PEOPLE
On June 7, Jeff Blackburn is returning to Amazon, where he had worked since 1998, as SVP, Global Media & Entertainment. He most recently spent a brief stint as Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
Simon & Schuster’s new lifestyle imprint, Simon Element, will launch in Spring 2022 and be led by VP and Publisher Richard Rhorer, reporting into Atria SVP, Publisher Libby McGuire. Joining the imprint are VP and Editor-in-Chief Doris Cooper, lately Editor-in-Chief at Clarkson Potter; VP and Executive Editor Justin Schwartz, formerly VP and Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster’s eponymous imprint; Executive Editor Leah Miller, formerly Executive Editor at Atria; Senior Editor Leah Trouwborst, formerly Editor at Portfolio; and Associate Editor Veronica Alvarado, lately Associate Editor at Tiller Press.
Harper Focus is launching a gift book imprint, Harper Celebrate, with Michael Aulisio moving over from VP, Marketing to Harper Christian’s children’s and gift division to serve as VP and Publisher. First titles are expected in Fall 2022. Sam Fox joins Harper Children’s as Director of Digital Marketing. Previously he was Brand Marketer and Director at Condé Nast. Farah Reza also joins as Project Manager; she had been Marketer at By Chloe.
Attila Gazdag will serve as President for Albert Whitman & Company’s new endeavor, Albert Whitman Media, which will develop and produce original content based on the publisher’s titles for distribution across all media platforms. Among other positions, Gazdag was previously GM, Direct to Consumer Operations for Warner Bros. Digital.
At Macmillan, Andrew Weber, Global Chief Operating Officer, will depart the company at the end of May.
Wendy Williams joins the eponymous Workman imprint as Senior Editor. Most recently she was Senior Editor at Sterling Publishing. Alisha Zucker joins as Senior Editor, Children’s; she worked previously as Executive Editor of Early Childhood Mathematics at Scholastic.
Sahara Clement joins Clarkson Potter as Editor. She was previously Assistant Editor at Chronicle Books.
At Hudson, CEO Roger Fordyce is stepping down on June 30 after thirty years with the company. EVP, Chief Administrative Officer and Deputy CEO Jordi Martin-Consuegra will succeed him as CEO, while Brian Quinn will become Deputy CEO.
At Pegasus Books, Timothy Thomas joins as Publicist. He was previously Associate Publicist at Oxford University Press.
Aleah Gornbein joins Holiday House, Peachtree Publishing, and Pixel+Ink as Associate Publicist, while Alison Tarnofsky joins as Associate Marketing Manager, Trade.
Alex Segura has been named SVP of Sales and Marketing at the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group and will start on May 24. He was previously Co-President of Archie Comics.
At Netflix, Jordan Moblo joins as Director of Literary and will hire a team under him. He was Director, Creative Acquisitions at Disney.
At Arcadia, Lynda Zuber joins as National Sales Manager, Special Markets. Previously she was Director of International Sales and Subsidiary Rights at Chronicle Books. Chuck Deane joins as Business Development Manager; he had been Director of Sales, Retail at Sourcebooks.
At Maverick Publishing, Alison Maclean, formerly VP of Content Enablement at Wiley, joins as Senior Associate.
On May 28, Audrey Kidd will resign as Chief Revenue and Customer Experience Officer at The United Methodist Publishing House.
Hillary Brenhouse, lately Editor-in-Chief at Guernica, joins Bold Type Books as Editorial Director.
Jeff Nisbet, Director, New Business Development at ReaderLink, has left the company and can be contacted at jt.nisbet1@gmail.com.
In agency news… Kima Jones, Founder of Jack Jones Literary Arts, and Renée Jarvis, lately Literary Assistant at MacKenzie Wolf Literary, join Triangle House Literary as Agents. Kaitlyn Sanchez joins Context Literary Agency as Agent. She was previously Agent at Red Fox Literary. At Azantian Literary Agency, T.S. Ferguson joins as Literary Agent; he had been Editor at Jimmy Patterson Books. Renae Moore also joins Azantian as Associate Agent, having worked formerly as Junior Agent at Tobias Literary Agency. At HG Literary, Brianne Johnson, previously Senior Literary Agent at Writers House, joins as Agent. Additionally, Catherine Cho has launched Paper Literary; she was most recently Literary Agent at Madeleine Milburn Limited.
Roxanne Jones joins Grand Central as Publicity Manager. She was previously Senior Publicist at HarperCollins/Harlequin.
At Acast, Grace Ross joins as Content Development Manager. She was formerly Agent at Regal Hoffmann & Associates.
Julia Callahan, formerly Sales and Marketing Director at Rare Bird Books, joins Independent Publishers Group as West Coast Sales Representative.
At Kevin Anderson & Associates, Kendra Harpster joins as Executive Editor. She was Executive Editor at Random House.
Victoria Reynolds joins Abrams Children’s as Digital & Social Media Marketing Coordinator. Previously she was Marketing Coordinator at the University Press of Florida.
At the University of Washington Press, Laura Fish joins as Marketing Manager.
At Sourcebooks, Andrea Aguiniga joins as Customer Experience Representative.
PROMOTIONS
At DK, Paul Kelly becomes President in addition to his present role as CFO and Strategy Director. Nadine Britt has been promoted to SVP, Executive Director, Production, at Penguin Young Readers. At Penguin Random House, Hector Torres moves up to Senior Sales Manager, International Direct Comic Market and the Caribbean. At Delacorte, Wendy Loggia and Krista Marino both become VPs, while Kelsey Horton becomes Senior Editor and Alison Romig has been promoted to Assistant Editor. Merry Sun is now Editor at Portfolio. Within the Random House Publishing Group, Alex Larned is now Publishing Manager, Del Rey & Licensed, and Aubrey Martinson moves up to Associate Editor, Crown. At Clarkson Potter, Gabrielle Van Tassel is now Associate Editor.
Carly Kellerman is now Associate Publisher at Zondervan; meanwhile, Laura Wheeler moves up to Fiction Acquisitions Editor at Zondervan and Thomas Nelson. At Harlequin, Dana Grimaldi becomes to Editor, acquiring for Harlequin Heartwarming and the Worldwide Mystery and Suspense program.
At the Workman imprint, Cindy Lee has been promoted to Assistant Director, Marketing & Digital Content. Drew Devereaux is now Inventory Supervisor.
In agency news, Elizabeth Bennett moves up to Partner at The Transatlantic Agency.
Alaina Lavoie becomes Program Manager at We Need Diverse Books.
At Counterpoint Press, Jennifer Alton becomes Associate Editor.
Christine Engels is now Associate Editor at Candlewick Press.
Megan Petrie has been promoted to Managing Publicist for Arcadia Children’s Books.
At Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, Rivka Holler is now Marketing Coordinator.
Alex Howard has been promoted to Digital Marketing Coordinator at Holiday House, Peachtree Publishing, and Pixel+Ink.
At Wunderkind PR, Inc., Brianna Robinson becomes Publicity Manager.
DULY NOTED
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial will buy RBA Group’s Molina and Serres Spanish-language children’s and YA imprints, as well as its Catalan imprint, La Magrana.
Seven Stories will distribute titles by Ocean Press and Ocean Sur in North America and worldwide, excluding Cuba.
RBmedia acquired McGraw Hill Professional’s audiobook publishing business, including the backlist catalog and a multi-year agreement to serve as exclusive audio publisher for future MHP titles.
Effective June 1, Ingram’s Jackson, TN warehouse will be the single shipping point for its distributed lines, including Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, Ingram Academic, Ingram Publisher Services, Publishers Group West, and Two Rivers.
EVENTS
May 26-28
U.S. Book Show
online
June 29-July 1
London Book Fair
online
