PEOPLE ROUNDUP
Rodale CEO Steve Murphy is leaving the company and will be replaced by Maria Rodale, who also continues in her role as Chairman of the Board.
Don Linn, SVP and Publisher of the Taunton Press, is leaving to launch a digital publishing house, Quartet Press. Linn will have principal responsibility for Quartet Press’ Finance, Administration and General Management. His partners in the digital publishing start-up include Kassia Krozser of Booksquare; Kirk Biglione of Medialoper; and Kat Meyer, long-time book marketer for trade and academic presses. Quartet Press anticipates a Fall 2009 launch with the house’s romance imprint, Quench Romance!, with plans to expand into additional categories and service offerings in the near future.
At HarperCollins, Liate Stehlik announced that Margot Schupf has been named to the newly created position of SVP, Editorial Director, Digital Publishing for the Morrow/Avon/Eos group.
Earlier in the month, Bruce Nichols announced his move to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as Publisher, Adult and Reference, effective August 3, and based in the New York office. He may be reached at bruce.nichols [at] hmhpub.com.
Senior Editor at Times Books/Holt Robin Dennis is leaving to join her husband in London, where he has been working for the past year. And Senior Editor Webb Younce is leaving for Germany and will join Suhrkamp Verlag after it moves its offices to Berlin from Frankfurt. He will acquire titles from the US and UK.
Neil Levin has left NBN and will relaunch his own sales business, Publisher Marketing Group. He may be reached at nlevin [at] mindspring.com.
Carl Raymond, who was most recently at Simon & Schuster/Simon Spotlight, has been named Director of Marketing at Guideposts, reporting to Linda Cunningham. Meanwhile, Simon & Schuster Children’s has hired Fiona Simpson as Editorial Director of Aladdin. She was most recently an Executive Editor at Scholastic’s trade paperback and licensing group.
Ariel Aberg-Riger has been named Director of Marketing and Creative Development at Fourth Story Media, whose first property is The Amanda Project. Aberg-Riger was previously at Market Partners International.
Michelle Lewy has left Globe Pequot, following the departure of Scott Watrous in June. She may be reached at MLewy99842 [at] aol.com. John Groton, Executive Director of Sales, has also left the company and may be reached at jgroton [at] gmail.com.
Changes at Sterling and Barnes & Noble: A total of 25 employees have reportedly been let go, including 11 from Sterling. Some open jobs are not being filled. Michael Beacom, co-editions manager for Sterling, has left and may be reached at beacom.michael [at] gmail.com. Marisa Bulzone, who worked with Hearst Books, has been laid off and may be reached at mbulzone [at] nyc.rr.com. At Barnes & Noble, reporting to Chief Merchandising Officer Jamie Carey, Joe Gonella assumes responsibility for adult buying. Patricia Bostelman will oversee all marketing and co-op, and Antoinette Ercolano now oversees regional buying and is working with stores on replenishment and field merchandising. Bob Wietrak, Marcella Smith, and Liz Harwell will each take on additional buying responsibilities and staff. Kim Brown moves to Sterling to take over proprietary publishing for adult and juvenile, leaving her children’s buying position open. And Bruce Lubin, who has been in charge of book development at Barnes & Noble Publishing, is leaving to launch his own publishing enterprise.
Vanessa Mobley and Lorraine Glennon are joining Broadway, reporting to recently hired Publisher Diane Salvatore. Mobley was most recently at Penguin Press. Glennon was books editor and senior articles editor at Ladies’ Home Journal, where Salvatore was previously Editor-in-Chief.
T. J. Kelleher has joined Basic Books/Perseus as Executive Editor. Kelleher was Senior Editor at Smithsonian Books and editor of Seed Magazine.
Literary agent Joe Spieler has moved his office and will now work out of the Lippincott Massie McQuilkin offices at 27 W. 20th Street.
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) has named Yves Saada to the newly created position of VP, Digital Media, Disney Global Book Group, responsible for digital media management and strategy, including overall management of the Fall 2009 launch of Disney Digital Books. The announcement was made by Jeanne Mosure, SVP and Group Publisher, Global Books, DPW. Saada was VP Interactive Media at Pokemon USA. And Lynn Waggoner, formerly Associate Publisher, has moved to the West Coast, where she now runs the content and curriculum team for Disney English. Disney has opened language learning schools in China and she is in charge of the creative team, essentially functioning as publisher for the materials used in the schools.
Jessica Ko is returning to Simon & Schuster as National Account Manager, selling Atria, Pocket, SSE, and Kaplan to BGI. Most recently, she worked at HarperCollins. David Falk has moved to Touchstone/Fireside as Associate Publisher, reporting to Stacy Creamer. He succeeds Chris Lloreda, who moved to Atria in June as Deputy Publisher. Falk was most recently Associate Publisher, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Overlook Press.
Rachel Dicker has joined Baker & Taylor as Director, Publisher Digital Services. She reports to SVP, Publisher Digital Services and Business Development Linda Gagnon. Dicker was most recently at PW.
Jill Santopolo joins Penguin Children’s Philomel as Executive Editor, reporting to Philomel President and Publisher Michael Green. She was Senior Editor at HarperCollins imprint Balzer & Bray.
At Penguin UK, Managing Director Helen Fraser announced her retirement. Penguin General MD Tom Weldon replaes her as Deputy CEO, and will step up to CEO at the end of 2010. DK CEO Gary June has left the division, but is staying with Pearson and becoming Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer in North America.
Susan Rossen, longtime Director of Publications at the Art Institute of Chicago, is retiring as of August 1 and may be reached at sfrossen [at] gmail.com. She will be replaced by her deputy, Robert Sharp.
The Washington Post reports that President Obama has chosen David S. Ferriero, currently chief executive of the NYPL research libraries, to be Archivist of the United States, “a post that includes making sure that highly sensitive presidential papers and electronic records are saved and made available to the public.” Ferriero will succeed Allen Weinstein, who resigned last year.
PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES
John Donatich, Director of Yale University Press, has named former history editor Chris Rogers Interim Editorial Director. Rogers replaces Jonathan Brent, who has moved to YIVO Institute for Jewish Research as Executive Director and CEO.
Jon Anderson announced that Simon & Schuster Children’s Production will be integrated with the Children’s publishing division. Lottie Gooding, VP Children’s Production, has elected to take early retirement. Lisa Ford, Director of Hardcover and Paperback Production, and Martha Hanson, Director of Novelty, Media, and Teen Production, now reports directly to Anderson. Kathy Lovisolo, Senior Manager for Backlist Production, now reports to VP and Executive Managing Editor Lisa Donovan.
Genevieve Shore, Digital Director at Penguin Group, is moving up to direct digital strategy for Penguin’s parent group Pearson.
Christian Frederking, who had been in charge of international rights, has been named Sales and Marketing Director at Thames & Hudson UK.
At Langenscheidt, Christine Ramos has been promoted to Marketing Director, and Gina Garza has been promoted to Publicity Director.
At St. Martin’s, Director of Marketing and Publishing Operations/Hardcover Matt Baldacci and Marketing Director/SMP Paperbacks Anne Marie Tallberg have both been promoted to Associate Publisher in their respective divisions.
Leis Pederson has been promoted to Associate Editor at Berkley.
DULY NOTED
Barnes & Noble, in an agreement with AT&T, now offers free wi-fi in all stores nationwide.
MediaBistro will run a webcast featuring Craigslist founder Craig Newmark on how to start your own media business, August 11 from 2-3:30 PM. The cost is $65.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The New York Center for Independent Publishing (NYCIP) will present “The Next Chapter in Publishing” October 2 at its headquarters (20 W. 44th St.). Speakers will include Jeff Rivera of GalleyCat, Chris Kenneally from the Copyright Clearance Center, Mark Coker of Smashwords, and Fran Toolan of Netgalley.
The Goddard Riverside Community Center’s Gala will honor Josh Marwell, HarperCollins President of Sales, on October 26 at the Loeb Boathouse.
