People Round-Up, Mid-December 2018

December 12, 2018

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PEOPLE

As a consequence of October’s merger of Crown Publishing Group and Random House, Molly Stern, SVP and Publisher, is departing her position. EVP and Deputy Publisher David Drake will replace her. Gillian Blake, previously Editor-in-Chief at Henry Holt, will join as SVP and Editor-in-Chief of Crown Trade.

Elsewhere in the company…Katie Ziga will move over from her position as SVP, Executive Director, Business Operations at the former Crown Publishing Group to become SVP, Strategy and Finance at the Penguin Publishing Group beginning in January. Effective December 12, Gayley Avery joins DK as VP, Marketing and Publicity. She previously held the position of Marketing and Publicity Director at Bonnier. At Random House Children’s, Sara Sargent joins as Senior Executive Editor, having worked most recently as Executive Editor at Harper Children’s. Whitney Leopard, previously Editor at BOOM! Studios, joins Random House Graphic as Senior Editor. At Penguin, James Jayo, formerly Editor at Sterling Publishing, joins as Senior Editor, and Margaux Weisman joins as Editor, moving over from that position at Vintage/Anchor.

At Harlequin, Heather Connor joins as VP, Publicity, overseeing Park Row Books, Hanover Square Press, Graydon House, MIRA, HQN, and Inkyard Press. She most recently worked as Director of Publicity at Berkley. Tara Feehan joins Harper Children’s as VP, Finance and Administration, moving over from HarperCollins’s Operations & Technology Finance Team. She succeeds Randy Rosema, who is retiring in January. Alexis Banyon also joins the children’s division as Director, Marketing, having worked most recently at Disney Publishing Worldwide as Director, Product Development. At HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Shari Black joins as Senior Director of Marketing, Specialty Publishing. Previously she was SVP, Retail Business Development, Global at Warner Bros. Entertainment.

UK children’s publisher Imagine That has announced plans to set up a North American office in New York. Risa Beckett, most recently EVP, Sales & Marketing at Parragon, joins as VP, North American Sales.

Grand Central Publishing will fold its Life & Style imprint into the flagship list at the end of the year. Karen Murgolo, EVP and Editorial Director, will depart the company at that time. Additionally, Heather Fain, previously SVP and Director of Marketing Strategy at Hachette Book Group, has left that role to become Chief Marketing Officer at Pushkin Industries, the podcast company founded by Jacob Weisberg and Malcolm Gladwell. Elsewhere at HBG, John Radziewicz has retired from his position as VP and Publisher of Da Capo Press. At Grand Central Publishing, Staci Burt joins as Publicity Manager; she was previously Publicist at St. Martin’s Press.

Chris Ryall is rejoining IDW Media as President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer after leaving his position as Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief earlier this year. During the interim, he worked in the editorial department at Skybound Entertainment.

Beginning January 15, Gwydion Suilebhan will assume the position of Executive Director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. He is currently Director of Brand and Marketing for Woolly Mammoth Theater Company and is also a playwright, screenwriter, and poet.

Meghan O’Rourke will become Editor of The Yale Review on July 1, 2019, the 200^th anniversary of the magazine’s founding. She is an author and has worked as Editor for The New Yorker, Slate, and The Paris Review.

At Arcadia Publishing, Paul Raffle is stepping down as COO, to be succeeded by former Perseus Books COO Charles Gallagher. Hampton Ryan joins Arcadia Books as Field Sales Representative. He previously worked at Waldenbooks, Borders, and Ingram Book Company.

At Tom Doherty Associates, Stephanie Sirabian, previously Associate Director, Advertising at Grand Central Publishing, joins as Associate Director of Advertising, Promotion, and Trade Operations. In addition, Jennifer McClelland-Smith joins as Marketing Manager for Forge Books. Most recently she was Marketing Coordinator at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. And at Celadon, Jaime Noven has joined as Marketing Manager, having worked previously as Publicity and Marketing Manager at The Monacelli Press.

Roisin Davis is now Director of Foreign Rights at Haymarket Books. She is also Associate Agent at Roam Agency.

At the American Psychological Association’s APA Publishing arm, Emily Ekle joins as Director of Editorial Acquisitions for academic and professional books. Prior, she was Senior Acquisitions Editor at Elsevier.

In agency news…Cheryl Pientka has joined the Nancy Yost Literary Agency as Director of Foreign and Audio Rights. She was previously Director of Foreign and Subsidiary Rights at Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Marie Campbell is retiring as Transatlantic Agency Partner and Senior Agent but will remain on as an advisor. On March 1, Rick Christian will step down as Founder and CEO of Alive Literary Agency; the company has been sold internally to Bryan Norman, President, and Lisa Jackson, EVP.

At BookBub’s newly-created partner relations team, Wade Lucas, formerly Senior Agent Director at Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, joins as International Account Manager. Kayin Patton has also been hired as Account Coordinator.

Following the 2019 Winter Institute, Meg Smith will retire from her role as Membership and Marketing Officer at the American Booksellers Association.

Bridget Flannery-McCoy has joined Princeton University Press as Senior Editor, Political Science. She was previously Editor, Economics and American History at Columbia University Press.

Jack Perry, VP, Director of Retail Sales at Highlights for Children, is leaving the company at the end of December. He plans to return to consulting and may be reached at jackwperry@38enso.com.

At Diversion Books, Mark Weinstein, formerly Executive Editor at Rodale Press, joins as Senior Editor.

Senior Editor Christine Pride is leaving her role at Simon & Schuster to pursue writing and freelance work. Rachel Bergquist and Amanda Livingston join as Marketing Assistants, Education & Library.

Alison Petersen has joined Chronicle Books as Managing Editor, Entertainment. She was most recently Book Production Manager and Editorial Manager at The Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

At Workman, Ashley McPhee joins as Promotion Coordinator for the eponymous imprint. Previously, she was Children’s Book Editor at becker&mayer!.

At Abrams, Mary Marolla joins as Publicist, Children’s. She had been running her own freelance PR company, Mare Public Relations. Borana Greku, formerly Associate Marketing Manager at Macmillan, also joins as Marketing Manager.

At Holiday House, Talia Levitt, Della Farrell, and Eryn Levine have joined as Editorial Assistants. Levitt was previously Agent at Studio Goodwin Sturges; Farrell, Assistant Editor at School Library Journal; and Levine, Publishing Assistant at Penguin Random House Audio Publishing.

Publisher Andrew Hoyem and Senior Editor Diane Ketcham are retiring from Arion Press, the San Francisco publisher and fine letterpress printer. Day-to-day operations will be managed by current staff and the companies operating under the aegis of the Grabhorn Institute. Book Advisors continues to solicit and evaluate interest from potential investors and owners.

Mallory Hyde joins Sourcebooks as Marketing Specialist, Children’s, while Jaclyn Puccini joins Sourcebooks Fire as Social Media Specialist.

PROMOTIONS

At Abrams, Elisa Gonzalez becomes VP, Sales, North America and Mary Wowk becomes SVP, International, effective January 1.

Richard Rhorer has been promoted to VP, Deputy Publisher for the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group. At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Ian Reilly has been promoted to VP, Demand Planning and Reprint Reproduction, while Katherine Devendorf moves up to Director, Managing Editorial, and Chelsea Morgan becomes Senior Production Editor. Julie Doebler is now Production Director for Aladdin and Pulse, where Sara Berko becomes Senior Production Manager. Elizabeth Blake-Linn has been promoted to Production Director for Atheneum Books, McElderry Books, Beach Lane Books, and Saga Press. At Simon & Schuster, Amanda Lang becomes Senior Publicity Manager. At Atheneum, Alexa Pastor is now Editor.

Cynthia Lasky moves up to SVP, Group Sales Director, Random House and Crown, and Candice Chaplin becomes VP, Backlist Sales, Penguin Random House Adult. Christopher Dufault has been promoted to VP, Group Sales Director, Knopf Doubleday, following the retirement of Janet Cooke. Similarly, Lauren Monaco, VP, Group Sales Director, Penguin Publishing Group, will expand her oversight to all of the division’s imprints when John Lawton retires in the spring. At Random House Children’s, Caroline Abbey is now Editorial Director, Audrey Steuerwald becomes Assistant Art Director, and Hanna Glidden moves up to Associate Director, Publishing Operations. Bria Sanford has been promoted to Executive Editor, Portfolio, and Editorial Director, Sentinel. Leah Trouwborst moves up to Editor at Portfolio and Sentinel. At Penguin Books, Sam Raim has been promoted to Editor, while Margo Schickmanter moves up to the same position at Doubleday. And at Berkley, Fareeda Bullert is now Senior Marketing Manager, while Kristine Swartz becomes Editor and Sarah Blumenstock becomes Associate Editor.

At the University of Chicago Press, Levi Stahl has become Marketing Director, Books Division.

At Westwood Creative Artists, Meg Wheeler has been promoted to Associate Agent.

Naomi Gibbs has been promoted to Senior Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Emma Gordon moves up to Publicist.

Neil Hiremath moves up to Manager, Metadata & Digital Operations at Workman Publishing. Elsewhere in the company, Lily Kiralla becomes Coordinator, Web and Digital Operations; Valerie Alfred becomes Gift Sales Manager; Rachel Roy becomes Assistant Gift Sales Manager; and Jean Vargas is now Gift Sales Coordinator. Constance Edmonds has been promoted to Promotion Coordinator, all imprints.

Eric Duggan and Adria Martin have both been promoted to Marketing Manager at Amazon Publishing, where Laura Barrett is now Production Manager. Ashley Vanicek moves up to PR Specialist, supporting Lake Union Publishing and Thomas & Mercer.

At Holiday House, Mora Couch has been promoted to Associate Editor.

Julia Ringo has been promoted to Associate Editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

At All Points Books, Pronoy Sarkar has joined as Associate Editor, moving over from the same title at Picador USA.

At BookBub, Annie Stone becomes Publisher Relations Lead.

Rachel Gilmer is now Assistant Content Editor at Sourcebooks.

At Princeton University Press, Thalia Leaf has been promoted to Assistant Editor for History.

DULY NOTED

Consortium has announced eight new distribution clients, effective January 1, 2019. They are Beehive Books, Braun Publishing, Floating World Comics, Green Card Voices, Inhabit Media, Lookout Books, Nightboat Books, and Tiny Owl Publishing.

In other distribution news: eight clients of the University Press of New England, which is closing at the end of the year, will move to the Chicago Distribution Center. They are Autumn House Press, Brandeis University Press, Carnegie Mellon University Press, Dartmouth College Press, New Issues Poetry & Prose, Oberlin College Press, Omnidawn Publishing, and 2Leaf Press. And, beginning January 1, IPG will handle print distribution in the US and Canada for three Spanish-language publishers: Ediciones Larousse, Cinco Tintas, and Akiara Books.

LSC Communications has bought Elsevier’s Linn, MI fulfillment and distribution center. All Elsevier employees at the facility will be transferred to LSC in 2019. As a result of this sale, LSC will provide fulfillment and distribution services for Elsevier’s US markets, as well as the warehouse’s other clients, in a multiyear agreement.

Mary Anne Thompson Associates now serves as US book scout for Neri Pozza in Italy, while Liz Gately now scouts for Tchelet in Israel.

Portfolio is adding a new line, Optimism Press, in 2019. Simon Sinek will serve as “chief optimist,” with Adrian Zackheim to serve as publisher.

John Wiley and Sons has announced a new partnership between Wiley Digital Archives and the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers.