PEOPLE
Jon Yaged has been named President at Macmillan, filling the position vacated by Don Weisberg when he became CEO last year after the surprise departure of Jon Sargent. Jeff Carroll, EVP, Marketing & Consumer Strategy, is departing the company after that position was eliminated. Meghan Leahy moves over to Macmillan as Sales Representative; she had been Senior Marketing Operations Manager at St. Martin’s Press. At Macmillan Trade and Shared Services, Gracie Mercado joins as SVP, Human Resources. She was previously VP, Team HR Support for the National Basketball Association. Mercado is also joining Macmillan’s trade management committee and D&I steering committee. Tim Duggan has joined Henry Holt as VP, Executive Editor. Most recently he was Editor and Publisher of the eponymous imprint at Crown. Elyse Villalobos has joined Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group as Marketing Coordinator.
On the Random House consumer marketing team, Matteo Costa joins as VP, Marketing Development; he was most recently Director of Business Development for PRH. Carla Bruce-Eddings, lately Senior Publicist for Counterpoint/Catapult/Soft Skull Press, joins as Director of Publicity, One World/Roc Lit 101. Lulu Martinez joins as Marketing Director, One World; most recently she was Senior Marketing Manager at Amistad, Harper Español, and Harper Via. Also at Random House, Ebony LaDelle, formerly Marketing Director at HarperCollins, joins as Marketing Director, Brand Publishing, and Sarah Bode, formerly Marketer at New York University Press, joins as Backlist Marketing and Publicity Manager. Maria Goldverg, formerly Assistant Editor at Vintage/Anchor, joins Pantheon on March 1 as Senior Editor. At Random House Children’s Group, Bria Ragin joins as Editor for Delacorte Press and the new Joy Revolution imprint. She was previously Assistant Editor at Quill Tree Books. Brett Wright also joins Random House Children’s as Senior Editor; he was previously Senior Editor at Clever Publishing. At Penguin Random House Audio, Brian Ramcharan, formerly Junior Producer at Simon & Schuster Audio, joins as Producer.
David Steinberger is stepping down as CEO of Arcadia Publishing and is succeeded by Brittain Phillips, who was previously Director of Business Development. He will remain on the company’s board.
At Pearson, Dr. Florida E. Starks joins as SVP, Chief Diversity Officer. Most recently she was International Head of Diversity and Inclusion at ConAgra Brands.
At Highlights, Dennis Hupp joins as SVP, Retail. Most recently he was Chief Commercial Officer at Slingshot Coffee Company.
Mick Demakos, lately Principal Consultant at Maple Hill Advisors, joins Capstone as Chief Digital Officer.
At Johns Hopkins University Press, Diem Bloom has joined as Director, Publishing Operations. She was most recently Content Team Lead at Silverchair.
Betsy Beier joins Hay House as Editorial Director. She previously held that title at Sterling Publishing.
At Atria, Karlyn Hixon joins as Marketing Director. She was previously Director, Strategic Partnerships & Editorial at BookPal. Leslie Tran joins Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing as Associate.
At Twelve, Megan Perritt-Jacobson, formerly Publicity Director at Crown, joins as Director of Publicity and Marketing. Vivian Lee joins Little, Brown on February 15 as Senior Editor; she was most recently an independent editor. At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Allison Broeils joins as Marketing Operations Coordinator.
Lynn Boulger joins the Authors Guild Foundation as Executive Director. She worked previously as Dean of Institutional Advancement for the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME.
Kim Dayman has joined Princeton Architectural Press as Marketing Director. Previously she was Marketing Director at HarperCollins, and most recently she was Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy for DoSomething.org.
Jennifer Gingerich, previously Senior Director of Content Development at Ramsey Solutions, has joined Nelson Books as Associate Publisher. Jennifer Baker, lately Managing Editor at Random House Children’s Books, joins Amistad/HarperCollins as Senior Editor.
At Dexterity, Scott Revo joins as Director of Sales and Marketing. He had been Manager of Customer Experience at Getty Music. Ashley Harris joins as Marketing and Publicity Specialist.
Jacob Bray joins Wolfpack Publishing as Director of Subsidiary Rights. He previously worked in professional theater and higher education.
At Morgan James Publishing, Nickcole Watkins is leaving her position as Director of Author Support.
Blyth Meier has left her position as Marketing Director of Porchlight Book Company to begin working freelance and join the Milwaukee Health Department’s COVID-19 response team.
At Melville House, Michael Barson joins as Senior Publicity Executive. He was previously Senior Executive, Publicity at Penguin Group USA.
In agency news…Noah Ballard joins Verve as Agent. Most recently he was Literary Agent at Curtis Brown. Author Michelle Hauck joins Storm Literary Agency as Associate Agent. At Azantian Literary Agency, Alexandra Weiss, lately Associate Agent at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, joins as Associate Agent. At Fuse Literary, Ernie Chiara joins as Associate Agent.
Rick Wolff, lately Senior Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, joins Kevin Anderson & Associates as Senior Executive Editor.
At Scholastic, Sarah Sullivan has joined as National Accounts Manager, Readerlink. Previously she was Senior Account Executive at Disney Publishing Worldwide.
Chris Conti joins Independent Publishers Group as Trade Sales Manager. He was most recently Midwest Sales Manager for Phaidon. Melanie Roth joins as Sales Manager for Chicago Review Press. Previously she was Director of Sales and Marketing at Fulcrum Publishing.
At Viz Media, Amanda Ng, formerly Senior Editor at Insight Editions, joins as Senior Editor for Original Publishing.
Kera Yonker has been named Development Coordinator at Binc and can be reached at kera@bincfoundation.org.
Mindy Chahal joins Sourcebooks as Senior Marketing Associate for Poisoned Pen Press. Most recently she was Assistant Marketing Manager at Harper One.
PROMOTIONS
At Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Jen Besser has been named President. Robert Brown moves up Associate Director, Marketing. At Macmillan, Cristina Gilbert is now SVP, Publishing and Marketing Strategy and Hillary Scarbrough is now VP, Business Systems. Allison Verost becomes SVP, Publishing Director for Roaring Brook Press, Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers, First Second Books, and Priddy Books. Mariel Dawson has been promoted to VP, Marketing. At Roaring Brook Press, Connie Hsu is now Editorial Director and Emily Feinberg is now Senior Editor. Brian Geffen has been promoted to Senior Editor at Holt Children’s. At Farrar, Straus & Giroux: Sean McDonald has been promoted to SVP, Publisher, MCD. Jackson Howard becomes Associate Editor, while Deborah Ghim, Ian Van Wye, and Molly Walls become Assistant Editors. Rodrigo Corral is now VP, Creative Director, Brand and Design. Na Kim is now Associate Creative Director. Chloe Texier-Rose has been promoted to Senior Publicist, while Lauren Roberts moves up to Publicist, Nikki Barnhart to Associate Marketing Manager, and Alexis Nowicki to Associate Publicist.
Chris Dufault moves over to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on March 15 as SVP, Group Deputy Publisher, Publishing and Sales Operations. Avideh Bashirrad has been promoted to SVP, Deputy Publisher of Random House. Rachel Kind becomes VP and Executive Director of Foreign Rights, while Rachel Berkowitz moves up to Director of Foreign Rights; Donna Duverglas to Deputy Director of Foreign Rights; Jessica Cashman to Senior Manager; and Claire Posner-Greco to Manager of Foreign Rights. Leslie Prives moves up to VP, Consumer Strategy & Engagement. In the publicity department, Cindy Murray has been promoted to VP, Director of Publicity and Marketing; David Moench to VP, Director of Publicity, Del Rey; Carrie Neill to Associate Director of Publicity; both Emily Isayeff and Steven Boriack to Assistant Director of Publicity; Stacey Stein to Publicist; and Leslie Calhoun to Marketing and Publicity Associate for WaterBrook & Multnomah. Elsewhere in the company, Derek Gullino is now SVP, Executive Director of Publishing Operations for Clarkson Potter, Harmony & Rodale, and Ten Speed Press. At Crown, Amanda Cook has been promoted to VP and Editorial Director and Madison Jacobs has been promoted to Publishing Manager. Allison Renzulli moves up to Director of Brand, Lifestyle, supporting Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press; also at those imprints, Monica Stanton becomes Marketing Associate. At Ballantine, Allison Schuster moves up to Assistant Director, and Taylor Noel and Kathleen Quinlan move up to Senior Marketing Manager. Madison Dettlinger has been promoted to Marketing Associate, Ballentine, Random House, and Dial. Dana Loffredo is now Executive Editor, Harmony & Rodale, and Brianne Sperber becomes Assistant Director. At Penguin Press, Gail Brussel has been promoted to Associate Publicity Director. At Dutton, Amanda Walker has become Executive Director of Publicity. At Doubleday, Michael Goldsmith has become Senior Director of Publicity. Derek Reed moves up to Executive Editor at Convergent, where Jessalyn Foggy becomes Assistant Director. Sara Johnson has been promoted to Senior Marketing Manager for Avery/TarcherPerigee, where Carla Iannone moves up to Social Media and Marketing Coordinator. At the Modern Library, Mika Kasuga is now Editorial Manager and will continue as Senior Publishing Manager for One World. Ashleigh Heaton moves up to Marketing Manager at Del Rey. At Random House Children’s Publishing, Lois Evans is now Assistant Editor, while Jen Jie Li becomes Production Manager and Alice Rahaeuser becomes Assistant Production Manager.
At Disney Publishing Worldwide, Sarah Weisinger is now SVP, Group Publisher.
Caitlyn Dlouhy is now VP and Publisher of Caitlyn Dlouhy Books at Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
At Phaidon, Simon Hunegs moves up to Project Editor.
At Charlesbridge, Yolanda Scott has become VP, Publisher and Megan Bencivenni Quinn has become VP, Director of Sales and Marketing.
Sarah Cardillo is now VP of Publishing Operations at Sourcebooks. Taylor Maccoux has been promoted to Editor for Sourcebooks Wonderland.
At New Harbinger Publications, Julie Kahn becomes VP of Sales and Marketing.
At Maverick Publishing Specialists, Rebecca Rinehart has been promoted to CEO.
Kayleigh George has been promoted to Senior Director of Marketing at William Morrow. Julia Elliott is now Associate Editor. Elle Keck is now Editor for William Morrow/Avon. Sarah Haugen has been promoted to Editor at Harper and Harper Perennial. At HarperCollins Children’s Publishing, Audrey Diestelkamp becomes Director, Marketing; Robert Imfeld becomes Associate Director; Sabrina Abballe moves up to Senior Manager; and Michael D’Angelo becomes Assistant Manager.
In agency news…Andrianna Yeatts and Jennifer Simpson both become Agents at ICM. At Spencerhill Associates, Ali Herring moves up to Literary Agent. At Curtis Brown, Sarah Gerton becomes Agent. Ana Crespo has been promoted to Assistant Agent at East West Literary Agency.
At little bee, Rebecca Webster and Brett Duquette have both been promoted to Executive Editor. Courtney Fahy is now Assistant Editor. Evan Oare moves up to Senior Accounts Manager and Elizabeth Peskin becomes Senior Production Manager.
At Hay House, Anne Barthem and Lisa Cheng have both been promoted to Executive Editor.
Sawako Shirota has been promoted to Manager of Library Marketing at Candlewick Press. Maya Tatsukawa moves up to Book Designer. Lindsay Warren is now Assistant Editor.s
Angelie Yap is now Junior Designer at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
At Princeton University Press, Alyssa Sanford and Matt Taylor have been promoted to Publicist and Tyler Hubbert has been promoted to Promotions Associate.
At Liveright, Gina Iaquinta is now Editor.
Abby Muller is now Associate Editor at Algonquin.
At the American Booksellers Association, Jessica Stauffer has been named Program Manager and Molly Bond has been named Advocacy & Public Policy Manager.
DULY NOTED
Effective July 1, Penguin Random House will sell and distribute both frontlist and backlist for BenBella Books across all sales channels worldwide.
Page Two Books in Vancouver, Canada will use Macmillan to handle US and international sales outside Canada, as well as distribution for physical and audio titles, beginning July 1.
Also beginning July 1, University of Texas Press will be distributed by the Chicago Distribution Center.
Independent Publishers Group is forming a new in-house field sales representation team, to be led by VP of Sales Michael Riley. This team will hire new reps to focus on three territories (East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast) and will part ways with its current reps on May 1.
Production company Nacelle Company will start an imprint focusing on “pop history, nostalgia, and limited edition reprints,” with distribution from Ingram Publisher Services. Among the first titles will be The Toys That Made Us Compendium, based on the Netflix documentary.
Following the retirement of Norton President and Chairman W. Drake McFeely, new President and Chairman Julia A. Reidhead joins the National Book Foundation board. Attorney and board member PD Villareal has been elected treasurer.
Pearson announced that Michael Lynton will step down from the board at its 2021 annual meeting.
In other board news: Kuo-Yu Liang is joining the board of Binc, and Jen Reynolds and Lori Tucker-Sullivan are departing. Wiley President and CEO Brian Napack has been reelected as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers for 2021-22, with Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch elected Vice-Chair. ABA vice-president Bradley Graham will take over as President, succeeding Jamie Fiocco, with Kelly Estep and Christine Onorati to serve as Co-VP and Secretary, respectively. Chris Morrow is stepping down and will be replaced by Michelle Malanzo.
EVENTS
January 29-February 13
Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
Dubai, UAE
February 18-20
ABA Winter Institute 16 (Wi16)
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