PEOPLE
Beginning October 19, Andy Bird will take over as CEO of Pearson. Current CEO John Fallon will continue in the position until then, at which point he will step down from the board and remain as an advisor for the remainder of the year.
Kurt Mueller is joining Inkshares as COO. He was previously COO of The Onion.
Following significant executive and editorial layoffs at DC Comics, Daniel Cherry, previously Chief Marketing Officer at Activision Blizzard Esports, has been named SVP, General Manager.
Bon Appetit has chosen Dawn Davis to succeed Adam Rapoport as Editor-in-Chief, beginning November 2. She is the VP, Publisher and Founder of 37 Ink, which will be absorbed into the Simon & Schuster list upon her departure.
At IDW Publishing, Nachie Marsham, formerly Executive Editor at Disney Publishing Worldwide, joins as Publisher.
Tom Dean, formerly VP at Zondervan, has joined Morgan James Publishing as Faith Publisher and can be contacted at tomdean@morganjamespublishing.com.
At Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial USA, Larry A. Downs has joined as Director and Publisher of ORIGEN, the Spanish-language religious division. Downs was formerly SVP and Publisher of Spanish Publishing at HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Elsewhere at PRH, Amber Oliver, formerly Associate Editor at Harper, joins Dutton/Plume as Editor, working on Phoebe Robinson’s new imprint, Tiny Reparations, and acquiring fiction for Berkley.
Jeff Trexler has been named Interim Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He was formerly Associate Director of the Fashion Law Institute.
At Image Comics, Alex Cox has joined as Director of Direct Market & Specialty Sales. He was most recently Event Programming & Special Projects Director at IDW. Dirk Wood will also join the company in September as Director of International Sales & Licensing; formerly he was Director of Marketing at Dark Horse Comics.
Will Murphy, formerly Executive Editor at Random House, joins Kevin Anderson & Associates as Senior Executive Editor-at-Large. Stephen Power, formerly Executive Editor at Thomas Dunne Books, joined the company in July as Executive Editor.
At Astra Publishing, Leonard Marcus has been named Editor-at-Large. He is the author of thirty books and a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review and Parenting Magazine.
In agency news…Stephanie Kim, formerly Manager, Strategic Partnerships at Scribd, joins New Leaf Literary + Media as Literary Agent. Claire Harris, former Foreign Rights Director and Literary Agent at Foundry Literary + Media, has joined P.S. Literary Agency as Literary Agent. At Howland Literary, Mariah Stovall, formerly Junior Agent at Writers House, joins as Associate Agent on September 14. Christina Miller joins the Nancy Yost Literary Agency as Administrative Coordinator. She was previously Foreign Rights Assistant at InkWell Management.
Tishana Williams joins Simon & Schuster in the newly-created role of Brand Manager, Novelty & Licensed Publishing. Most recently she was Brand Coordinator, Celebrity Brands for Authentic Brands Group.
Linda Pruessen, formerly Editor-in-Chief at Key Porter Books, is joining Greystone Kids as Middle Reader Editor and will continue editing in a freelance capacity.
Cheryl Lew, formerly Senior Publicist at Holiday House, will join Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Publicity Manager effective September 8.
At The Farcountry Press, Jess LaGreca, formerly Design Coordinator at Simon & Schuster, joins as Graphic Designer. She can be contacted at jess@farcountrypress.com.
At The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Esther Kim joins as Digital Communications Manager. Most recently she was Marketing and Publicity Manager for Tilted Axis Press. Lily Philpott, previously Assistant Manager, Development Events at the New York Public Library, joins as Programs Manager.
Kirsten “Kiki” Ringer, lately Literary Manager at KLR Literary Management, has joined My Word Publishing as Publishing Coach and can be contacted at kiki@mywordpublishing.com.
Poet Kaveh Akbar has joined The Nation as Poetry Editor.
Stephanie Castillo Samoy, formerly Editor at Dover Publications, is leaving that position to join the office of New York State Senator James Sanders Jr. as Constituent Liaison.
PROMOTIONS
At Macmillan, Cristina Gilbert has been named SVP, Strategic Planning Development. Malati Chavali moves over to Flatiron Books to fill Gilbert’s previous position as SVP, Associate Publisher on August 31.
Kelly L. Denson becomes VP, Education Policy and Programs for the Association of American Publishers (AAP).
At Image Comics, Jeff Boison has been named Director of Sales & Publishing Planning, while Emilio Bautista becomes Digital Sales Coordinator and Chloe Ramos-Peterson becomes Book Market & Library Sales Manager.
Olenka Burgess is being promoted to Production Manager at Catapult/Counterpoint Press/Soft Skull Press.
Philippa Donovan becomes Literary Scout for Dynamic Television, covering the US and Europe.
Cassie Mannes Murray has been promoted to Associate Agent at Howland Literary.
At Yale University Press, Heather Gold is now Editor, Classics and Ancient World.
Kim Daly is now Copy Chief at Workman Publishing.
DULY NOTED
Powell’s Books in Portland, OR has announced that it will no longer sell through Amazon Marketplace.
Cherry Lake Publishing Group, which includes Cherry Blossom Press, Cherry Lake Press, 45th Parallel Press, and Sleeping Bear Press, has created a graphic novel imprint called Torch Graphic Press.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Best American Mystery Stories series will be renamed Best American Mystery & Suspense Stories, with Steph Cha taking over from founding series editor Otto Penzler for the 2021 edition.
