PEOPLE
Paula Amendolara joins Sourcebooks as SVP of Sales. She was most recently VP and Director of Sales, National Accounts at Simon & Schuster. At Sourcebooks Fire, Karen Masnica joins as Associate Director of Marketing & Publicity; she was previously Senior Marketing Manager at Simon & Schuster.
At Diamond Book Distributors, Rich Johnson joins as VP, Sales and Business Development. He was most recently President and Founder of the publishing consultancy Brick Road Media.
Sandy Resnick joins WEBTOON as Head of Rights. He worked previously as Director, Global Affiliated Publishing & Business Development at DC Comics.
Among the executive departures at e-reading startup Legible are Chief Publishing Officer Cameron Drew, Chief Revenue Officer Wai-Ming Yu, Chief Financial Officer Helina Patience, Head of Accessibility Laura Brady, and Chief Technology Officer Adam Zouak. In addition, over a third of employees were laid off, bringing the company from 60 people to 37.
VP, Marketing & Publicity Lauren Hoffman has left her position at Simon & Schuster Children’s.
Ebony LaDelle has left her position as Brand Marketing Director at Penguin Random House and can be contacted through her website.
At Audible, Rhea Lyons joins as Content Acquisitions Director. Most recently she was Agent and Director of Film and Television Rights at HG Literary.
Josh Noem joins Ave Maria Press as Editorial Director. Previously he was Senior Editor at Grotto Network, an initiative from the University of Notre Dame.
At Wayne State University Press, Traci Cothran joins as Sales and Marketing Director. She was formerly Director of K-12 Content Strategy and Development at Gale. Sandra Korn, previously Assistant Editor at Duke University Press, joins as Acquisitions Editor.
In agency news…Karen Murgolo returns to Aevitas Creative Management as Agent. She was previously Editorial Director of Lifestyle & Culinary at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. At WME, Angeline Rodriguez, lately of the UK’s Orbit Books, joins the New York office as Agent.
At Little, Brown, Alex Littlefield, formerly Executive Editor at Mariner Books, will join as Executive Editor on May 16.
Emily Graff joins Harper Group as Senior Editor. She was previously Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster. At Harper Alley, Maddy Price joins as Assistant Designer.
At Sounds True, Sarah Stanton, lately Senior Acquisitions Editor at Shambhala Publications, joins as Senior Editor.
Zakiya Jamal has resigned as Senior Manager of Social Media at Scholastic.
Natalie Weaver joins Springer Nature as Marketing Manager. She was previously Speakers Bureau Associate at HarperCollins Speakers Bureau.
At Transit Books, Theadora Walsh joins as Marketing Manager.
At Westminster John Knox Press, Jose Santana joins as Academic Marketing Manager.
Kathleen Morandini joins Bloomsbury Children’s as Children’s Assistant School and Library Marketing Manager.
PROMOTIONS
Pete Zophy has been promoted to SVP of E-Commerce at Books-a-Million.
At Basic Books, Brian Distelberg is now VP, Editor-in-Chief.
Andrew Miller has been promoted to VP, Editorial Director, Nonfiction at Knopf. At Random House Children’s, Nicole De Las Heras moves up to Executive Art Director; Elizabeth Tardiff and Jan Gerardi, to Assistant Art Director; and Brittany Ramirez, to Junior Designer. April Ward becomes Executive Art Director, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult. Jinna Shin becomes Associate Art Director, Interiors and Paperbacks.
Shannon Spisak is now VP of Marketing and Communications at Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
At Book Culture, Devon Dunn is now VP of Buying and Cody Stuart Madsen is now VP of Operations.
At Sourcebooks, Sean Murray becomes VP of Sales, National and Independent Retail Accounts. Jenna Quatraro moves up to Creative Director, Retail Marketing and Creative Services. Cari Zwolinski becomes Assistant Business Manager. Cristina Arreola has been promoted to Senior Marketing Manager; Amy Jackson, to Senior Marketing Associate; Allison Lewis and Morgan Vogt, both to Assistant Digital Marketing Manager; Kelsey Kulp, to Assistant Digital Marketing Coordinator; and Alex Derdall, to Digital Marketing Specialist. Danielle McNaughton is now Senior Designer, while Viridiana Contreras is now Senior Graphic Designer. Erin McClary becomes Editor and Bridget McCarthy becomes Assistant Editor. Adam Lara is now Web Application Developer and Administrator, and Bob Lessard becomes Front End Developer. Sarah Haley is now Assistant Royalty Manager. At Sourcebooks Kids, Maryn Arreguín has been promoted to Senior Art Director, and Michelle Mayhall has been promoted to Book Designer.
Vicki Jaeger has been promoted to VP, Editorial Director of Insight Editions and Insight Kids. Also at Insight Editions, Lara Starr becomes Associate Director of Publicity; Samantha Kornblum, Associate Manager of Global Sales and Marketing Materials; Valdemar Duran, Senior Designer; and Kirtika Jain, Social Media Specialist and Designer.
At Farrar, Straus Children’s, Joy Peskin has been promoted to Executive Editorial Director. Kirk Benshoff is now Associate Creative Director overseeing graphic novels for First Second, Roaring Brook Press, Farrar, Straus Books for Young Readers, Feiwel and Friends, and Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Justin Krasner becomes Executive Editor at Odd Dot. At Feiwel and Friends, Emily Settle becomes Editor and Rachel Diebel becomes Associate Editor. At Macmillan Children’s, Danielle Imperiale moves up to Designer Manager, Marketing and Kaitlin Loss becomes Subsidiary Rights Manager.
Brieana Garcia is now Associate Director of Marketing for Amistad, Via, and HarperCollins Español. At Ecco, Sara Birmingham becomes Senior Editor. And at Harper Children’s, Ciera Burch becomes Assistant Editor.
Gabby Fisher and Natasha Martin have both been promoted to Associate Director, Publicity at Abrams.
At Penguin Random House, Ashleigh Heaton is now Assistant Director, Del Rey and Licensing. Joanna Cárdenas moves up to Executive Editor at Kokila. Alex Cruz-Jimenez becomes Marketing Coordinator at Viking, Penguin, and Penguin Classics.
In agency news, Alec Smart becomes Associate Agent for Nonfiction at Nappaland Literary Agency.
At Chicago Review Press, Kara Rota is now Executive Editor.
Maria Sweetman moves up to Senior Acquisitions Editor at Wayne State University Press.
Grace Fell has been promoted to Publicist at BookSparks.
At Candlewick Press, Melissa Miller becomes Reprints Production Controller.
At the Northwest Review, Natalie Staples has been promoted to Poetry Editor, succeeding Mike McGriff, who becomes Advisory Editor. Additionally, Nathaniel Nelson has been promoted to Assistant Poetry Editor.
DULY NOTED
Sterling Publishing has acquired Knock Knock, including the brand Em & Friends; all will be overseen by Union Square & Co. and its publisher, Emily Meehan. Knock Knock Founder and CEO Jen Bilik and Em & Friends Founder Emily McDowell report to Meehan as creative consultants, while VP, Sales & Operations Jim Papscoe and VP, Associate Publisher Craig Hetzer will “focus on the day-to-day operations of the overall business” and likewise report to Meehan.
The sale of Phoenix Color to Lakeside Book Company, formerly LSC, is complete. Lakeside CEO Dave McCree will lead the combined business; former Phoenix Executive Chair Marc Reisch will “support the business through the integration and remain with ALJ”; and Phoenix president John Carbone will retire.
Random House is partnering with creative content platform Sugar23 to establish the co-branded imprint Sugar23 Books. Sugar23 previously established an imprint of the same name at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Seven books already under contract will be published this year by HarperCollins, as part of their acquisition of HMH Trade; going forward, all new acquisitions will be published with Random House. Crown President David Drake will be in-house liaison, while Kevin Doughten takes on the role of Executive Editor, Crown and Nonfiction Editorial Director, Sugar23 Books. Sugar23 CEO Michael Sugar and Editorial Director of Books Angela Ledgerwood will continue to lead the line from their side.
At the American Booksellers Association board, Raquel Roques of Coral Gable, FL’s Books & Books and Jeff Deutsch of Chicago’s Seminary Co-Op and 57th Street Books were elected to three-year terms. Jenny Cohen of Hood River, OR’s Waucoma Books will serve a second term. Cynthia Compton of 4 Kids Books & Toys in Zionsville, IL and Michael Hermann of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH both begin their first full term. And Diane Capriola of Decatur, GA’s Little Shop of Stories will fill the Co-VP position vacated by Christine Oronati when she became President.
Emily Drabinski, interim chief librarian at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, has been elected to serve as 2022-2023 president of the American Library Association.
