PEOPLE
Molly Stern, formerly Publisher of Crown, is starting a new publishing company, Zando, and will serve as Chief Executive. The venture’s first books will be published in Fall 2021. Alexander Czik, has been named Director of Operations and Strategy. He was most recently Associate, Group Strategy and M&A at Macmillan.
Penguin Random House is creating a new Penguin Random House Español division on January 1st that will combine Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial USA and Vintage Español. Silvia Matute, currently President at the former, will serve as President for the new division, while Cristóbal Pera will depart later in the new year after advising throughout the transition. On January 4, David Ebershoff will rejoin Random House as VP, Executive Editor; he had been Executive Editor for 20 years, until 2015. Crisandry Javier, formerly Finance Associate at Phipps Neighborhoods, joins Random House Children’s as Financial Analyst. At the same imprint, Aaron Reese joins as Senior Marketing Manager, Digital Content, and Vincent Perez joins as Production Associate. Perez was previously Production Coordinator at Marvel Entertainment. At Ballantine Bantam Dell, Jenny Chen, formerly Editor at Crooked Lane Books, joins as Senior Editor.
At Hachette, Christy Ottaviano, Publisher of the eponymous imprint, is leaving Holt Children’s to join Little, Brown Children’s on November 30. She will publish there under an eponymous imprint as well, and is joined by Jessica Anderson, Associate Editor. Emma Berry joins Basic Books and Seal Press as Senior Editor. She was most recently Editor at Crown. Kyle Gipson, previously Assistant Acquisitions Editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, will join Basic Books on January 4 as Associate Editor. Sean McGowan joins Hachette Nashville as Editor, acquiring for Center Street, Faith Words, and Worthy. India Hunter also joins as Associate Editor, acquiring for Faith Words and Worthy.
At Coffee House Press, Publisher Chris Fischbach has departed from his position. Senior Editor Erika Stevens will serve as Interim Editorial Director while the board conducts a search for a new leader.
At Harper Christian, Nekasha Pratt joins as Senior Director of Marketing, Fiction, for Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Most recently she was Director of Marketing for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
In agency news…Al Zuckerman, Chairman Emeritus of Writers House, is retiring 47 years after founding the agency. Hafizah Geter joins Janklow & Nesbit as Agent; she was formerly Editor at Little A and Topple Books.
Jane Lee, formerly Associate Director of Social Media at HarperCollins Children’s Books and Epic Reads, joins Hello Sunshine as Senior Manager of Membership Development for Reese’s Book Club.
At Simon & Schuster, Nicole Feanny joins as National Account Manager, Books-a-Million. She was previously Account Manager at Wiley. Additionally, Atria is launching Black Privilege Publishing, to be led by Charlamagne Tha God. The imprint will by operated by Editor Nicholas Ciani and SVP and Publisher Libby McGuire.
At Melville House, Carl Bromley joins as Executive Editor; among other positions, he was previously Editorial Director at The Nation. Meanwhile, Ryan Harrington is leaving his role as Senior Editor.
Amanda Dissinger, previously Publicist at Ace Hotel Group, has joined Algonquin Books as Senior Publicist. At Workman, John Passineau joins as Senior Designer, Children’s.
Becky Kraemer joins Tin House Books as Publicity Director on December 1. She has her own book publicity firm, Cursive Communications, for the past eleven years.
At Story Monsters Press, author Raven Howell joins as Poetry Director.
At University of California Press, Julie Van Pelt, previously Senior Project Editor at University of Washington Press, joins as Senior Production Editor.
Sebastián Páramo joins Deep Vellum Publishing as Poetry Editor.
Rachel Vega-DeCesario, previously Editorial Assistant at Black Dog & Leventhal, joins The New Press as Assistant Editor. Jay Pabarue joins as Marketing and Publicity Associate; he was formerly Marketing Manager at Book of the Month.
At Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press, Rema Badwan, previously Senior Manager, International Sales at Simon & Schuster, joins as Publishing Operations and Business Affairs Manager.
Guy Gonzalez, formerly Project Lead at Panorama Project, has joined LibraryPass as Chief Content Officer.
Paul Golob, formerly Executive Editor at Henry Holt, has begun independent editorial and consulting work and can be reached via his website, www.paulgolob.com.
At Findaway, Jessica Hamilton, lately Associate Editor at Razorbill, joins as Publisher Services Strategist.
Elizabeth McKellar joins Parallax Press as Sales and Marketing Manager. She was previously Special Markets Manager at Lonely Planet.
Crystal McCoy joins Wattpad Books as Publicity Manager, a title she previously held at Kensington Books.
At Sourcebooks, Hannah Strassburger joins as Designer while Nathan Casebolt joins as Backend Web Developer.
At the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), Robin Wood joins as Communications and Marketing Specialist.
PROMOTIONS
At Open Road, Mary McAveney adds Chief Revenue Officer to her existing role as Chief Marketing Officer, and Daniel Shemesh becomes Chief Operating Officer as well as Chief Financial Officer.
At Penguin Random House, Alison Rich has become SVP, Author Development. Michael DeFazio becomes VP and Executive Director, Production Planning, Analytics, and Paper Purchasing, and Kristen Fleming moves up to VP and Director of Online and Digital Business Development. Annysa Polanco is now Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. At Random House Children’s Books, Jillian Vandall Miao is now Director of Publicity, while Lauren Adams becomes Assistant Director, Brands and Proprietary Marketing, and Joshua Redlich becomes Publicity Manager. At Dutton Children’s Books, Anna Booth becomes Assistant Art Director. Rochelle Clark has become Director of Advertising and Creative Operations for the Random House Publishing Group. At Berkley, Jessica Mangicaro becomes Marketing Manager; Elisha Katz and Natalie Sellars become Marketing Coordinator; and Tara O’Connor becomes Publicist, while Michelle Vega becomes Executive Editor, Sarah Blumenstock, becomes Editor, and Jenn Snyder becomes Assistant Editor. Mollie Reid is now Associate Publicist at Penguin Press.
Ben Steinberg is now VP and Associate Publisher, Nonfiction at the Morrow Group. At Thomas Nelson, Mark Glesne will become Senior Director of Jenny LuMarketing and Stephanie Tresner will become Director of Marketing. Brad Hill moves up to Director of Audio Sales at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, where Mike Bzozowski is now Business Affairs Counsel. Matt Estel has been promoted to Senior Editor for Zondervan Academic and Zondervan Reflective.
At Simon & Schuster’s namesake imprint, Priscilla Painton becomes VP, Editorial Director, Nonfiction, and Elizabeth Breeden becomes Associate Director of Marketing. Celia Guerra is now Director, Business Operations. Theresa Pang becomes Director, Education Sales; Jeffrey Pena, Telemarketing Account Manager, Education and CBA Specialist; and Cara Nesi, Telemarketing Account Manager, Education and Independent Specialist. Toi Crockett is now Field Account Manager and Brandy Bishop becomes Telemarketing Account Manager. National Account Manager Heather Musika adds responsibility for sales to Target and BJ’s. Rebecca Suss is now Manager of Corporate Communications.
Elsewhere in the company: At Scribner, Kathy Belden becomes Editorial Director. At Atria, Lisa Sciambra moves up to Director of Publicity, Dana Trocker to Associate Publisher, and Suzanne Donahue to VP, Director of Backlist Marketing, while Megan Rudloff has been promoted to Publicist. Jeffrey Salane is now VP, Editorial Director at Little Simon. Siobhan Ciminera is now VP, Editorial Director at Simon Spotlight, while Sally Hosokawa becomes Associate Editor and Nicole Fox becomes Assistant Editor. Chantal Gersch moves up to Associate Publicist for Atheneum, Margaret K. McElderry, and Beach Lane Books, while Devin MacDonald becomes Senior Marketing Manager; Cassandra Fernandez becomes Assistant Marketing Manager; Becca Syracuse becomes Senior Designer; and Karyn Lee becomes Designer. At Aladdin, Little Simon, and Simon Spotlight, Jenny Lu has been promoted to Associate Publicist, Savannah Breckenridge to Marketing Coordinator, and Jill Hacking to Assistant Manager, Marketing Operations and Events. Laura Eckes is now Senior Designer for Simon & Schuster Children’s and Paula Wiseman Books. Elizabeth Mims has been promoted to Production Editor at S&S Children’s, while Jeannie Ng moves up to Associate Director, Managing Editorial, and Bridget Madsen becomes Senior Managing Editor. At Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Dainese Santos moves up to Assistant Editor and Amanda Ramirez moves up to Associate Editor, while Deane Norton has been promoted to Senior Director, Children’s Subsidiary Rights, and Natasha Puetz becomes Subsidiary Rights Associate. Nicole Fiorica has been promoted to Associate Editor at McElderry Books.
Rebecca Werner was promoted to Director of Membership and National Engagement at PEN America.
Nicholas DiSabatino is now Global Publicity Manager at The MIT Press.
At Boyds Mills Press/Wordsong, Rebecca Davis is now Editorial Director. Carolyn P. Yoder becomes Executive Editor of Calkins Creek.
Anne Rumberger has been promoted to Marketing Director at Verso Books, while Julia Judge has been promoted to Senior Publicist.
At Sourcebooks Fire, Beth Oleniczak was promoted to Associate Director of Marketing and Publishing Strategy. At Sourcebooks, Sam Chmara becomes Fulfillment Specialist, Ian LaChance becomes Fulfillment Supervisor, and Jeffrey Petschke becomes Shipping Manager.
In agency news… At Writers House, Cecilia de la Campa has become EVP, Global Media and Licensing. At Brower Literary & Management, Aimee Ashcraft becomes Literary Agent and Anna Atoria becomes Associate Subrights Agent. At Triada US, Brent Taylor is now Senior Agent; Laura Crockett, Agent; Lauren Spieller, Agent; and Elle Thompson, Assistant Agent. Daniella Cohen is now Associate Agent at Aevitas Creative Management.
At Workman’s namesake imprint, Karen Edwards has been promoted to Executive Editor. Zoila Peña has been promoted to Assistant Manager of Customer Service for all Workman Publishing imprints. Travis Art is now Marketing Manager at Algonquin.
At St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Hannah Phillips, Kevin Reilly, Gwen Hawkes, Alice Pfeifer, Sallie Lotz, and Sarah Grill have all moved up to the title of Associate Editor.
Ben Woodward becomes Editor at The New Press.
At The Experiment, Sophie Tesluk has become Publicity Associate.
At Insight Editions, James Faccinto was promoted to Senior Publicist.
Hayley Parker moves up to Book Designer at Candlewick Press.
Jordan Koluch has become Copy Chief at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
DULY NOTED
Hachette is launching a new imprint, Legacy Lit, “dedicated to books for and by people of color.” Krishan Trotman will lead the line as VP and Publisher. As part of the Perseus Books division, the imprint will publish twelve to fifteen titles a year, with the first to be released in 2022.
Sterling Publishing will launch Sterling Teen in Spring 2021, publishing one to three books a season in all genres of fiction. Future lists will include nonfiction as well.
Chronicle Books has acquired three toy and game brands from the UK’s Wild + Wolf: Petit Collage, Ridley’s Games, and Games Room. Chronicle will establish a UK subsidiary, Chronicle Books Limited. As of January, all distribution and sales representation for these lines will move to Chronicle in the US; Chronicle and Abrams in the UK and Europe; and Raincoast Books in Canada.
Baker & Taylor has resumed selling to academic libraries.
Consortium Book Sales & Distribution now sells and distributes 1984 Publishing. Beginning January 24, they will also sell and distribute Albatros Media, Black Ocean, Eye of Newt, Not a Cult, OR Books, and Yoffy Press.
Beginning January 1, Southern Territory Associates will represent Baker & Taylor Publisher Services’ publisher clients in the southeastern US and select southern states.
Academic Studies Press, which is distributed by Ingram Academic, now manages sales and distribution for Plamen Press as their subdistributor.
Diamond Comic Book Distributors will exclusively distribute Mad Cave Studios to comic book specialty markets worldwide, while Diamond Book Distributors will distribute Mad Cave’s new releases in the North American book market.
Effective January 1, manga publisher Tokyopop will move their English-language trade distribution to Independent Publishers Group. For comic book retailers, they will remain with Diamond Comics.
Astra House’s new literary imprint will be represented by 2 Seas Agency for sales of translation rights.
