People Round-Up, Mid-January 2017

PEOPLE

Former U.S. Register of Copyright Maria Pallante has been selected as the next President and CEO of the American Association of Publishers. She will replace Tom Allen, who is retiring.

Ben Sevier will join Grand Central Publishing on February 27 as SVP, Publisher, succeeding Jamie Raab. Sevier was previously VP, Publisher at Dutton.

Catherine Onder is joining Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s on February 6 as SVP, Publisher. She had been working as Editorial Director at Bloomsbury Children’s and fills the position vacated by Betsy Groban last summer.

Lee & Low Press has announced that longtime editorial director Louise May will become Editor-at-Large on March 1. Cheryl Klein, executive editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, will take over her position.

Debra Polansky has been hired as VP, Director of Sales for Penguin Children’s. She was previously Publishing Director at Studio Fun International. At Random House Children’s, Emily Petrick has joined as Educational Marketing Associate for the school & library marketing team; she was previously Advertising and Promotion Coordinator at Macmillan Children’s. Kristina Forest joined Random House Children’s as Subsidiary Rights Coordinator, moving over from Subsidiary Rights Assistant at Simon & Schuster Children’s.

At St. Martin’s Press, Tom Thompson has joined as SVP, Creative Services and Advertising. He was previously SVP, Digital Strategy/Group Director at Verso Advertising and had been there for ten years.

At Harlequin’s Graydon House imprint, Melanie Fried is now Editor. She was previously Associate Editor at Thomas Dunne.

Emma Brodie is now Senior Editor at William Morrow, having worked as Associate Editor at Clarkson Potter. At Broadside Books, Eric Nelson has been named VP, Editorial Director, beginning January 25. He is currently Executive Editor at Portfolio and will fill the role vacated when founder Adam Bellow moved to St. Martin’s last fall. Karen Nelson has joined Thomas Nelson as Director of Marketing; she previously served as Director of Marketing for Motown Records’ gospel division.

Kelsey Horton has joined Delacorte Press as Associate Editor. She previously worked as Associate Editor at Katherine Teigen Books.

At Scholastic, Kiffin Steurer has been hired as Managing Editor for Klutz; he was previously Production Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books. Chloe Fraboni has been hired as Editor, Licensed Publishing, after working as Editor at Simon & Schuster Children’s. Kirk Benshoff is now Art Director for readers, branches, and nonfiction, having worked as Art Director at Hachette Book Group. Isa Caban is now Associate Marketing Manager, having worked previously as Children’s Marketing Manager at Simon & Schuster Children’s. In addition, Lauren Donovan will join Scholastic as Director of Publicity on January 23. She had been Assistant Director of Publicity at Penguin Young Readers. Julia Sabbagh has joined as Creative Director and Genus Tsui has joined as Associate Director of Product Planning; both were previously at Studio Fun.

Lerner Publishing Group has hired Andy Cummings as VP and Editor-in-Chief of its fourteen fiction and nonfiction imprints and divisions. He was most recently VP, Strategic Development for the Dummies brand at Wiley.

Brian Kelleher left his position as Sales Director – Books-A-Million/American Wholesale Book Company at Simon & Schuster. He had been with the sales division for more than 28 years. Kelleher can be reached at brianrkelleher@gmail.com. In addition, Leslie Meredith left her position as VP, Senior Editor at Atria, following the refocusing of Atria’s general nonfiction list, and will continue to edit several of her authors for the imprint.

At agencies…Jill Corcoran Literary Agency has announced four new editorial agents: Timothy Travaglini, formerly Director of Children’s Acquisitions at Open Road; Adah Megged Nuchi, formerly Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers; Jodell Sadler, formerly Agent at Sadler Children’s Literary and Founder of KidLit College; and Silvia Arienti. Libby McGuire joined The Gernert Company as Agent on January 5 and most recently worked as EVP, Publisher, Ballantine Bantam Dell. Melissa Flashman joined Janklow & Nesbit as Agent after working at Trident Media Group since 2002. Eric Lupfer is joining Fletcher & Company as Agent, following fourteen years at William Morris Endeavor. Kelly Van Sant has joined D4E0 Literary Agency as Agent, having previously worked as Head of the Contract Department at Quarto.

At VitalSource, Jennifer Solomon has been hired as Director of Marketing Development. She was VP, Academic and Professional Sales at Jones & Bartlett Learning. Tim Ridgway, formerly VP of Marketing at Califone International, is now Senior Marketing Manager.

OptiQly has added two hires to its senior management team: Susan Ruszala, formerly President of NetGalley, and Didier Jean Charles, formerly Director, Application & Online Technology at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Franco Alvarado is leaving his position at F+W Media as Senior Technical Production Specialist, which he had held for three years, in order to launch Franco Alvarado Consulting. He can be reached at franco@francoalvarado.com.

Catherine Cocks is joining the University of Washington Press as Senior Acquisitions Editor on February 15. She is currently Editorial Director at the University of Iowa Press.

At the University of Chicago Press, Chuck Myers has joined as Senior Editor for law and political science and Jane Macdonald has joined as Acquisitions Editor for economics, business, and finance. Myers was previously Director at the University Press of Kansas, and Macdonald was Acquisitions Editor at MIT Press.

Julia Guzzetta has joined Chronicle Books as Sales Assistant, Mass Markets. She had been a customer service representative at Hachette.

Jonathan Tuseth has joined Abingdon Press as Sales Manager of key accounts. Previously, he was Director of International Sales at Bookazine.

Heidi Hess Saxton has rejoined Ave Maria Press as Acquisitions Editor. She had been working freelance and, before that, as Editorial Director at Servant Books.

Jaime Nelson Noven has joined the Monacelli Press as Publicity and Marketing Manager. She was previously Publicist at Princeton Architectural Press.

At Milkweed Editions, Mary Austin Speaker has joined as Art Director. She had been working freelance.

Randall Klein has left his position as Editor at Diversion Books to start a new editorial service, Randall Klein Books.

At Bright USA, Robbin Brosterman has joined as Associate Illustration Agent. She had recently worked as Design Director for DC Entertainment.

Philippa Donovan, who operates as Smart Quill in Los Angeles and Toronto, is now Literary Scout for Mad Rabbit.

Marilyn Dahl has retired as Editor of Shelf Awareness for Readers after more than a dozen years. Her position will be filled by Stefanie Hargreaves.

PROMOTIONS

At Penguin Random House Publishing Services, Rachel Goldstein has been promoted to Vice President, Executive Director, Business Strategy, Finance & Operations. In addition, Todd Berman, Vice President, Business Development and Publishing Strategy, has assumed an expanded role that includes liaising with clients at their behest to ensure that their publishing programs and business reach their long-term goals.

Matthew Martin has been promoted to the new position of SVP, Deputy General Counsel at Penguin Random House. Avideh Bashirrad has been promoted to VP, Deputy Publisher, Fiction at Random House. Shannon Kelly has been promoted to Assistant Editor at Penguin. At TarcherPerigee, Joanna Ng has been promoted to Editor and Lauren Appleton has been promoted to Associate Editor. At Razorbill, Tiffany Liao has been promoted to Editor. Emily Krump has been promoted to Senior Editor at William Morrow, and Heidi Richter has been promoted to Director of Publicity for William Morrow and Dey Street Books. At Doubleday, Michael Goldsmith has been promoted to Assistant Director of Publicity and Mark Lee is now Associate Publicist.

At St. Martin’s Press, Laura Clark has been promoted to Associate Publisher of Nonfiction.

At Macmillan Children’s, Molly Brouillette Ellis has been promoted to Director of Publicity. Liz Szabla has been promoted to Associate Publisher at Feiwel and Friends. Rachel Murray has been promoted to Assistant Editor at Holt Children’s, as has Jessica Anderson at Christy Ottaviano Books. At Roaring Brook Press, Claire Dorsett has been promoted to Assistant Editor, and Christine Barcellona has been promoted to Editor at Square Fish Paperbacks. Serena Jones has been promoted to Executive Editor at Holt. In addition, Caroline Zancan has been promoted to Senior Editor, Eleanor Embry to Assistant Editor, and Richard Pracher to Creative Director.

Lindsey Rose has been promoted to Senior Editor at Grand Central.

At agencies…Sylvie Rosokoff has been promoted to Director of Foreign Rights at Trident Media Group, while Meredith Miller moves to Associate Director and Alexa Stark to Literary Agent.

At Scholastic, Erin McMahon has been promoted to Senior Designer, Licensed Publishing; Emily Feliberty has been promoted to Associate Director of Marketing and Publicity and Courtney deVerges has been promoted to Sales Coordinator, both for Klutz; Jenna Ballard has been promoted to Associate Editor, Licensed Publishing; Brooke Shearouse has been promoted to Publicist; Hillary Doyle and Emily Clement have been promoted to Rights Manager; Milena Giunco has been promoted to Publicity Coordinator; and Christine Reedy has been promoted to Marketing Coordinator.

Michael Eisenberg has been promoted to Associate Publisher, Director of Book Marketing for the Highlights Retail Group. He was previously Director, Book Marketing.

Megan Fishmann has been promoted to Associate Publisher for Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press and continues as Director of Publicity.

Chelsea Masquelier has been promoted to Sales Coordinator, National Specialty at Chronicle Books.

At Workman Publishing, Rebecca Carlisle has been promoted to Director of Publicity for the imprint adult list. Allison McGeehon moves to Associate Publisher of Artisan Books. Jackie Burke becomes Publicity Manager for Algonquin Books and Algonquin Young Readers. Jenny Lui becomes Associate Director of Field Sales.

At Open Road Integrated Media, Julie Blattberg has been promoted to VP, Strategic Operations and Chief of Staff to the CEO; Brian Haley has been promoted to VP, Technology; Mary McAveney has been promoted to EVP, Marketing; Matt Shatz has been promoted to EVP, Revenue; and Daniel Shemesh has been promoted to SVP, Finance.

Karen Merikangas Darling has been promoted to Executive Editor for Science Studies at the University of Chicago Press, while Tim Mennel has been promoted to Executive Editor for American History, Urban Studies and Regional Titles. Priya Nelson has been promoted to Editor for Anthropology and History, while Mary Laur has been promoted to Senior Editor for Reference and Writing Guides.

Cat Acree has been promoted to Deputy Editor at BookPage.

DULY NOTED

Nielsen announced on January 20 that it has sold its US book industry market information and research services to NPD. The sale includes the US-based BookScan, PubEasy, and PubTrack Digital.

Sourcebooks has acquired publishing rights for Little Pickle Press, starting March 4. Little Pickle Press will become an imprint under the Jabberwocky brand.

In New York, Abrams is moving its headquarters from 115 West 18^th Street in Chelsea to 195 Broadway in the Financial District.

Jill Corcoran Literary Agency has moved its offices to 2150 Park Place, Suite 100, El Segundo, CA 90245.

The National Book Critics Circle has established an Emerging Critics Fellowship and aims to enroll five critics in its inaugural year-long mentoring program.

Dean Koontz, who had spent several years without representation in the primary markets, announced his new literary agents via Deadline. Richard Pine and Kim Witherspoon of Inkwell Management are his primary agents, and Jon Liebman and Missy Malkin of Brillstein Entertainment will represent his books for film and television.

Roam Agency is acquiring the Ward & Balkin Agency effective July 1, when Rick Balkin will retire after over forty years as an agent.