PEOPLE
In the Random House reorganization, which moved Bantam to RHPG, Irwyn Applebaum has left, as has Bantam Dell Group SVP, Director of Creative Marketing, Betsy Hulsebosch. She may be reached at (914) 772-1022. Barb Burg, SVP Executive Director Publicity and PR, will also be leaving, after 24 years, on January 30. She may be reached at barbburg [at] gmail.com. Meanwhile, reportedly a total of over 40 (out of about 120) people have left Doubleday and Broadway, including Nicole Dewey in publicity and Becky Cole in editorial.
Claire Tisne, who was RH Sub Rights Director under Gina Centrello, is leaving, as is Sharon Swados from the Bantam Dell Sub Rights group; their duties will be taken over by Rebecca Gardner, who had been with Doubleday. Gardner, who reports to Sonny Mehta, heads the sub rights department that includes Lisa George from Bantam, Rachel Kind from Ballantine, and Joelle Dieu from Little Random.
A note of cheer comes from the announcement that Susan Kamil has accepted the position of SVP and EIC of the RH imprint of RHPG while continuing as Editorial Director of the Dial Press. She will be in charge of the Random House Editorial department and SVP Editorial Director Jennifer Hershey now reports to her. Kate Medina, EVP, Executive Editorial Director, and Associate Publisher of Random House, and Bob Loomis, EVP and Executive Editor, continue to report to Centrello.
Herb Schaffner has left McGraw-Hill Professional, where he was Publisher of Business and Finance, and may be reached at schaffnerh [at] gmail.com.
Many changes in children’s publishing: Rick Richter and Rubin Pfeffer have left S&S Children’s; earlier Ginny Seo had resigned from S&S Children’s. Meanwhile, Mary McGrath has joined as Director of DSRM, Children’s Sales, reporting to Mary Marotta. She had been at Random House for 17 years and was most recently Director of Sales, adult mass merchandise.
Bill Boedeker has left Chronicle, where he was Publishing Director, Children’s Books.
Kathy Dawson joined Penguin’s Dial BYR in the new position of Associate Publisher, reporting to Lauri Hornik. Dawson was formerly Editorial Director at Harcourt Children’s.
At Holt, President and Publisher Dan Farley will oversee the new Macmillan Children’s Group as well. Jean Feiwel and Simon Boughton have been both appointed SVP Publishing Directors of the group, with Feiwel running Feiwel and Friends, Square Fish, Priddy Books, and Holt BYR, and Boughton running FSG BYR, Roaring Brook Press, and First Second. Michael Eisenberg, co-publisher of FSG BYR, has left the company, as have Melanie Kroupas and her imprint.
FSG Sub Rights Director Michael Hathaway has left, as the rights department is being merged with Holt’s under Denise Cronin, and their production team will be integrated into a much larger central unit. Among those cut out of the editorial department are Associate Publisher Linda Rosenberg, who oversaw both the classics line and the paperback operation, and Senior Editor Denise Oswald, who started at the company as an assistant.
Selina Cicogna Meere has left Crown to become Associate Director of Publicity at Workman.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt SVP and Publisher of Adult Trade Becky Saletan has resigned. There was no further comment beyond confirmation from the company.
Erin Canning has joined Quirk Packaging as Editor. She was previously senior sales analyst at Random House.
Craig Virden, a former President and Publisher of RH BYR, will officially join his wife at the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency as of January 1. Virden will spend most of his time in the “back office” business of contracts and royalties.
Melanie Donovan has been named Senior Acquisitions Editor at Recorded Books. She had been Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Former Rodale Books President Tami Booth Corwin has joined SparkPeople.com (part of Steve Case’s Revolution Health Network) as EVP of Publishing and Content, just as the company has struck its first book deal with Hay House.
Agent Elise Proulx notes that her new job will be Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the eScholarship Publishing Group at the California Digital Library, University of California.
Lori Burke has moved over from DK to Penguin YRG in the dual role of Director of Licensing for Grosset & Dunlap/PSS and US Brand Manager for Warne, managing the merchandise relationship with licensing agents Chorion and Wildflower. She had been Director of Marketing for DK Children’s Books and Licensing.
PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES
Dan Halpern announced that Rachel Bressler, Associate Publisher of Ecco, has been named Vice President.
At Tor, Phyllis Azar has moved up from ad/promo Director to Executive Director of Marketing; Patty Garcia from Associate Director of Publicity to Director of Publicity; Brian Vaughan from Marketing Manager to Director of Publishing Operations; Joseph Bendel from Assistant Sales/Marketing Manager to Manager of Publishing Operations; and Jennifer Kaufler from Marketing Coordinator to Marketing Manager.
At RH Audio, Rebecca Waugh has been promoted to senior acquisitions editor for Listening Library.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Two NBCC events in 2009: On January 24 at 7 p.m. at the Housing Works Bookstore Café, announcers Sam Anderson (winner of the 2007 Balakian Award), Bill Henderson of Pushcart Press, Mary Jo Bang (winner of the 2007 Poetry award), Harriet Washington (winner of the 2007 nonfiction award), Alex Ross (winner of the 2007 criticism award), and others will announce the NBCC Awards finalists. The event will be hosted by NBCC President Jane Ciabattari. The night before, also at Housing Works, there will be a Poetry in Translation panel, “Has the U.S. Lost Touch with World Literature?” For more information, go to www.bookcritics.org.
The 4th Annual San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Writers’ Conference & Literary Festival takes place from February 20 to 22, 2009. For more information, go to www.sanmiguelauthors.com and www.sanmiguelworkshops.com.
The American Book Producers Association BookBuilding 2.0 seminar has been rescheduled for March 10, 2009 from 9 a.m. 6 p.m. at The Players. The morning session will focus on the essentials of developing and producing books, and the afternoon will feature two panels: “The Internet and Electronic Publishing,” moderated by Carolyn Pittis of HarperCollins, and “What’s Next?: Trends in Publishing,” moderated by Barbara Marcus of Penguin Young Readers Group. For more information, e-mail office [at] abpaonline.org.
