PEOPLE
Charlie Conrad will be joining Gotham Books as Executive Editor; he was previously Vice President and Executive Editor at Crown Trade, a division of Random House.
Allison Devlin has been appointed VP Marketing Director at Running Press, replacing Craig Herman. She has been Marketing Director at Crown, overseeing the Potter Craft, Watson Guptill and Martha Stewart brand publications.
Amber Qureshi is joining Seven Stories as Associate Publisher and Executive Editor. She was most recently an Executive Editor at Viking.
Roger Cooper is launching a publishing consulting firm, Roger Cooper Associates; he was formerly the Publisher at the Vanguard imprint at Perseus. In his new venture, he will be working with publishers and literary agents with ebook publishing programs to acquire digital content, and with business authors and companies to develop print and digital properties. He can be reached at rcoopernyc@gmail.com.
Brendan Cahill has stepped down as CEO of NatureShare/Green Mountain Digital and will remain an advisor to the company’s Chairman. He can be reached at brendanjcahill@yahoo.com.
Andrea Vuleta will become Executive Director of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association in mid-January, Shelf Awareness reports. Most recently she was Store Manager at Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop in La Verne, CA.
Barbara Lalicki, Senior VP and Editorial Director at HarperCollins Children’s Books, will retire at the end of January. Previously she was Director of Children’s Publishing at the National Geographic Society, Editorial Director at Macmillan’s Books for Young Readers, and Editorial Director at Bradbury.
Esi Sogah has joined Kensington as Senior Editor. She was most recently Associate Editor at Avon.
Jacks Thomas, currently joint CEO of Midas Public Relations, has been appointed as Senior Exhibition Director on The London Book Fair replacing Alistair Burtenshaw.
Publicity firm, Media Connect (formerly Planned Television Arts) has 2 new staff members: Steve Matteo arrives as a Publicity Manager. Steve worked for nearly 11 years as the Publicity Manager for Barron’s. In addition, we’re joined by Associate Publicist Nicole Martineau in our Washington, DC office.
Emma Patterson and Emily Forland, formerly of the Wendy Weil Agency, will be joining Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents as Agents.
Jennifer Garza has joined the Simon & Schuster Publicity Department as a Publicity Manager. She most recently worked at Media Connect.
At Penguin Group‘s Portfolio, Sentinel, and Current imprints, Kristen Gastler has been hired as a Senior Publicist. She had been at Doubleday previously. Margot Stamas has moved over to the group as a publicist from Putnam and Riverhead; Christy D’Agostini has been promoted to Senior Publicist; and Jacquelynn Burke has been promoted to Publicist.
Matt Shatz has left his position as Head of Content Relations at Nokia.
Director of Digital Publishing David Schiffman has left Yale University Press and will work on “several key” university projects. Kate Brown assumes direct responsibility for all business development and product development activities at the Press.
PROMOTIONS
Sarah Hochman has been promoted to Executive Editor at Blue Rider Press. She previously held editorial positions at Simon & Schuster, W magazine, The New York Observer and Esquire.
Daniel L. Knotts has been named COO of R.R. Donnelley, replacing John R. Paloian, who is retiring. Knotts was most recently group President at Donnelley.
Tessa Woodward has been promoted to Editor at HarperCollins. She has been with the company since 2005.
Highlights for Children and Boyds Mills Press announced that Elizabeth Van Doren has been promoted to Editorial Director, Book Publishing.
DULY NOTED
As part of an organizational readjustment at Perseus, all three distribution – Consortium, Perseus Distribution, and PGW – and their respective leaders Julie Schaper, Sabrina McCarthy, and Susan Reich, will now report directly to COO Joe Mangan. In addition, the Sales department, headed by Matty Goldberg, will now report directly to CFO Charles Gallagher, as will the supply chain division led by Greg Anastas.
The ABA’s new HQ is:
American Booksellers Association
333 Westchester Avenue, Suite S202
White Plains, New York 10604
Office Phone: (914) 406-7500
Brilliance Audio, Inc., part of the Amazon.com group of companies, announced its expansion into a full service print and digital publisher with the launch of Grand Harbor Press. Publishing hardcover, trade paperback and eBook originals in the self-help and inspirational categories, Grand Harbor Press will present uplifting and thought-provoking works embracing a range of philosophies and spiritual thought. Gary Krebs, Associate Publisher at Brilliance, will manage the acquisitions. Liz Scheier recently joined the company from B&N.
IN MEMORIAM
Christopher Davis, Former DK Cofounder and Publisher has died at age 71. He spent 33 years with the company and wrote about it in Eyewitness: The rise and fall of Dorling Kindersley.
Literary Agent Robert P. Lescher died on November 28 at the age of 83. He is survived by his wife and partner in Lescher & Lescher, Susan, daughters Katie, Margaret and Susannah and granddaughter.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Jan 15
Publishers Launch: Children’s Publishing Goes Digital
A full-day conference addressing the digital opportunities and challenges for children’s publishers as ereading tablets take off.
McGraw Hill auditorium, New York, NY
Jan 15 – 17
Digital Book World Conference and Expo 2013
Hilton New York, New York, NY
Jan 25 – 29
ALA Midwinter Meeting
Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, WA
Feb 1 – 2
SCBWI Annual Winter Conference
Hyatt Regency Grand Central, New York, NY
Feb 10 – 13
American International Toy Fair
Javits Center, New York, NY
Feb 10 – 15
Jerusalem Book Fair 2013
Jerusalem International Convention Center, Binyaney Ha’ooma, Israel
Feb 12 – 14
O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference
New York, NY
Feb 13 – 16
College Art Association Annual Conference
Hilton New York, New York, NY
Feb 21 – 24
Vilnius Book Fair
Vilnius International Book Fair / Baltic Book Fair
Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
Feb 22 – 26
Campus Market Expo
Kansas City Convention Center, Kansas City, MO
Feb 23 – 25
ABA Winter Institute
Kansas City, MO
Mar 2 – 5
International Home and Housewares Show
Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL
Mar 8 – 12
South by Southwest Interactive
Austin, TX
Mar 11
Books for a Better Life
The Times Center, New York, NY
Mar 19 – 24
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar 21 – 24
Toyko International Anime Fair
Tokyo Big Sight, Toyko, Japan
Mar 22 – 25
Salon du Livre (Paris Book Fair)
Guests of Honor: Romania and Barcelona
Porte de Versailles, Paris, France
Mar 25 – 28
Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Bologna Fair Centre, Bologna, Italy
Mar 28 – Apr 8
Bangkok International Book Fair
Bangkok, Thailand
Apr 12
New York Antiquarian Book Fair
The Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY
Apr 13 – 15
Museum Store Association Conference and Expo
Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
Apr 14
LBF Digital Minds Conference 2013
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, London, UK
Apr 15 – 17
London Book Fair
Earls Court, London, UK
Apr 25 – May 13
Buenos Aires International Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Amsterdam
Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 1 – 5
Geneva International Book Fair
Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland
