People Round-Up, Mid-January 2020

PEOPLE

At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Millicent Bennett joins as Editorial Director. She had been Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing. Sarah Pelz joins as Executive Editor, having previously held that title at Atria.

George Coe, former CEO and President of Baker & Taylor, will return to Brodart Co. as President and CEO.

At Crown, Libby Burton will join as Executive Editor on January 27. She had been Senior Editor at Henry Holt & Co. Zareen Jaffery, formerly Executive Editor of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, has joined Kokila as Executive Editor. At Random House Children’s Books, Natalie Capogrossi joins as Assistant School Marketing Manager and Jennifer Baker, formerly Production Editor at Teachers College Press, joins as Managing Editor. Peter Kispert joins Dey Street Books as Assistant Editor.

Min Lee joins Hachette Book Group as SVP and General Counsel effective March 2. She was formerly SVP, Associate General Counsel and Global Head of Compliance at Penguin Random House. In June, Carol Ross will retire from her role as General Counsel. At Little, Brown, Emma Brodie joins as Executive Editor of the Voracious imprint; she had been Senior Editor at William Morrow.

Holt Chairman Steve Rubin has announced that, after ten years at the division, he will be moving on. Christina Quintero joins Odd Dot as Creative Director. She was previously Executive Art Director at Little, Brown Children’s. Hope Dellon is retiring from her position as Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press. At Flatiron Books, Meghan Houser joins as Senior Editor, having worked most recently as Editor at Penguin Random House.

In February, Rachel Fershleiser joins Counterpoint Press/Catapult/Soft Skull as Associate Publisher, Executive Marketing Director. She was previously Senior Director of Marketing at Knopf. Alyson Forbes, lately VP, Executive Director of Marketing at Hachette Book Group, will also join as Associate Publisher, Head of Sales at that time. Meanwhile, Jennifer Abel Kovitz has departed her position as Associate Publisher and VP, Sales and Marketing and can be contacted at jennifer.kovitz@gmail.com.

Josalyn Moran rejoins Barnes & Noble as Senior Director, Children’s Books. She worked most recently as Publisher of Seagrass Press.

Sasha Quinton has been named President of Scholastic Book Fairs and EVP at Scholastic. She succeeds Alan Boyko in the former position. Quinton most recently worked as VP, General Merchandise Manager at Barnes & Noble.

At Pearson, Deputy CFO Sally Johnson will take over the Chief Financial Officer position held by Coram Williams. Williams will leave the company and its board later this year.

Brooke Borneman, formerly Senior Marketing Manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, will join NPD Books as Director of Client Development in February. Chloe DeFilippis, formerly Sales Associate at Phaidon, has joined the company as Client Development Specialist.

At OR Books, founder John Oakes will step down as Co-Publisher on May 1. He will remain on the board and continue to edit current projects.

Mark Weinstein, previously Senior Editor at Diversion Books, has joined Kevin Anderson & Associates as Editorial Director, SVP.

At Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Lisa Donovan, VP and Executive Managing Editor, will retire on March 20. Brianna Scharfenberg joins Simon & Schuster as Senior Publicist, a position she previously held at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Picador. At Atria, Gena Lanzi, formerly Associate Publicist at HarperCollins, joins as Publicist.

Audrey Steuerwald, formerly Assistant Art Director at Random House Children’s Books, joins HarperCollins Children’s Books as Art Director.

At the Independent Publishers Group, Sharon Shell joins as Director of Library & Education Sales. She had been working as Director of Implementation at Scholastic.

Noa Wheeler joins Bloomsbury Children’s as Executive Editor and will continue her freelance work in addition. Rosie Mahorter, formerly Senior Publicist at Scribner, joins as Senior Publicist, and Alexa Higbee, lately Associate Publicist at Holiday House, joins as Publicist.

At Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press, Jessica Renheim (previously Senior Editor at Dutton) and Toni Kirkpatrick (previously Editor at St. Martin’s Press) join as Acquisitions Editors.

Megan Carlson joins Abrams Children’s Books as Associate Managing Editor. She was formerly Assistant Editor at Oxford University Press. Megan Kelchner, formerly Junior Art Director at Carrot New York, joins as Junior Designer.

Boris Kachka joins the Los Angeles Times as Books Editor, a position he previously held at New York Magazine.

The American Library Association has named Tracie D. Hall its Executive Director, effective February 24. Hall, most recently Director of the Culture Program at The Joyce Foundation, will be the first female African-American executive director in the ALA’s history and takes over for Mary Ghikas, who is retiring.

At Bookstaves, Stephanie Reierson joins as President and can be contacted at smreierson@bookstaves.net. She was formerly Director of Product Marketing at Open Up Resources.

At Apple, Jacob Bronstein has left his position as Senior Marketing Manager for Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, and Apple News. Hannah Wood joins the Apple Books team as Content Development Editor; she had previously worked as a freelancer and Editor at HarperCollins.

At Sourcebooks, Carrie Conlisk joins as Sales Coordinator. She was previously Manager at Bookie’s Bookstores. Christa Desir joins as Associate Editor.

In agency news…Attorney and law professor Jacqui Lipton has founded Raven Quill Literary Agency, representing authors of children’s and YA books. Tina Bennett has left William Morris Endeavor to form a new agency, Bennett Literary, in collaboration with ICM Partners. Janna Morishima has launched a literary and illustration agency, Janna Co., to be focused on children’s graphic novels and visual storytelling; among other jobs, she has previously worked as Director of Marketing at Papercutz. Jamie Carr, formerly Agent with William Morris Endeavor, joins The Book Group as Agent. Selena Beaumont, formerly Contracts Assistant at Holiday House, has joined William Morris Endeavor as Contracts Associate. At Curtis Brown, VP and Agent Jonathan Lyons has left the department to focus on representing his clients in the US. Rachel Beck is now Literary Agent at Liza Dawson Associates; she was previously Literary Agent at Holloway Literary. Matt Belford, previously Literary Agent at David Black Literary Agency, has joined the Tobias Literary Agency under the same title.

PROMOTIONS

Lori Dereza has been promoted to SVP of Operations for Penguin Random House’s Crawfordsville, IN and Reno, NV locations. At Crown, Matt Inman is now Executive Editor, while Zach Phillips, Aubrey Martinson, and Lydia Morgan each become Assistant Editor. Terezia Cicel moves up to Associate Editor at Viking. Jen Monroe and Kristine Swartz move up to Senior Editor at Berkley. At Random House, Clio Seraphim is promoted to Editor and Emma Caruso becomes Associate Editor. At Random House Children’s Books, Emily Duval becomes Library Marketing Manager. Lexy Cassola is now Assistant Editor at Dutton, where Emily Canders becomes Senior Publicity Manager. Nora Grubb and Cara Reilly are now Assistant Editors at Doubleday.

At Macmillan Children’s, Kristin Dulaney has been promoted to VP, Subsidiary Rights. Caitlin O’Shaughnessy is now Executive Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy at Holt. At Flatiron Books, Cat Kenney becomes Associate Publicist. Tiffany Shelton is now Associate Editor at St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books.

Tim McCall has become VP and Associate Publisher at Melville House.

Rebecca T. Miller has been promoted to Group Publisher of Library Journal, School Library Journal, and The Horn Book. Meredith Schwartz becomes Editor-in-Chief of Library Journal. At School Library Journal, Kathy Ishizuka becomes Editor-in-Chief and also takes on the title of Partnerships and Innovation Director at Library Journal and School Library Journal.

Brittany Vibbert has been promoted to Senior Art Director at Sourcebooks. Meg Gibbons has been promoted to Senior Editor of Simple Truths.

At Chronicle Books: Beth Weber is now Director of Managing Editorial; Sarah Billingsley becomes Editorial Director, Food and Lifestyle; and Bridget Watson Payne becomes Editorial Director, Art. Christina Loff becomes Senior Director of Marketing, Adult Trade and Ashley Despain moves up to Production Developer, Children’s. Additionally, Lydia Ortiz has been promoted to Senior Designer, Children’s; Beth Steiner to Production Director, Purchasing & Vendor Management; and Erin Thacker to Production Director, Creative Development.

At The Experiment, Liana Willis becomes Associate Editor.

In agency news…Sarah Perillo has become Director of Foreign Rights at Curtis Brown. At Martin Literary Management, Britt Siess becomes Literary Manager.

At Kensington Publishing Corp., Esi Sogah has been promoted to Executive Editor.

At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Xander Hollenbeck is now Senior Designer. Nate Lanman becomes Assistant Editor at William Morrow.

At Princeton Architectural Press, Jessica Tackett is now Marketing Manager.

Jalissa Corrie is now Marketing and Publicity Manager at Lee & Low Books.

At New Harbinger Publications, Cassie Stossel has been promoted to Publicity Manager.

Daniel O’Connor is now Senior Sales Manager at Bloomsbury.

Savannah Kennelly has been promoted to Digital Marketing Associate at Little, Brown Children’s.

Jessi Smith is now Associate Editor at Simon Pulse and Aladdin, while Anna Parsons becomes Assistant Editor at Aladdin.

At Tin House Books, Elizabeth DeMeo becomes Associate Editor.

At the Hudson Group, Rebecca Harkenrider and Dellarom Afzal become Buyers.

DULY NOTED

Simon & Schuster now distributes Oneworld Publications in the United States and Canada. Oneworld’s North American distribution was previously handled by Publishers Group West; publicity and marketing will continue to be handled by Oneworld’s North American office. Beginning March 1, Simon & Schuster will also handle sales and distribution worldwide for Humanoids, Inc.

The Independent Publishers Group now distributes print and digital titles for KiCam Projects worldwide.

The Experiment has acquired Appletree Press, a publisher of titles on health, food, and lifestyle.

Miami-based Mango Publishing has acquired Yellow Pear Press and its imprint, Bonhomie Press.

Franklin & Siegal Associates has been named US literary scout for the Planeta Group in Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese.

The Little Free Library nonprofit organization has elected Anita Merina as chair of the national board of directors. She succeeds retiring chair Monnie McMahon and has served on the board since 2015.