PEOPLE
Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle is stepping down at the end of the year and will also resign from Bertelsmann’s executive board. His interim successor is Nihar Malaviya, currently President and COO of Penguin Random House US. At DK, Scott Grande joins as VP, Commercial Finance & Operations for North America. He was previously Director of Financial Analysis at Penguin Random House. Hannah Babcock, formerly Rights and Co-Editions Manager at Scholastic, joins Random House Children’s Books as Director of Subsidiary Rights, and Alyssa Eatherly, formerly Literary International Rights Coordinator at William Morris Endeavor, joins as Associate Manager of Subsidiary Rights. At WaterBrook Multnomah, Drew Dixon joins as Executive Editor; most recently, he was Team Leader for Student Ongoing Curriculum at Lifeway. At Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Esther Cajahuaringa, lately Editor at Union Square Kids, joins as Editor.
Jesse Myers has been named President and CEO of Baker Publishing, effective May 1, 2023, and is the first person outside the Baker family to hold the position. He replaces Dwight Baker, who is retiring on April 30. Myers is currently Publisher of Lexham Press and Director of Original Content for Faithlife, makers of Logos Bible Software.
At Macmillan, Ajay Roy joins as COO. Most recently he was COO of PARTS iD. Erin D. Coffey, SVP of Communications and Events, has left the company. Maya Battle, previously Associate Director of Audience Development and Category Specialist at Random House, joins as Director of Marketing Intelligence. Amy Solov joins as Manager of Gift Sales; Anna Shilova, as Product Manager for the Platform Development Team; and Adelynne Chang, as Contracts Associate. At Macmillan Children’s, Abby Granata joins as Junior Designer.
Susan Weinberg will take over as Publisher of the Workman Publishing group on January 1, following the retirement of Dan Reynolds. At the same time, the Perseus division will be reorganized, resulting in a new Basic Books Group comprising Basic, Seal, Public Affairs, and Bold Type Books. The group will be led by Lara Heimert. A newly-formed Running Press Group will comprise Avalon Travel, Black Dog & Leventhal, Running Press, Running Press Minis, Running Press Studio, and Running Press Kids; that group will be led by Kristin Kiser. Brandon Proia, formerly Executive Editor at University of North Carolina Press, joins Basic Books as Executive Editor. At Legacy Lit, Maya Lewis, previously Marketing Manager at HarperCollins, joins as Marketing Manager.
Alyson Forbes has been officially named Publisher of the Catapult book group. She had been serving as interim publisher for almost a year, following the departure of Andy Hunter; prior to joining Catapult, she was VP and Executive Director of Marketing Strategy at the Hachette Book Group.
At Audible, James Finn joins as Head of Global Brand and Content Marketing. Most recently he was EVP and Head of Marketing at FoxNext.
Rick Rekedal joins David C Cook as Chief Creative Officer. Most recently he was President of StoryCrate.
David Nussbaum has left America’s Test Kitchen, where he was CEO and Board Chair. Jackie Ford is serving as Interim CEO.
At Oni-Lion Forge Publishing, Hunter Gorinson has been hired as President and Publisher. He was most recently VP of Business Development at BOOM! Studios.
Josh Marwell, President of Sales at HarperCollins, is retiring. At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Kelly Haberstroh joins as Associate Publicist.
At the Association of American Publishers, J. Carl Maxwell joins as VP, Public Policy. Most recently he was Manager of Advocacy at the American Chemical Society.
Margaret Harrison joins Ingram Content Group as VP, Digital Services. Previously she was Director of Content Solutions, Lightning Source.
Trish Todd will retire as VP and Executive Editor of Atria at the end of the year. At Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, Amaris Mang joins as Marketing Associate for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Beach Lane Books, and Paula Wiseman Books. Most recently she was Digital Marketing Coordinator at Starry Forest Books.
Following a reorganization, Leigh Haber has left her position as VP of Books at Oprah Daily and Editorial Director of Oprah’s Book Club. The new point of contact for Oprah’s Book Club will be Jill Adams, jill.adams@hearst.com, and books section submissions for Oprah Daily can be sent to Editorial Director Pilar Guzmán, pilar.guzman@hearst.com.
On January 1, Traci Lester will step down as Executive Director of The Center for Fiction to pursue other opportunities. An interim executive director will be hired while the search for a new executive director is underway.
At Sourcebooks, Jess Johns joins as Director of Analytics. Johns was previously Manager of Consumer Insights at Ingram and a cofounder of analytics startup OptiQly. Drew French also joins the company as Senior Data Scientist; most recently, he was Data Scientist II on Readerlink’s advanced analytics team. Katrina Turner joins as Production Editor; Antoaneta Georgieva joins as Designer; and Michelle Lecumberry joins as Marketing and Social Media Associate for Sourcebooks Fire.
Andrew “AJ” Murphy joins Humanix Books as Sales Director, North America, and Taline Najarian joins as Sales Director, Special Markets and International.
Sam Mitchell joins Hilsinger-Mendelson East as Assistant Director of Publicity. Previously he was Publicity Manager at Penguin Press.
In agency news…Laurel Symonds joins KT Literary as Literary Agent. She was previously Literary Agent at The Bent Agency. Lauren Hall joins Folio Literary Management as Literary Agent. Additionally, Fernanda Martínez has launched an editorial services agency, Fernanda Literary Services. Most recently she was Scout at Mary Anne Thompson Associates.
At the University of Chicago Press, Karen Levine joins as Executive Editor for Art and Ancient Studies. Previously she was Editor-in-Chief at Getty Publications.
At Erewhon Books, Diana M. Pho joins as Executive Editor. Previously she was Lead Creative Executive for Co-Productions and Partnerships at Realm.
Jessie Kindig, lately Editor at Verso Books, joins Yale University Press as Senior Editor.
At Blackstone Publishing, Sarah Bonamino, formerly Publicist at St. Martin’s Publishing Group, joins as Senior Publicist.
At ReaderLink Distribution Services, Shadrack Orina joins as Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Developer for Information Technology. Additionally, Allison Moua joins as Purchasing Coordinator for Juvenile Property; Karen McKenna joins as Accounting Manager for Finance; and Lorne Hartmann joins as Space and Merchandise Planner.
Olivia Newton joins Microcosm Publishing as Editor.
At Chronicle Books, Sam Goff joins as Publishing Data Manager.
Martha Kennedy joins Candlewick Press as Book Designer.
At Scholastic, Martha Maynard joins as Designer, Licensing, Brands, & Media. She was previously Assistant Designer at HarperCollins. Ashley Vargas joins as Junior Designer, Licensing, Brands, and Media.
Major Jackson joins Northwest Review as Advisory Editor.
PROMOTIONS
Susan Jurevics moves up to Chief Brand and International Officer at Audible. Andrew Pantoja has been promoted to Senior Program Manager for Audiobooks at Amazon Publishing and Brilliance Publishing. Additionally, Gabriella Dumpit moves up to Manager of Subsidiary Rights at Amazon Publishing.
Amanda Close is now SVP, Children’s Sales and Strategic Development at Penguin Random House; effective January 1, she will lead sales efforts for Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children’s Books, and Penguin Random House Publisher Services’ children’s imprints while continuing to oversee Special Markets. Sarah Williams has been promoted to VP, Special Markets and Strategic Market Development. Morgan Green is now Associate Director of National Distributor Sales. At Random House Children’s Books, Katherine Harrison becomes Executive Editor and Hannah Hill becomes Senior Editor; additionally, Jen Valero becomes Senior Designer, and Claire Rivkin moves up to Manager of Subsidiary Rights. At Knopf, Sarah New and Tricia Cave both move up to Senior Publicity Manager; Sarah Nisbet becomes Senior Publicist; and Amy Hagedorn becomes Associate Publicist.
At HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Beth Murphy becomes VP of Marketing for ChurchSource and HarperChristian Resources. Robert Imfeld is now Director of Marketing at HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Deb Wood has been promoted to VP and Creative Director at Abrams. Kim Lauber moves up to VP, Children’s Marketing.
At Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Amy Habayeb is now Senior Director of Children’s Subsidiary Rights, while Caroline Osborn moves up to Senior Manager of Children’s Subsidiary Rights. Tamika Brown becomes Senior Production Manager at Little Simon, Simon Spotlight, and Libros para niños. Tatyana Rosalia moves up to Production Manager at Margaret K. McElderry Books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and Beach Lane Books.
At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Saho Fujii becomes Executive Art Director.
At Macmillan, Sameer Chaudhari becomes Director of Finance. Rachel Weinert is now Senior Manager of Foreign Rights. Meaghan Leahy moves up to National Account Manager for Barnes & Noble. At St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Erik Platt has been promoted to Director, Advertising & Audience Development, while Alyssa Gammello becomes Publicist and Sara La Cotti becomes Associate Publicist.
Tina George is now Director of Publishing Operations Technology at Sourcebooks. David Rush is now Network and Support Team Lead.
At Princeton Architectural Press, Holly La Due has been promoted to Editorial Director.
Katherine Boller is now Editorial Director of Art and Architecture Books at Yale University Press.
In agency news…Jane von Mehren has been named Senior Partner at Aevitas Creative Management. Alexandra Levick is now Senior Agent at Writers House. Ernie Chiara and Karly Dizon have both been promoted to Agent at Fuse Literary. At Trident Media Group, Aurora Fernandez becomes Associate Literary Agent and Executive Assistant to Group Chair Robert Gottlieb, while Emma Fingleton becomes Associate Foreign Rights Agent. Anjanette Barr moves up to Associate Agent at Dunham Literary. At Metamorphosis Literary Agency, Caroline Trussell is now Junior Agent.
Lex Higbee is now Publicity Manager of Children’s and YA at Bloomsbury.
At Scholastic, Salena Johnson becomes Designer, Licensing, Brands & Media.
At Kensington Publishing Corp., Kristin McLaughlin has been promoted to Digital Marketing Manager.
Katie Qiaoling Mantele has been promoted to Sales & Marketing Associate at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
DULY NOTED
Effective January 1, Microcosm Publishing will be represented in the Midwest by Abraham Associates. In Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, it will be represented by Bob Barnett at Third Act Sales. Imprint Group will continue to provide sales support in the western US, and Como Sales Co. will continue in the east.
Also effective January 1, Insight Editions will be represented to independent bookstores and wholesale educational channels in the US exclusively by National Book Travelers. Simon & Schuster Distribution Services will continue to represent Insight Editions to specialty retailers and national accounts.
Eurospan, part of Independent Publishers Group, has added four publishers with distribution in the US: Melbourne’s Amba Press, London’s Spiramus Press, and Copenhagen’s Gad Publishers and Nord Academic.
Continental Sales now represents Italian stationery company Pigna, including its PdiPigna and Monocromo brands.
Schiffer Publishing is now represented in the indie gift and specialty market by the Harper Group in the South, Mid-Atlantic, and Northwest.
The Strothman Agency and Aevitas Creative Management have formed an alliance. Effective January 1, President Wendy Strothman and VP Lauren MacLeod will agent under the Aevitas banner, with their clients moving over with them. Aevitas will handle all subsidiary rights for Strothman clients.
The literary agency formerly known as The Science Factory has changed its name to Curious Minds.
The board of Poets & Writers has elected new officers: Willys Kals as President, Paul Vidich as Treasurer, and Janet McCarthy Grimm as Secretary. Also elected to the board were Andrea Louie, Liate Stehlik, and Elizabeth Toledo.
Clelia Gore is launching a freelance children’s book developmental editing company, Mossy Pines Creative, and can be contacted at clelia@mossypinescreative.com.
EVENTS
January 5-8
MLA Annual Convention
San Francisco, CA
January 6-8
Fan Expo New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
January 12-15
Key West Literary Seminar
Key West, FL
January 14-22
Çukurova Book Fair
Adana, Turkey
January 19-23
Jaipur Literature Festival
Jaipur, India
January 25-29
Angoulême International Comics Festival
Angoulême, France
January 27-30
LibLearnX
New Orleans, LA
January 31-February 12
Kolkata Book Fair
Kolkata, India
