PEOPLE
In the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Kristin Fassler returns to Penguin Random House in the newly-created position of SVP, Director of Integrated Marketing Strategy. Most recently she was VP, Director of Integrated Marketing at Simon & Schuster. Jamia Wilson joins Random House as VP, Executive Editor, beginning January 4. She was most recently Executive Editor and Publisher of The Feminist Press. Anthony Key joins Penguin Random House as Multicultural Marketing Director. He was the Head of Multicultural Strategy at EGAMI Group. Shannon Twomey has left her position as Associate Director of Publicity at Viking/Penguin to move to the UK. At Penguin Young Readers, Lathea Mondesir joins as Associate Director of Publicity; she was formerly Publicity Manager at Workman. At Random House Children’s Books, Suzanne Lee and Larsson McSwain each join as Designer.
As a consequence of Ecco’s realignment within HarperCollins, Daniel Halpern, founder of Ecco and President and Publisher since it joined HC in 1999, is transitioning to Editor-at-Large. VP and Editorial Director Helen Atsma will oversee the imprint as it becomes more closely integrated into the Harper Group. At HarperCollins Christian Publishing and HarperCollins Focus, Tom Knight is retiring as SVP of Sales at the end of 2020. He will be succeeded by Dan Van Gorp, who is currently Director of Independent Retail Sales. At the flagship Harper imprint, Harper Children’s announced a new leadership structure, with Rich Thomas, VP, Director of Publishing, leading the line. VP, Publishing Director Nancy Inteli will lead the picture book and programs teams, while VP, Publishing Director Erica Sussman will lead the middle grade, teen, and IP teams. And at HarperCollins, Rio Cortez has joined as Sales and Retail Marketing Manager. She was Buyer and Creative Coordinator at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Mary Wowk, SVP, International Sales and Rights at Abrams, will retire on December 31.
Beth Meacham, Executive Editor at Tor/Tom Doherty Associates, will retire at the end of the year.
At PEN America, Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf has been named Senior Director of Literary Programs.
At DEY Ideas + Influence, Andrew DeSio, formerly Assistant Director of Publicity at Fortier Public Relations, joins as Director of Books and can be contacted at adesio@dey.nyc.
Joyce Skokut will retire as Director of Sales at Ingram Library Services at the end of the year.
At Workman, Ilana Gold, formerly a PR consultant in television and music, has joined as Assistant Director of Publicity.
Allan Adler, longtime EVP and General Counsel of the Association of American Publishers, will leave the organization on October 15.
At Lunii, Nevin Mays joins as Head of Editorial and Content Experience.
At Tapas Media, Katie McGuire joins as Novel Acquisitions Lead. She was previously Editor at Pegasus Books.
In agency news…Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan, cofounders of Foundry Literary + Media, are parting ways to form their own agencies. Gendell is launching YRG Partners along with agents Tanusri Prasanna, Peter Steinberg, and Adriann Ranta Zurhellen. McGuigan is launching an agency called Ultra Literary, where he will be joined by Agent Kirsten Neuhaus and Alička Pistek, Director of International Sales and Marketing. Former Foundry Agent Chris Park joins DeFiore & Company as Agent. Lane Zachary, Partner and Literary Agent at Aevitas Creative Management, joins Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents as Agent. Lindsay Guzzardo joins Martin Literary & Media Management as Literary Manager of Adult Fiction; she was previously Editor at Amazon Publishing. At Whimsy Literary Agency, Aria Gmitter joins as Literary Agent. At Einstein Literary Management, Paloma Hernando joins as Associate Agent. Renae Moore joins The Tobias Literary Agency as Assistant Agent. At The Shipman Agency, Preeya Dave joins as Independent Publicist and can be reached at preeya@theshipmanagency.com.
At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, Alice Wang has joined as Designer; she was previously Assistant Designer at Harper Children’s.
Dorian Randall joins Edmison/Harper as a Junior Literary Scout.
At Post Hill Press, Jessica Vandergriff and Katherine Reid join as Associate Publicists, while Vanessa Arnold joins as Royalties Analyst.
Erin Mathis, formerly Foreign Rights Coordinator at Janklow & Nesbit, is now Subsidiary Rights Coordinator at Holiday House and Pixel+Ink.
At Sourcebooks, Bennet Johnson joins as Marketing Specialist.
C.L. Clark has been named Editor of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America blog.
PROMOTIONS
At Simon & Schuster, Sienna Farris moves into the newly-created position of VP, Director of Multicultural Marketing.
In late October, Shira Perlmutter will be promoted to Register of Copyrights and Director of the US Copyright Office.
At Penguin Random House, Lauren Rosenberg has been promoted to VP and Director of Compensation. In the PRH consumer marketing team, Suzie Sisoler becomes VP, Director, Consumer Data and Marketing Automation; Erika Seyfried becomes VP, Director, Digital Strategy and Consumer Engagement; and Lindsay Elias and Julianne Jones rejoin the team as Director, Consumer Shows and Conferences and Coordinator, Consumer Events and Conferences, respectively.
Elsewhere in the company: Mallory Loehr, Publisher of Random House Books for Young Readers Group, has been promoted to EVP. At Random House Children’s, Director of Finance James Perry has been promoted to VP while Alison Stoltzfus becomes Senior Director, Publishing, for Princeton Review and Sylvan Learning. At Knopf, Chris Gillespie has been promoted to SVP, Publishing Director. Beth Lamb becomes SVP, Deputy Publisher of Vintage Anchor, while Angie Venezia moves up to Director of Publicity. Francis Lam is now VP and Editor-in-Chief of Clarkson Potter, where Jennifer Sit also becomes Executive Editor. Porscha Burke has been promoted to Assistant Publishing Director and Senior Editor at Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press, and Harmony/Rodale. Jamie Knapp becomes Director of Publicity for Plume. At Viking/Penguin, Maya Baran becomes Assistant Director of Publicity; Kristina Fazzalaro becomes Publicity Manager; and Ciara Johnson becomes Associate Publicist, while Elizabeth Vogt moves up to Associate Editor. At Penguin Press, Emily Cunningham has been promoted to Senior Editor and Sam Mitchell becomes Publicity Manager. At Putnam, Nishtha Patel has been promoted to Marketing Coordinator; Nicole Biton, to Associate Publicist; and Sydney Cohen, to Associate Publicist.
At Heyday, Gayle Wattawa becomes General Manager and Editorial Director.
Shaina Olmanson has been promoted to Editorial Director for young adult nonfiction at Twenty-First Century Books and ZEST Books.
In agency news…Kim Lindman has been promoted to Associate Agent at Stonesong. At Westwood Creative Artists, Meg Wheeler has been promoted to Literary Agent; Bridgette Kam, to International Rights Associate; and Sarah-Jayne Carver, to Literary Associate. At CAA, Abigail Walters, Carlos Segarra, Emily Westcott, and Alex Rice each becomes Agent. Mary Krienke is now Agent at Sterling Lord Literistic.
At The MIT Press, Nicholas DiSabatino has been promoted to Acting Global Publicity Manager.
At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Christie Michel is now School & Library Marketing Manager.
Christy Cox has been promoted to Executive Editor of Little Bigfoot at Sasquatch Books. Jill Saginario has become Managing Editor, Sasquatch Books, and Editor, Spruce Books.
At Park Row Books, Natalie Hallak has been promoted to Associate Editor.
At Kensington, Elizabeth May has been promoted to Associate Editor.
Jenna Jankowski is now Assistant Editor at Sourcebooks.
DULY NOTED
Simon & Schuster distributes Scout Comics & Entertainment as of October 1.
Book Travelers West now sells HMH Books & Media in the western US, following the retirement of one of their reps.
Over the last several months, Independent Publishers Group has added six publishers to its IPG Midpoint and IPG Small Press divisions. They are Fidelis Publishing, effective September 1; Context Productions, effective August 1; taotime verlag, effective August 1; Kirkton, effective August 17; Night Heron Media, effective June 24; and BiblioKid, effective May 15.
The University of Chicago Press and the Chicago Distribution Center now market and distribute Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies Press; Hong Kong University Press; Koc University Press; Iter; and EPEL Press.
Sourcebooks will partner with DK to sell and market their titles in the UK and Europe beginning January 1, 2021.
Schiffer Publishing has acquired Thrums Books, which specializes in illustrated books focused on global Indigenous craft traditions. Thrums was founded in 2007 by Linda Ligon, founder of Interweave Press.
Effective Spring 2021, Two Rivers will handle global sales and distributions for Silicon Valley startup Ta-Da! Language Productions.
