People Round-Up, Mid-May 2015

PEOPLE

Gail Gonzales is joining Rodale on June 15th as VP, Associate Publisher in the Trade Books division, replacing Kristin Kiser. Gonzales has been at Simon & Schuster as Director of Integrated Marketing.

Harper Children’s President and Publisher Susan Katz is retiring after 30 years with the company. Suzanne Murphy has been hired as her successor. She was previously VP, Publisher at Disney Book Group.

Philip Ruppel joined Phaidon as COO. He was President of McGraw-Hill Education’s professional division.

There have been a number of key changes at Perseus. Kristin Kiser joined Running Press as VP, Publisher, beginning on May 20. She was formerly VP, Deputy Publisher at Rodale. Charles Regan is now Academic Director, Client Services at Perseus Books Group. Formerly, he was Manager of Sales Development for Global Research and Education at John Wiley & Sons. Ben Platt joined Basic Books as Editor. He was Associate Editor at Penguin Press.

Michael McKenzie will become Executive Director of Publicity at Algonquin Books at the end of May. Previously, he was Senior Director of Publicity at Ecco/Harper.

Melanie Denardo joined Random House as Associate Director of Publicity. She was previously Deputy Director of Publicity at Henry Holt. Emily Cunningham will join Penguin Press as Editor at the beginning of June. Previously, she was Editor at Harper. Colleen Lindsay left her position as Associate Director, Marketing, Social Media, & Reader Experience at Berkley/NAL. She can be reached at colleen.lindsay@gmail.com. Stephanie Bowen joined Perigee Books as Senior Editor. She was Senior Editor at Sourcebooks. Maria Gagliano has left her position as Senior Editor at Portfolio to pursue freelance editorial work. She can be reached at mvgagliano@gmail.com. Patrick Lee joined Crown as Data Analyst. He previously held the same title at Fluent, Inc.

In other children’s publishing news, Atheneum Editorial Director Caitlyn Dlouhy has started her own imprint within the company, called Caitlyn Dlouhy Books. She will continue as VP Editorial Director of Atheneum.. . . Ksenia Winnicki joined Simon & Schuster Children’s as Publicist. Previously, she was Publicist at Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group. . . Zoe Luderitz is now Senior Marketing Manager at Candlewick. She was formerly Content Manager at Alibris.

Eric Nuzum will leave his position as VP of Programming at NPR in June in order to join Audible as SVP of Original Content Development.

Rob Kirkpatrick is joining Dey Street Books as Senior Editor. Formerly, he was Senior Editor at Thomas Dunne Books. Also at Harper, Ruchir Pandya is now Senior Pricing Analyst. He was previously Revenue Management Analyst at JetBlue Airways.

Larry Dorfman joined Capstone Publishing as Trade Sales Manager. He will be working for the Minnesota based publisher from his home in Connecticut. He was most recently Business Development Manager at The Waterford Press.

The Booker Prize Foundation appointed Gaby Wood Literary Director, succeeding Ion Trewin, who passed away in April. Wood was Head of Books at the Daily Telegraph. She will continue to contribute to the newspaper.

Emily Logan joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as Specialty Retail Sales Manager. She was previously Sales and Marketing Director at America’s Test Kitchen.

Erica Gordon-Mallin is now Acquisitions Editor at Skyhorse. She was Senior Editor at Moseley Road.

Kait Heacock joined The Feminist Press as Publicist. She was previously Publicist at The Overlook Press. Clarissa Wong has joined as Editor. She was Assistant Editor at Disney Publishing Worldwide.

At literary agencies, Melissa Carrigee, Johnnie Bernhard, and Mary Ellen Gavin are now agents at Loiacono Literary Agency. Carrigee is a Freelance Writer for Gulf Coast Parents & Kids Magazine and a Teacher, Bernhard was previously a teacher and journalist, and Gavin is also a teacher and writer. . . Monica Odom joined Bradford Literary Agency as Agent. Previously, she was Associate Agent and Manager at Liza Dawson Associates. . . Bree Ogden joined Red Sofa Literary as Agent. She was formerly Agent at D4EO Literary Agency.

Ray A. Griffith is now President and CEO of the Follett Corporation. He was previously CEO of Ace Hardware. The preceding President and CEO, Mary Lee Schneider, is leaving after three years in the position.

Michael DeMonico is now CBA Sales Manager at Bookmasters. Previously, he was National Sales Manager at Franciscan Media, LLC.

At university presses, Janice Audet joined Harvard University Press as Executive Editor, Life Sciences. Formerly, she was Publisher, Fundamental Life Sciences at Academic Press/Elsevier. . . Cambridge University Press has laid off more than 60 people in its New York office.

Robert Darnton will be retiring from his position as Chief Librarian and Co-Creator of the Digital Public Library of America at Harvard University this summer.

At bookstores, Michelle Axelson is the new Owner of the feminist independent bookstore Womencrafts. The previous owner Kathryn Livelli will stay on to guide Axelson as the shop changes hands. . . Chad Bunning will become Retail and Operations Manager of the Rizzoli Bookstore, which will open this summer. He was most recently General Manager of BookCourt. Additionally, Chris Pangborn will be Head Buyer. He was Backlist Buyer and Head Merchandiser at Shakespeare & Co.

PROMOTIONS

Claudia Boutote was promoted to SVP, Publisher at HarperElixir. Laina Adler is now VP, Associate Publisher at HarperOne. Sean McManus is now Associate Publisher of HarperAudio.

Jonathan Stolper will become SVP, Managing Director of Nielsen Book in July when current President Jonathan Nowell steps down after 20 years.

Susan Winslow was promoted to Manager Director of Macmillan Higher Education. Additionally, Brant Janeway is now VP, Marketing, Communications, and Audience Development at St. Martin’s Press. He was previously Marketing Director at Macmillan Audio. Meanwhile, Robert Allen was promoted to Associate Publisher at Macmillan Audio and Samantha Edelson to Marketing Director. Katie Halata was promoted to Associate Director, School and Library Marketing at Macmillan Children’s.

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers promoted Christine Dong to Senior Demand Planner, Christian Trimmer to Executive Editor, and Kristin Ostby to Senior Editor. Kathryn Huck, who was Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press, is now Senior Editor at North Star Way. Elizabeth Blake-Linn was promoted to Senior Production Manager for Atheneum, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, McElderry Books, and Saga Press. Carolyn Swerdloff was promoted to Associate Marketing Director at Aladdin Books, Simon Pulse, Simon Spotlight, and Little Simon. Karin Paprocki was promoted to Executive Art Director of Aladdin and Jessica Handelman to Art Director for Aladdin and Simon Pulse. Laura DiSiena was promoted to Associate Art Director at Aladdin and Regina Flath to Senior Designer at Simon Pulse.

Open Road Integrated Media promoted Julie Blattberg to VP, Marketing Operations.

Guiseppe Castellano is now Senior Art Director at Penguin Random House. Mark Santella was promoted to VP, Group Sales Director and Director of Mass Merchandise Sales at Random House Children’s. Greg Kubie was promoted to Senior Manager of Publicity at Random House. Jacqueline Engel was promoted to VP, Group Sales Director and Director of Field Sales and Business Development at Penguin Young Readers. In Crown’s community department, Alana Buckbee was promoted to Senior Manager, Matt Unhjem to Senior Web Developer, Kevin Jan to Email Marketing Manager, and Emma Shafer to Development Manager for Blogging for Books.

Andie Krawczyk is now Manager of Library Marketing and Outreach at Candlewick.

Sarah Moses is now Media Director and Account Supervisor at Verso.

Tricia Lawrence was promoted to Agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Lisa Gozashti and Peter Win became Co-owners of Brookline Booksmith. Gozashti is Merchandiser and Win is in charge of Operations and Personnel. They replace Evelyn Vigo, who retired last year. Tim Huggins is now Controller/Treasurer.

DULY NOTED

Taunton Press eliminated 40 jobs, approximately 20 percent of its workforce, and made the news public via a LinkedIn post from the recently named CEO Dan McCarthy.

Julie Todaro, Dean of Library Services at Austin Community College, was elected President-Elect of the American Library Association. She will serve in the role for a year and then become President.

American Booksellers Association elected Betsy Burton from The King’s English Bookshop to President and Robert Sindelar from Third Place Books as VP, Secretary. Both will hold the positions for two years.