Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age.
HarperCollins announced Doug Jones has been appointed SVP, Director of Sales for the Collins Division, reporting to Josh Marwell, President of Sales. Jones had been VP Director of Marketing for the Putnam and Riverhead imprints at Penguin, and previously VP, Sales Director at Crown.
Steve Rotterdam has been named SVP Director of Sales and Marketing for DC Comics reporting to President and Publisher, Paul Levitz. He was SVP/Chief Creative Officer at the EastWest Marketing Group. Meanwhile John Nee has been promoted to SVP of Business Development.
After several years in nonprofit and educational space, most recently as Editor in Chief of Redleaf Press, Sid Farrar returns to Hazelden as Director Content Development and Product Management, overseeing acquisitions. He may be reached at SFarrar@hazelden.org.
Nick Bogaty, Executive Director of the International Digital Publishing Forum has moved to Adobe. He will be assuming the publisher relations responsibilities that Jim Alexander once held.
Lisa Berkowitz has left Meredith following Linda Cunningham’s departure earlier in the summer. She may be reached at lisaberkowitzpr[at] yahoo.com.
Kathy Wiess has been named VP, International Sales, for Ingram International. Wiess spent 16 years with Random House and most recently served as Senior Sales Director of the International division.
David Naggar announced that Robert Manger has joined the Crown Group as Director of Direct Marketing. He will oversee the existing Direct Marketing continuities programs, including the long-lived Louis L’Amour continuity, as well as the Direct to Consumer (D2C) business. Manger was most recently Senior Director of Customer Marketing for BMG Direct and Columbia House.
Shawn Coyne, former co-founder and publisher of Rugged Land Books has joined Endeavor in their New York book division as a literary agent, working with Richard Abate and Rebecca Oliver.
Michael Murphy has left the Queen Literary Agency to launch his own literary agency, Max & Co.: A Literary Agency & Social Club. Go to www.maxliterary.com or mmurphy[at]maxlit.com.
InkWell Management announced the arrival of Rose Marie Morse as Public Relations Strategist. She will oversee publicity and media planning for the agency’s clients. Prior to joining InkWell, Morse ran Morse Partners, a boutique public relations company. Inkwell’s previous publicity guru, Beth Davey, moved to Rodale earlier this year.
Haights Cross Communications, Inc. (HCC) announced that Peter J. Quandt, Chairman, CEO and President, has resigned. Quandt founded HCC in 1997. Paul J. Crecca, EVP and CFO, assumes the role of Interim-CEO/President.
Abrams’ newly named Art Director, Michelle Ishay-Cohen, was most recently Art Director at Hyperion Books, where she art directed and designed for three imprints including the visual branding for the newly launched imprint, VOICE.
Sterling announced that Dave Nelson has been named Executive Acquisitions Editor for Mind/Body/Spirit titles, as well as health and self-improvement. He reports to Philip Turner, VP and Editorial Director of Union Square Press. Nelson was Publisher of Beaufort Books.
Meanwhile, National Book Network announced that Marie Hergenroeder has joined NBN as Director of Special Sales. She was formerly Director of Premium Sales at HarperCollins and before that was director of special sales for Random House. Tracy Fortini has joined NBN as an Account Manager/Marketing Director. Fortini was most recently an account manager at PGW and was earlier a senior buyer at Waldenbooks and the Nature Company.
Anne Hollinshead DeCourcey has joined HarperCollins as Sales Rep, reporting to Jeannette Zwart and selling both Children’s and adult titles in the New England region. She was head of sales for Gibbs Smith.
PROMOTIONS
Random House Chairman and CEO Peter Olson has taken on the additional responsibility of overseeing Direct Group North America (which now will operate under the name Bertelsmann Direct North America), retaining his Random House day job.
Leigh Ann Ambrosi has been promoted to VP, Marketing & Publicity for Sterling & Lark Books. Ambrose joined Sterling in 2004 as Director of Publicity and was promoted to Director of Marketing & Publicity.
David Naggar named Jacob Bronstein Associate Director, Interactive Media for the Crown Publishing Group. In the Marketing Department Michael McGinley has been promoted to Creative Director, Advertising and Promotion.
Abrams, Inc. announced the promotion of Deborah Aaronson to Abrams Editorial Director. She reports to Steve Tager.
In the expanded Perseus sales organization, Matty Goldberg announced: Elise Cannon was promoted to VP, Field Sales, responsible for PGW, Perseus Books Group and Perseus Distribution sales into the independent channel. Clay Farr was promoted to Director, National Accounts, BGI; Keith Arsenault becomes Sales Manager, mass retail; and Peter D’Erasmo is now Director. Charles Gee is now a National Accounts Manager; Laura Robinson is now a Senior Sales Rep; Holly Demeter becomes Special Markets Manager.
At RH Children’s Books, Christine Labov has been promoted to Director of Publicity. Noreen Marchisi moves up to Publicity Manager, Kelly Galvin is joining the group as senior publicist, moving over from the Random House Audio group, where she was a publicist.
Jeanne Kramer has been named VP, Marketing for NBN. She has been with NBN for two years as Senior Director of Marketing and heads the account management team that works with NBN publisher clients.
Harper announced that Rachel Brenner has been promoted to National Account Manager for Baker & Taylor and Target. She will report jointly to Rhonda Rose and Jeanette Zwart respectively.
OCTOBER EVENTS
The Quill Awards are upon us, taking place on October 22 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ann Curry and Al Roker host, with Stephen Colbert a “special guest.” Go to www.thequills.org for details.
To Bee or Not to Bee: The annual spelling bee to benefit the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses will be held Monday October 29. Bob Morris MCs, Jonathan Burnham, Sara Nelson, Alex Kuczynski, Patrick McGrath and others will spell, and Jesse Sheidlower will judge. Doors open 7.30pm, Bee 8pm. At Exit Art, 475 10th Avenue at 36th Street, New York. Check www.clmp.org for details and to buy tickets.
Also on October 29th, Goddard Riverside Community Center holds a “Festive Evening of Raucous Roasts and Snappy Toasts” honoring Random House Children’s Books’ Chip Gibson, at Tavern on the Green. Go to www.Goddard.org for details.
DULY NOTED
Bookspan has moved to One Penn Plaza, 250 West 34th Street, New York, N. Y. 10119. The phone number (212-651-7400) remains the same. And, after working 54 years at The Book-of-the-Month Club, Mary Idoni is retiring on October 12, 2007.
Tony Lyons launched Skyhorse Publishing in 2006, and will move his distribution from Sterling to Norton in 2008.
The 20th Independent and Small Press Book Fair will take place on Saturday, December 1 (between 10am and 6pm) and Sunday, December 2 (between 11am and 5pm) at the New York Center of Independent Publishing, at 20 West 44th Street. More than 100 presses from the U.S. and abroad will exhibit. Contact the NYCIP at 212-764-7021, www.nycip.org, christopher[at]nycip.org.
Congrats to Sourcebooks and its indomitable founder, Dominique Raccah, on the company’s 20th anniversary this month.
