PEOPLE
On August 1, Cindy Loh will join Ameet Publishing in the newly-created role of Publisher, leading Ameet’s LEGO Books publishing program. She was most recently Publishing Director at Bloomsbury US.
At Penguin Random House, Jay Franco joins as Director, Premium & Diversified Sales. He was formerly Director, Special Sales at DK. Leis Pederson returns to Berkley as Editor at Large after working freelance. At Putnam, Colleen Nuccio joins as Marketing Manager; she was previously Marketing Manager at Ballantine Bantam Dell. At Random House Children’s, Katy Miller, formerly Associate Managing Editor at Random House, joins as Managing Editor. And at Crown, Amy Li joins as Associate Editor. She was formerly Associate Editor at McGraw-Hill.
Jonathan Lee joins Bloomsbury as Editorial Director on July 12. He was previously Editor-in-Chief at Catapult. Yelena Safronova joins the children’s art department as Designer.
At Quarto UK, Polly Powell has stepped down as Group CEO to focus on her own company, Pavilion Books. She initially joined in 2019.
Jamie S. Rich, lately Group Editor at DC Comics, joins Tapas Media as Editor-in-Chief.
At Blackstone Publishing, Brendan Deneen joins as Director of Media, Film & TV. He was previously President of Literary and IP Development at Assemble Media.
At Forefront Books, Jennifer Gingerich joins as Editorial Director. She was most recently Associate Publisher at Nelson Books.
Brian Dembowczyk joins Thomas Nelson as Associate Publisher, Bibles. Previously he was Managing Editor and Publishing Team Leader at The Gospel Project.
Michael Dudding joins Tom Doherty Associates as Associate Director of Marketing. He was formerly Senior Marketing Manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
At Columbia Global Reports, Allison Finkel joins as Assistant Director of Marketing. She was previously Senior Marketing Manager at Basic Books.
Author and editor Barbara Santos joins the San Francisco Writers Conference as Director of Partnerships, while author and consultant Matthew Félix joins as Podcast Producer and Host.
In agency news…Ericka T. Phillips joins the Stephanie Tade Agency as Director of Publicity and Brand Development and Associate Agent. She was formerly Development Consultant for Eileen Fisher Community Foundation and Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Agent Laney Katz Becker has retired from Massie & McQuilkin. Latoya Smith, of LCS Literary, and Felice Laverne, of Art + Deco, have launched a new agency, ArtHouse Literary Agency and will be joined by two junior agents.
At Disney-Hyperion, Sylvie Frank, lately Senior Editor at Paula Wiseman Books, joins as Executive Editor. Adam Wilson joins as Senior Editor for Hyperion Avenue; he had been Senior Editor and Business Manager at Artists, Writers & Artisans. Rebecca Kuss joins Rick Riordan Presents as Senior Editor. She was previously Editor at Inkyard.
Natalie Church joins Grove Atlantic as Senior Marketing Manager on July 12. She was formerly Marketing Manager at Dutton.
At Scholastic, Kelsey Albertson joins as Associate Manager, Special Markets. Previously she was National Accounts Representative, Special Markets at Abrams.
Media Reporter Keith Kelly will retire on July 23 after two decades at The New York Post.
PROMOTIONS
At Penguin Random House, Sarah Williams is now VP & Director, Special Markets and Business Development. Lisa Vitelli becomes VP & Director, Proprietary and Premium Sales. Christine Dillon, presently VP, Proprietary and Premium Sales, expands her oversight with premium business nationwide. At Viking Penguin, Emily Wunderlich becomes Senior Editor. Jeramie Orton becomes Editor at Pamela Dorman Books. Molly Fessenden moves up to Assistant Director of Marketing for Viking Penguin and Riverhead. At Random House Children’s, Tara Grieco becomes Senior Marketing Manager and Anika Bates becomes Marketing Associate, while Emily Hoffman becomes Assistant Managing Editor.
Sara Kendrick has become Associate Publisher at Harper Leadership. At HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Becky Monds has been promoted to Associate Publisher for the fiction group, where Jodi Hughes moves up to Senior Editor and Laura Wheeler becomes Acquisitions Editor. Dawn Hollomon becomes Acquisitions Editor at W Publishing. At HarperOne, Aly Mostel is now Senior Director of Marketing. Ryan Shepherd moves up to Associate Director of Marketing at William Morrow, while Kaitie Leary becomes Marketing Associate.
At Bloomsbury, Donna Gauthier becomes Senior Director of Inventory and Operations; Ellen Whitaker becomes Assistant Marketing Manager, Adult Trade; Phoebe Dyer becomes Assistant Marketing Manager, Children’s Trade; and Chris Venkatesh becomes Assistant Sales Manager. Additionally, Annie Rosa is now Inventory Planning Analyst.
At Catapult, Megha Majumdar is now Editor-in-Chief following Jonathan Lee’s departure.
Amy Ruth Buchanan has been promoted to Director of Editorial, Design, and Production at Duke University Press, beginning September 1.
Kerry Martin becomes Creative Director for Holiday House, Peachtree Publishing Company, and Pixel+Ink. Jim Secula is now Senior Marketing Designer for Holiday House and Pixel+Ink.
At Appleseed and Abrams Books for Young Readers, Heather Kelly has been promoted to Assistant Art Director.
Elisabeth Kauffman is now Director of Marketing at the San Francisco Writers Conference.
In agency news…Danielle Bukowski moves up to Agent at Sterling Lord Literistic, where Chris Combemale also moves up to Associate Agent. At SBR Media, Tabatha Pope has been promoted to Agent. Bre Stephens is now Associate Literary Agent at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
At Disney-Hyperion, Jocelyn Davies is now Executive Editor and Brittany Rubiano has become Editor.
Carla Benton is now Senior Production Editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
At Marvel Entertainment, Lauren Bisom becomes Senior Editor.
At Norton, Gabrielle Nugent has been promoted to Associate Publicist.
Ashley Kiedrowski has been promoted to Marketing Associate at Hachette Books and Hachette Go.
At little bee, Josie Dallam is now Sales Coordinator.
At Candlewick Press, Paige Mushaw is now Sales Associate.
DULY NOTED
Artbook | D.A.P. has expanded its distribution agreement with MFA Publications such that it is now worldwide distributor. Previously it had distributed MFA Publications in the US and Canada.
Beginning in September, Two Rivers Distribution will handle global sales and distribution for Bard Press.
Penguin Random House Publisher Services will sell and distribute Victory Belt Publishing’s frontlist and backlist through all sales channels worldwide effective January 1, 2022.
Effective February 1, 2022, Dorothy, a publishing project will have a distribution partnership with New York Review Books, which is in turn sold and distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services.
Lee & Low has acquired El Paso’s Cinco Puntos Press. This acquisition brings 130 titles to Lee & Low, as well as its first adult titles.
Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books Group is creating a new imprint, 13A, dedicated to publishing “renowned, relevant, Black voices in culture and politics.” 13A is named for the Thirteenth Amendment and will be headed by Charles M. Suitt.
Authors Rebekah Borucki and Kristen McGuiness have announced a new company, Row House Books. Row House will launch in January 2022 with six titles in the first year and will be distributed by Simon & Schuster. All authors will receive the same terms: a $40,000 advance against a 40% profit share.
