People Round-Up, Early September 2017

PEOPLE

Following the July departure of Tina Pohlman, Publisher, Philip Rappaport is Acting Publisher at Open Road Integrated Media. Libby Jordan joins as Executive Director, Marketing Operations; she was most recently VP, Marketing at Bookshout. Elsewhere in the company, Hillary Tisman has joined as Senior Director of Marketing, having worked previously as Associate Marketing Director for Atria Books. Andrew Chappell is now Digital Marketing Manager, and Juliann Fiorentino is Digital Marketing Coordinator.

Colin Dickerman will join Farrar, Straus & Giroux as VP, Executive Editor as of September 18. He has been working as Editorial Director at Flatiron Books.

In publicity news:

At Rodale Kids, Jason M. Wells has joined as Associate Publisher, Director of Marketing and Publicity. Previously, he was Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing at Abrams.

Noreen Herits rejoins Random House Children’s as Executive Director of Publicity. Most recently she was Director of Marketing and Publicity at Workman. Alex Field, VP and Publisher of WaterBrook & Multnomah, is leaving the company this month to start an author-consulting business; the search for his successor has begun.

Gwyneth Stansfield joins Crown Publishing Group as Assistant Director of Publicity for Crown, Hogarth, Tim Duggan Books, and Broadway Books. Previously, she was Publicity Manager at Blue Rider Press and Plume.

At Time Inc. Books, Laura Gianino has joined as Senior Publicity Manager. She was previously Publicity Manager at Harper360.

Kathleen Carter Zrelak, VP, Director of Publicity at Goldberg McDuffie, has founded Kathleen Carter Communications. She leaves her current role on December 1 and will continue to work with Goldberg McDuffie on select projects going forward.

At university presses:

Susan Wadsworth-Booth is joining Kent State University Press as Director, following her tenure as Director of Duquesne University Press.

Laura Leichum has been named the first Director of Intellectual Property at the University of Chicago Press. She was previously Digital Publishing and Rights Manager and Intellectual Property Manager at Georgetown University Press.

At the Naval Institute Press, Jacqline A. Barnes joins as Publicity Manager. She was previously Publicity and Advertising Manager at Rowman & Littlefield.

At Abrams Children’s, Jenny Choy has joined as Associate Director of School and Library Marketing. She was previously Senior Manager, School and Library Marketing at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Wendy Ceballos has joined Abrams as Sales Manager, Indie Ambassador, having worked previously as Director of Events and Marketing at Seattle, WA’s Third Place Books.

At W.W. Norton, Melanie Tortoroli returns as Senior Editor. She was most recently Senior Content Acquisitions Editor for Amazon’s Kindle Singles.

Amy Kattan is now Marketing Manager for Artisan Books; she was most recently Digital Marketing Manager at Simon & Schuster.

At the American Booksellers Association, Daniel O’Brien has joined as Member Relationship Manager. He takes over from Nathan Halter, who left the ABA in July.

Paul Harrington has joined Berghahn Books as US Sales Manager.

Todd Smith has joined VitalSource as Manager of Campus Store Partnerships. He was previously Director of Campus Store Services at Clayton State University.

At agencies…Lucinda Karter has joined the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency as Agent and Foreign Rights Director. She has been Director of the French Publishers’ Agency for the past fifteen years and will remain there part-time. Ann Leslie Tuttle will join Dystel, Goderich & Bourret as Agent, having worked previously as Editor at Harlequin.

At Amazon Crossing, Liz Darnton has joined as Senior Editor. She was previously a freelance editor specializing in memoir and biography and Editor at The Penguin Press.

Estelle Hallick joins the Forever team at Grand Central as Senior Marketing and Publicity Associate; she was previously Publicist and Marketing Associate at Workman.

Jacqui Small is stepping down from her eponymous imprint at Quarto at the end of 2017, after which she will work part-time as Publisher-at-Large. In addition, Associate Acquisitions Editor Madeleine Vasaly is leaving Quarto after five years in order to pursue freelance editing.

Frank Radell has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as Sales Representative. He was previously Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Norwood House Press.

Jamie Real joins Chronicle Books as Assistant Managing Editor, Children’s; she was most recently as Managing Director for Litquake. Sandy Frank joins as Junior Designer.

At The Paris Review, Nadja Spiegelman is joining as Web Editor for The Daily.

PROMOTIONS

Kathryn Little has been promoted to Director of Marketing at Macmillan Children’s.

At Workman, Rebecca Carlisle has been promoted to Director of Publicity, and Moira Kerrigan moves up to Director of Marketing. Danny Cooper, Evan Griffith, and Rachael Mt. Pleasant have each been promoted to Associate Editor.

Courtney Gillette has been promoted to Awards and Relationships Manager at the National Book Foundation.

At Penguin Random House, Alison Rich has been promoted to Senior VP, Publishing Development and Author Platforms. Rachael Perriello has been promoted to Director of Licensing and Business Development. Stephanie Bowen moves up to Senior Manager for Content Development and Phillip Stamper-Halpin moves up to Senior Manager for Publishing Development and Author Platforms. At Crown Publishing Group, Morgan Carattini has been promoted to Senior Publishing Manager. Rebecca Welbourn is now Publishing Manager for Crown, Archetype, Hogarth, Tim Duggan Books, Broadway Books, and Three Rivers Press. Elina Vashbeyn has been promoted to Associate Director of Marketing at Dutton.

At Random House Children’s, Jillian Vandall has been promoted to Senior Manager of Publicity and Chelsea Eberly has been promoted to Senior Editor. Stephanie McKinley has been promoted to Senior Digital Developer; Kelly McGauley to Senior Marketing Manager, Trade Marketing; and Mallory Matney to Associate Manager, Marketing Operations and Consumer Show. In addition, Alissa Nigro is now Marketing Associate, Trade Marketing.

At Chronicle Books, Taylor Norman has been promoted to Editor, Children’s.

DULY NOTED

Perseus Distribution has officially rebranded as Two Rivers Distribution. This move is intended to help separate the distribution company from the Hachette-owned publishing entity.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing has launched self-publishing imprint Elm Hill in collaboration with Accurance. Elm Hill offers sales, marketing, promotion, and distribution assistance through HCCP and features six tiers of packaged publishing services.

Shambhala Publications announced the creation of Bala Kids, a children’s imprint dedicated to “inspiring the next generation through the Buddhist values of compassion and wisdom.” The imprint will launch in fall 2018.

New World Library celebrates its fortieth anniversary this fall. Going forward, its publishing program has been retooled to appeal to younger readers and promote emerging authors who embody New World Library’s mind-body-spirit tenets.

Beginning February 2018, Europa Editions will be sold and distributed by Publishers Group West.

Penguin Random House will handle English-language sales and distribution for Holiday House, beginning on May 1, 2018 for the US and Canada and December 1, 2018 for all other territories.

Cecile B Literary Agency is handling translation rights for the newly-formed Bankoff Collaborative.

The new B&N Podcast from Barnes & Noble will feature conversations with top authors six to eight times a month.

EVENTS

September 6-10
Open Book Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa

September 6-10
Moscow International Book Fair
Moscow, Russia

September 10
The Children’s Book Fair
Chicago, IL

September 10-11
Ciana – 2017 Remainder and Promotional Book Fair
London, UK

September 11-17
Brooklyn Book Festival
Brooklyn, NY

September 15-16
Kentucky Women Writers Conference
Lexington, KY

September 15-17
Burlington Book Festival
Burlington, VT

September 15-17
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Discovery Show
New Orleans, LA

September 16-17
Small Press Expo 2017
Bethesda, MD