PEOPLE
At Knopf, Jennifer Barth joins as SVP, Executive Editor on January 17. She is presently SVP, Executive Editor at HarperCollins. Jess Deitcher joins the audience development team as Director of Backlist Strategy. On January 10, Concepción de León joins Pantheon as Senior Editor; she was most recently Reporter at The New York Times. At Random House Group, Stacey Witcraft joins as VP, Director, Sales Marketing, and Ashley Alberico moves over from the PRH sales team to become Assistant Director, Sales Marketing. Lauren Weber moves over from Doubleday to join Vintage Anchor as Director, Brand Marketing. At Random House Graphic, Publishing Director Gina Gagliano has stepped down from the imprint she founded in order to work “more directly with readers.” Juliet Goodman, formerly Legal Graphic Designer at Immersion Legal, joins Random House Children’s as Designer.
Ali Bebo joins Pearson as Chief HR Officer. Most recently she was Chief HR Officer for medical technology company Hologic.
At Scholastic, Mary Beech will join as Chief Marketing & Transformation Officer on January 1. She was most recently CEO of footwear company Sarah Flint.
George Tattersfield joins W.W. Norton as Sales Director, Client Publishing. He was previously VP, Merchandise at Ingram Content Group.
At the University of Chicago Press, Laura Waldron joins as Global Sales Director on January 18. She has been Marketing Director at the University of Pennsylvania Press since 1997, as well as Commissioning Editor for the Penn Studies in Global Health series. Stephen Twilley, formerly Managing Editor at Public Books, joins as Production Editor.
At Zondervan, Sarah Falter, formerly Assistant Publicity Director at Hachette, joins as Publicity Director. Marisa Domenech joins HarperCollins as Art Director for Children’s Marketing. She previously owned and operated a creative marketing consulting business. Adenike Olanrewaju, lately Associate Director, Communications at The New York Times, has joined as Executive Editor. Anna Montague joins Dey Street as Developmental Editor, moving over from the HarperCollins Creative Development team. At William Morrow, Andrew Yackira joins as Development Editor. He had been Development Editor at Callisto Media. Also at that imprint, April Roberts, formerly Associate Publicist at Pegasus Books, joins as Assistant Publicist, as does Jessica Cozzi.
At Twelve and Balance, Jim Datz joins as Art Director. He was previously Art Director for the New York Times Op-Ed page.
Michael Clark joins Macmillan as Director, Production Editorial. He was most recently Senior Production Editor at Hachette. Gail Friedman joins as Production Editor and Jacqueline Huber-Rodriguez, formerly Senior Production Manager at Time Inc., joins as Production Manager. Kayla Burson joins as Senior Specialist Markets Manager, E-commerce; she was most recently Senior Sales Manager at Workman. Fei Zhu joins as Senior Accountant. Previously she was Staff Accountant at Assouline. At Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Samira Iravani joins as Associate Art Director for Feiwel & Friends, Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and Roaring Brook Press. She was previously Associate Art Director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Nicole Schaeffer, previously Assistant Marketing Manager at Abrams, joins as Senior Marketing Manager. Sarah Gompper, lately Associate Production Editor at Yen Press, joins as Production Editor. Tatiana Merced-Zarou joins as Associate Publicist.
At Wonderwell, Jennifer Jensen joins as Sales and Marketing Director. Previously she was Associate Marketing Director at Chronicle Prism. Allison Serrell joins as Senior Editor.
Sarah Gombis joins Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company as Director of Marketing for all academic, trade, and children’s titles. Most recently she was Marketing Manager at Baker Academic. Lisa Ann Cockrel also joins the company as Acquisitions Editor. Most recently she was Director of Programs for Image Journal.
At Assemble Media, Steven Salpeter joins as President of Literary and IP Development. Previously he was Literary Agent at Curtis Brown.
Elizabeth Anderson, formerly Associate Director of Marketing at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, joins Chronicle Prism as Associate Director of Marketing. At Chronicle, Sarah Hamilton joins as Brand Designer.
Poet and arts administrator Arletta Little will take over as Executive Director of The Loft in March. She has directed the McKnight Artist Fellowships for the past eight years. Interim Managing Director Beth Schoeppler will continue part-time until Little enters the position.
At the Bay Area Book Festival, Jane Marchant, formerly Program Director of PEN Literary Awards, joins as Director for Artistic Inclusion. Norah Piehl, most recently Executive Director of the Boston Book Festival, joins as Director for Literary Programs.
In agency news…Beniamino Ambrosi will join the Cheney Agency as Foreign Rights Director in January. He was formerly VP, Senior Scout at Maria B. Campbell Associates. Isabel Kaplan also joins the agency as Development Executive, Film & TV. At Martin Literary Management, writer and academic Regina A. Bernard-Carreño joins as Literary Manager/Producer. At Gardner Literary, author Kristy Cambron joins as Agent. Meredith Kaffel Simonoff joins The Gernert Company as Agent on January 3; she has been working as Agent at DeFiore and Company. Audrey Churchill joins Ultra Literary as Operations Manager. And in scouting news, Thomas Dobrowski joins Maria B. Campbell Associates as Senior Scout. He was previously Global Rights Manager for Trusted Media Brands.
At Webtoon Unscrolled, Bobbie Chase joins as Executive Editor; in the past, she was VP, Global Publishing Initiatives & Digital Strategy at DC Comics.
At Sourcebooks, Jess Elliott joins as Senior National Account Manager, Mass Market Kids. She most recently was National Account Rep, YA-YR at HarperCollins.
Alicia Chinatomby joins Simon & Schuster as Assistant Manager, Gift Sales; she had been Sales Coordinator for Disney Publishing Worldwide.
Shelly Romero, previously Associate Editor at Scholastic, joins Cake Creative as Lead Editor.
At Scholastic, Lynn El-Roeiy, formerly Assistant Designer at Hachette, joins as Visual Designer. Carina Taylor joins as Senior Designer; she had been Graphic Designer at Skybound Entertainment. Lisa Broderick, lately Project Manager at Infobase and Facts on File, joins as Production Editor, Nonfiction. And Jaime Chan, formerly Junior Product Editor at Sterling Publishing, joins as Production Editor, Cartwheel and Picture Books.
At Abrams Children’s, Savannah Breckenridge joins as Marketing Associate; she had been Marketing Coordinator at Simon & Schuster Children’s.
Pete Matthews joins Candlewick Press as Editorial Services Manager.
At Rebel Girls, Jess Harriton, lately Publishing Strategist at Findaway, joins as Editor.
Journalist Celia McGee joins Avenue Magazine as Literary Editor.
At Oprah Daily, Wadza Mhute joins as Books Editor.
PROMOTIONS
At Ecco, Helen Atsma is now VP, Publisher. At the Morrow Group, Maureen Cole becomes Senior Director, Publicity. Bethany Vinhateiro and Alex Preziosi each move up to Executive Editor at Harper Children’s.
At Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Jenna Johnson has been promoted to VP, Editor-in-Chief. Eric Chinski takes the role of Senior Executive Editor as he steps back to focus on publishing his own list. At Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Morgan Kane becomes Associate Director, Publicity. Kristen Luby becomes Senior Marketing Manager, School and Library Marketing, while Leigh Ann Higgins moves up to Marketing Coordinator. At First Second, Kiara Valdez has been promoted to Editor. And at Macmillan, Shavon Bilis is now Client Account Manager.
Stephanie Sabol will become VP, Executive Editor, Brand and Content Development Strategy for Penguin Young Readers on January 1. At Penguin Press, Colleen McGarvey has been promoted to Assistant Director of Publicity. Daniel Wikey becomes Director of Creative and Advertising Operations at Random House Publishing Group. In the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Corbin Whitaker has been promoted to Financial Analyst. Additionally, Daniela Ayuso and Emily Murphy become Senior Marketing Managers; Hannah Engler, Annie Locke, and Erin Merlo become Marketing Managers; and Morgan Fenton and Matthew Sciarappa have been promoted to Marketing Associates. Julianne Clancy moves into the newly-created role of Marketing Director for Pantheon and Schocken. At Random House Children’s, Mary McCue has been promoted to Senior Director, Publicity and Strategic Communications. Elena Meuse has been promoted to Manager, Communications & Analytics. Jenna Lettice and Tricia Lin both move up to Editor, and Jasmine Hodge becomes Assistant Editor.
At the Norton Trade Group, Brendan Curry has been appointed to the newly-created position of Director. Five imprints (Norton Trade, Liveright, Norton Professional Books, Countryman Press, and Norton Young Readers) will report to him.
Amanda Maciel has been promoted to Editorial Director, Scholastic Press. Tiffany Colón and Olivia Valcarce both become Editor at Scholastic, where Sarah Jacobson is now Production Editor, Trade Paperback Reprints. At Graphix, Shivana Sookdeo becomes Senior Designer and Emily Nguyen becomes Assistant Editor.
Maria Middleton has been promoted to Senior Art Director at Candlewick Press, while Heather McGee has been promoted to Associate Art Director.
At Sourcebooks Kids, Allison Sundstrom has been promoted to Art Director. Stephanie Levasseur moves up to National Sales Manager for Gift and Specialty at Sourcebooks, where Kate Roddy, Jenna Jankowski, and Emma Hintzen each become Associate Editor.
At PEN America, Jared Jackson is now Program Director, Literary Programs and Emerging Voices.
Eric M. B. Becker moves up to Digital Director and Senior Editor at Words Without Borders.
Leigh Haber becomes Books Director for Oprah Daily and O Quarterly. She will continue in her role as Editorial Director at Oprah’s Book Club.
At Market Partners International, Nina Sabak has been promoted to Director of Research and Editorial.
Katie Sheehan has been promoted to Associate Director of Communications at Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
In agency news…Adam Eaglin becomes VP at The Cheney Agency, overseeing the film & TV rights department, while Allison Devereux becomes Agent full-time. At Fuse Literary, Tricia Skinner moves up to Senior Agent. Tara Gonzalez becomes Agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency, in addition to her existing role as Social Media Coordinator. And at New Leaf Literary & Media, Jordan Hill has been promoted to Associate Agent.
At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Cassie Malmo is now Senior Publicity Manager.
Alisha Gorder becomes Publicity Manager at Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Press. Miyako Singer is now Writing Programs Operations Coordinator at Catapult.
Lauren Ortiz has been promoted to Publicist at Little, Brown and Company.
At Workman Publishing, Elizabeth Drooby has been promoted to Assistant Manager, Online Retail, Catalogs, and Specialty Wholesale.
At Chronicle, Jessica Ling has been promoted to Managing Editor.
Grace McNamee has been promoted to Editor at Bloomsbury USA.
At The Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Bruell now covers news and magazine publishing.
Andrew LaVallee is moving from the New York Times Books desk to Arts & Leisure, where he is now Editor.
At Wonderwell, Jesmine Chan has been promoted to Production Editor/Project Manager.
EVENTS
Bloomsbury has acquired academic publisher ABC-CLIO. ABC-CLIO will become part of Bloomsbury USA’s Academic and Professional division.
Effective January 1, Ingram Publisher Services will handle Aperture’s global sales and distribution. IPS has handled Aperture’s sales and distribution in the US and Canada since 2016.
The University of Chicago Press and the Chicago Distribution Center have added the Grolier Club as a marketing and distribution client. All backlist and forthcoming titles ship from the Chicago Distribution Center effective January 1.
Two Rivers Distribution has added Sungrazer Publishing as a client.
Quarto COO Ken Fund, who retired December 1, will keep a board seat as non-executive director.
At Cinergistik, the renamed iteration of Metabook, Ken Siman remains Head of Publishing. The Metabook name and trademarks were purchased by Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook.
The PW Person of the Year is Ellen Adler, “whose ability to publish ahead of the curve and commitment to publishing diversely consistently impressed over the past few years and more.”
