PEOPLE
Therese Ratcliff has been named Director and CEO at Liturgical, becoming the first woman to lead the Catholic press. She will replace outgoing director Peter Dwyer in June and is presently VP of the Association of Catholic Publishers’ board of directors. In news from other religious presses, Katelyn Beaty has been named Editorial Director of Brazos; she was previously Acquisitions Editor for Baker Publishing Group. And the Rev. Dr. Bridgett A. Green returns from a stint in academia to become VP of Publishing for the Presbyterian Publishing Corp. and Editorial Director for the WJK Press.
At HarperCollins, James Phirman, previously Senior Director of Special Sales at HMH Books & Media, joins as VP of Special Markets. Louise Braverman joins HarperOne as Director of Publicity; she was formerly Director of Publicity for Viking/Penguin. At Dey Street/William Morrow, Allison Carney, formerly Assistant Director of Marketing at Macmillan, joins as Marketing Director. Jessica Gilo, lately Senior Marketing Manager at Countryman Press, joins the Harper Group as Associate Director of Marketing for Harper Wave and Harper Business. At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Michelle Bigman joins as Senior Designer.
Chris Kouzes, formerly Director of Sales at Readerlink, joins Talkshoplive as VP of Vendor Management and Distribution.
Michael Spradlin joins Puppy Dogs & Ice Cream as VP of Sales and can be contacted at michael.spradlin@pdicbooks.com.
Kendra Newton, previously Senior Director of Marketing at HarperCollins/Dey Street joins Cent, Inc. as Director of Marketing.
As part of the continued Workman integration, a number of changes have been announced at Hachette. In the finance group, Bill Jackson will serve as Workman Executive Finance Director, Jocelyn Lentin will be Financial Analyst, and Linda Stark and Heather Tietgens will both be Finance Managers. The Accounts Receivable and Customer Financial Services group will have Christine Torres, Senior CFS Representative; Rosemary Colucci and Cecilia Ruiz, CFS Representative; Deyanisa Moronta, Senior National Accounts Representative (International); Lucy Spiotta, Senior National Accounts Representative; and Cathy Rivera, Senior Accounts Receivable Reconciler. The General Accounting, Accounts Payable, Royalties, and Payroll Group will have Fun Leung as Payroll Coordinator; Anne Guest as Royalty Analyst; Stacey Shufelt as Subrights Coordinator; Eileen Spinella as Compliance Specialist; Dawn Chavis as Cost Coordinator; Editha Wolf as Senior Accountant; and Vena Balraj and Lawrence Chang as Staff Accounts. And in the contracts department, Shani Weisser joins as Associate and Jodi Donovan joins as Contracts Operations Coordinator.
Elsewhere in the company, Cassie Malmo joins Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Associate Publicity Director. She was previously Senior Publicity Manager at Simon & Schuster Children’s Books. Camryn Cogshell also joins as Assistant Designer. At the Hachette Speakers Bureau, Ashley Cave Himes joins as Senior Manager
Alex Kelleher, lately Associate Director, Publicity at Scholastic, joins Simon & Schuster as Associate Director of Publicity. Jennifer Jimenez joins as Digital Marketing Associate; in the past, she was Production Associate for Abrams. Naomi Kennedy joins the indie team as Telemarketing Account Manager, Independents and Educational Specialist. She was previously National Accounts Coordinator, Children’s Sales for Hachette Book Group.
Sarah Sisterson joins Sourcebooks Kids as Associate Art Director; she was previously Senior Art Director at Phoenix International Publications. Sophie Kossakowski, formerly International Marketing Coordinator at HarperCollins, joins as Associate International Marketing Manager. At Sourcebooks, Tara Jaggers joins as Production Designer.
At the Boston Book Festival, former Random House Graphic Publishing Director Gina Gagliano has been named Executive Director.
In agency news…Agnes Ahlander Turner will become President of Maria B. Campbell Associates, effective April 1, as founder Maria B. Campbell takes the new role of Executive Chair. Adriana Dominguez joins Aevitas Creative Management as Senior Agent; she was most recently Agent at Full Circle Literary. Alison Lewis, lately Agent and Contracts Manager at the Zoë Pagnamenta Agency, joins the Francis Goldin Literary Agency as Agent. At UTA, Georgia Bodnar, previously Senior Editor at Viking, joins as Literary Agent. Jenaye Merida joins WTA Media as Publishing Manager and Literary Agent; she was formerly Senior Publicist at B&H Publishing Group. Additionally, Janine Le, previously Agent and Foreign Rights Manager at Sheldon Fogelman Agency, is launching Janine Le Literary Agency, which will represent children’s book authors and illustrators.
Susan Chang, most recently Senior Editor at Starscape and Tor Teen, has launched a freelance editorial services business.
At Hierophant Publishing, Janette Lynn Neal, previously Senior Production Editor at Insight Editions, joins as Senior Editor.
Matthew Wright joins Sage Publishing as Senior Acquisitions Editor, Psychology. Most recently he was Director of Product at EL Education.
At Yen Press, Taylor Pitts joins as Senior Production Editor. Most recently she was Senior Production Editor at Macmillan.
Poet Jesse Lee Kercheval joins Northwest Review as Editor of Translation. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin.
At the University of North Carolina Press, Elaine Maisner will retire as Executive Editor on March 31.
Bianca Johnson joins little bee books as National Account Manager for Special Markets; she was formerly Senior Account Manager for Corporate and Premium Sales at Macmillan.
At Candlewick, Jennifer Freilach joins as Editorial Services Assistant Manager. Previously she was Production Editor at HarperCollins.
Stephanie Sumulong, lately Art Director at Callisto Media, joins Disney Hyperion Adult and Undefeated Books as Senior Designer.
At Random House Children’s, Donna Rocco, lately Associate Director of Creative Services at World Education Services, joins as Production Supervisor, and Lena Reilly, lately Associate Publicist at HarperCollins Children’s Books, joins as Publicist.
Spencer Quong joins Astra Magazine as Online Editor.
At Chronicle Books, Desirae Grier joins as Junior Financial Analyst.
PROMOTIONS
Todd McGarrity is now VP of Corporate Business Development at Hachette Book Group.
At Celadon, Ryan Doherty becomes VP, Editorial Director.
At Simon & Schuster, Stephen Bedford has been promoted to VP of Marketing. Rachel Berquist moves up to Assistant Marketing Manager, Adult Library.
In university press news: Beth Pratt has been promoted to Director at Ohio University Press. At University of North Carolina Press, Cate Hodorowicz is now Editor. And Courtney Smotherman moves up to Rights, Permissions, and Office Administrator at Northwestern University Press.
Jennifer Valk is now Director of Marketing at Salem Books.
Angela Corpus becomes Associate Director of US Children’s Marketing at The Quarto Group.
At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Jenna Stempel-Lobell is now Associate Art Director and Chris Kwon moves up to Senior Designer. Rose Pleuler has been promoted to Editor at HarperAlley.
Erica Finkel has been promoted to Executive Editor at Abrams Children’s Books, while Megan Carlson moves up to Managing Editor and Charlotte Greenbaum moves up to Senior Editor, Graphic Novels.
At Alloy Entertainment, Viana Siniscalchi has been promoted to Executive Editor and Laura Barbiea has been promoted to Editor.
Caroline Payne is now Marketing Manager at Dutton, and Stephanie Felty has become Associate Publicist at Berkley.
At Candlewick, Alyssa Fowle becomes Senior Production Controller, while Angela Dombroski becomes Senior Fiction Production Strategist; Melanie Blais becomes Senior Contracts and Licensing Manager; and Julie Landy becomes Sales Materials and Book Production Controller.
Verena Raban and Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff have both been promoted to Senior Editor at Northwest Review and will acquire fiction and poetry.
At Other Press, Zoë Miller has been promoted to Publicist.
At Zando, Sareena Kamath becomes Editor and Caolinn Douglas becomes Associate Editor.
Alyssa Ogi is now Editor at Tin House.
Grace Towery has been promoted to Assistant Editor at Hanover Square Press. Lynn Raposo has been promoted to Assistant Editor at HQN Books and Graydon House.
DULY NOTED
Thomas Nelson is launching Magnolia Publications, a new imprint from Chip and Joanna Gaines, to be housed under the W Publishing Group.
Mary Anne Thompson Associates has been hired as US book scout for Germany’s Rowohlt Verlag.
At Mango Publishing Group, Negin Yeganegy and Rachel Addison have joined the board of directors.
