People Round-Up, Early March 2023

PEOPLE

Nina von Moltke, President and Director of Strategic Development at Penguin Random House, is leaving the company in May. In other PRH news Marissa Secreto joins Penguin Random House Audio as Marketing Associate. At Random House Children’s, Isabelle Snyder joins as Junior Designer, Brand and Licensed.

At HarperCollins, SVP, International Sales David Wolfson has retired and SVP, Sales and Associate Publisher for the children’s division Andrea Pappenheimer has departed the company.

Publisher Christine Carswell will retire from Chronicle in April.

Chiwoniso Kaitano joins MacDowell as Executive Director, succeeding Interim Director Philip Himberg. Most recently she was Executive Director of global NGO Girl Be Heard.

Nathan Rostron joins ZE Books as Interim Publishing and Marketing Director. He was most recently Editorial and Marketing Director at Restless Books.

At Longleaf Services, Chris Granville joins as Director of Editorial, Design, and Production Services. He was formerly Production Manager at Duke University Press.

At Humanoids, Holly Aitchison, previously Consumer Marketing Manager at Oni Press, joins as Director of Sales. Esther Kim, previously Marketing Manager at BOOM! Studios, joins as Director of Marketing.

Mark Haber, author and formerly Operations Manager at Brazos Bookstore, joins Coffee House Press as Director of Marketing.

Sarah Rucker joins Usborne Books, which is now distributed in the US by HarperCollins, as Sales Director. Rucker was most recently Sales Director at Gibbs Smith.

At Oxford University Press, Zachary Haynes has left his position as Director of Global Business Development.

Sarah Brody joins Sourcebooks as Associate Art Director. Most recently she was Senior Designer at Penguin Random House. Jackie Olmos joins as Associate National Accounts Manager. Jay Farahani joins as PHP Web Developer.

Associate Art Director Matt Roeser has left Candlewick Press and can be contacted at roeser.matt@gmail.com.

Meg Reid will become Executive Director and Publisher at Hub City Writers Project on April 1. She was previously Director of Hub City Press.

At the Strand Book Store, Paul Colarusso, lately Communications Director at Aperture Foundation, joins as Communications Director.

Tattered Cover Book Store CEO Kwame Spearman is taking a leave of absence in order to focus on his mayoral campaign. CFO Margie Kennan will assume his day-to-day responsibilities.

In agency news…Lauren Spieller joins Folio Literary Management as Literary Agent; she was previously Literary Agent at Triada US. Elise Howard, Founding Publisher of Algonquin Young Readers, joins DeFiore and Company as Agent. At Triangle House Literary, Noah Grey Rosenzweig, current Editorial Fellow for Roxane Gay, joins as Literary Agent. Ashley Reisinger joins Triada US as Assistant Literary Agent.

At The Baffler, Matthew Shen Goodman has been named Editor-in-Chief.

Janice Stillman is retiring as Editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, having served in that position since 2000. A search for the new, fourteenth editor is underway.

At Weldon Owen, Edward Ash-Milby joins as Executive Editor. He was a buyer at Barnes & Noble for almost thirty years.

In addition to the closing of Catapult’s magazine and writing class programming and consequent layoffs, there are departures on the book publishing side: Associate Editor Summer Farrah, Counterpoint Assistant Director of Publicity Sarah Jean Grimm, and Counterpoint/Catapult/Soft Skull Publicity Manager Alisha Gorder.

Laura Lutz joins Hachette Book Group as Children’s School & Library Marketing Manager. She was previously a school librarian. Kelly Moran joins Little, Brown Children’s as Senior Publicist; most recently she was Public Relations Associate at Villanova University. At Orbit, Stephanie Lippitt Clark, lately Brand Manager, Books for Riot Games, joins as Editor. Joanne Redmond, lately Associate Publicist at Columbia University Press, joins Basic Books as Publicist. At Public Affairs, Kimberly Meilun joins as Associate Editor. Most recently she was Assistant Editor at Portfolio.

At Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Alexandra Quill joins as Senior Marketing Manager, School and Library, moving over from Macmillan’s academic division. At Macmillan, Ben Allen joins St. Martin’s Press as Managing Editor; he was previously Associate Managing Editor at Mulholland and Voracious. Travis Porteous joins as Senior Financial Analyst and Randi Moore joins as Associate General Counsel. Jocelyn O’Dowd, formerly Production Manager at Penguin Random House, joins as Senior Production Manager. Heather Niver joins as Associate Managing Editor. At Picador, Sarah Haeckel joins as Publicist; she moves over from her former position as Associate Publicist at St. Martin’s.

Lizzi Middleman joins Algonquin Books as Senior Marketing Manager. She was previously Senior Manager, Marketing & Sales Promotion at Gibbs Smith.

At DAW Books, Kayleigh Webb joins as Senior Publicist. Previously she was Senior Publicist and Marketer at Saga Press.

Peter Behravesh, formerly Editor at Seven Seas Entertainment, joins Mandala Earth as Senior Editor. Colleen Lindsay has left her position as Senior Marketing and Publicity Strategist at Insight Editions.

At Simon & Schuster, Ian Straus joins as Editor on March 13. He was previously at Little, Brown, where he helped launch the Spark imprint. Zakiya Jamal joins Atria as Marketing Manager; she worked previously as Senior Manager of Social Media for Scholastic.

At Scholastic, MacKenzie Kurtner joins as Proprietary Planning, Sales Planning. She was previously Custom Publishing Coordinator at Penguin Random House. Additionally, Daisy Glasglow, previously Marketing Coordinator at W.W. Norton Young Readers, joins as Associate Marketing Manager.

Nick Whitney joins Soho Press as Assistant Editor, acquiring and editing for Soho Crime. Previously he was Assistant Editor at Feminist Press.

At the American Psychological Association, Janette Lynn Neal joins as Contract Production Editor.

At Writers House, Tom Ishizuka joins as Media Rights Manager. Previously he was Creative Executive at Warner Bros. Discovery.

Cassie Youngstrom joins the American Booksellers Association as Education Project Coordinator, while Cedar Fields joins as Member Relations and Registration Coordinator and Zoe Perzo joins as Content Coordinator.

Yun Shen joins Open Road Integrated Media as Business and Growth Analyst.

At Pacific & Court, Paris Norman joins as Digital Marketing Coordinator.

Film critic A.O. Scott has moved to the New York Times Book Review.

PROMOTIONS

Penguin Random House announced a reorganization expanding the number of adult divisions from three to four, separating Crown Publishing Group from Random House Publishing Group once again. Sanyu Dillon moves over to serve as President of the Random House Publishing Group, which is now comprised of Random House, The Dial Press, Hogarth, The Modern Library, One World, Ballantine Bantam Dell/Delacorte, Random House Worlds, Harmony/Rodale, Convergent, and WaterBrook & Multnomah. David Drake is now President of the new Crown Publishing Group, which is comprised of Crown, Currency, Clarkson Potter, and Ten Speed Press. Jeff Abraham is promoted to President of Publishing Operations, Technology, and Services. Jaci Updike moves up to President, Sales and Marketing, and Erica Curtis moves up to SVP of Consumer Marketing. At Random House Children’s Books, Kim Wrubel moves up to Senior Director, Subsidiary Rights, while Jen Jie Li becomes Senior Production Manager and Luke McCord becomes Production Supervisor. Bria Alston is now Publishing Associate. At Penguin Random House Audio, Becca Stumpf is now Assistant Director, Creative Marketing and Erin Murphy is now Associate Manager, Creative Marketing, while Jasmin Ayala moves up to Social Media & Special Projects Associate. At Pamela Dorman Books, Jeramie Orton becomes Senior Editor and Marie Michels becomes Associate Editor. Mia Council has been promoted to Editor at Penguin Press.

At Grand Central Publishing, Ben Sevier moves up to Executive Vice President; Beth de Guzman moves up to SVP and Deputy Publisher; Leah Hultenschmidt becomes Publisher, Forever; and Rebecca Holland is now Senior Managing Editor. Liz Wetzel is now Executive Director of Publicity at Basic Books and Seal Press, where Ann Kirchner becomes Associate Art Director and Ivan Lett moves up to Publicity Manager. Cindy Sipala and Shannon Connors Fabricant have both been promoted to Editorial Director at Running Press and Black Dog & Leventhal, while Jordana Hawkins becomes Senior Editor and Licensing Manager; Shannon Kelly becomes Senior Editor; Allison Cohen becomes Senior Editor, Running Press Kids; Kyle Moore moves up to Senior Production Associate; and Maria Riillo and Zander Kim both become Assistant Editor. Seta Bedrossian Zink is now Senior Publicity Manager. At Public Affairs, Colleen Lawrie moves up to Editorial Director. Anupama Roy-Chaudhury is promoted to Associate Director. Additionally, Johanna Dickson moves up to Publicity Manager. At Hachette Audio, Nita Basu has been promoted to Associate Director of Social Media, Publicity, and Marketing, while Mishell Velez moves up to Audio Data and Operations Manager and Laura Essex moves up to Associate Production Manager. At Little, Brown, Alyssa Persons and Liz Garriga are now both Senior Publicity Manager. Kini Allen becomes Senior Digital Ad Manager and Katherine Akey becomes Senior Marketing Manager. Additionally, Gabrielle Leporati is now Publicist. At Spark/Voracious, Juliana Horbachevsky moves up to Director of Publicity, and at Voracious, Thea Diklich-Newell moves up to Associate Editor. At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Angelie Yap becomes Senior Designer; Prashansa Thapa and Gabrielle Chang are both promoted to Designer; and Patrick Hulse moves up to Junior Designer. Bill Grace is promoted to Senior Marketing Manager, Andie Divelbiss is promoted to Marketing Coordinator, and Allison Broelis moves up to Marketing Operations Associate. Hannah Klein becomes Associate Publicist. Alexandra Hightower moves up to Senior Editor and Milena Blue Spruce becomes Assistant Editor. Leyla Erkan is promoted to Assistant Editor at Christy Ottaviano Books. At Hachette Book Group, Susan Eberhart has been promoted to Senior Production Associate. Ashley Kiedrowski moves up to Marketing Manager at Hachette Books and Hachette Go. At Mulholland Books, Helen O’Hare moves up to Senior Editor and Liv Ryan moves up to Assistant Editor.

At HarperCollins, Jim Hanas moves up to VP, Central Marketing & Strategy. Megan Hodnett moves up to VP, Sales Finance. Kerry Moynagh is promoted to VP, Executive Director of Children’s Sales. Kelly Roberts moves up to Senior Director, Divisional Sales. At Morrow Group, Mary Interdonati is promoted to Assistant Manager, Marketing and Publicity. Justine Sha is now Publicity Manager at Harlequin Trade Publishing. At HarperCollins Children’s, Ann Dye moves up to Executive Director, Children’s Publishing and Marketing Operations; Jennifer Corcoran is promoted to Executive Director, Publicity & Events; Audrey Diestelkamp is promoted to Senior Director, Marketing, Teen; and Sabrina Abballe moves up to Associate Director, Marketing, Middle Grade. At HarperCollins Leadership, Tim Burgard becomes Executive Editor.

At Workman, David Schiller moves up to VP and Creative Director. Analucia Zepeda moves up to Assistant Editor. Moira Kerrigan is now Senior Director of Marketing for Workman, Workman Kids, Workman Calendars, and Algonquin Young Readers; Nicole Higman becomes Director of Digital Marketing for the same. Ilana Gold is now Associate Director of Publicity for Workman, Workman Kids, and Algonquin Young Readers, and Meghan O’Shaughnessy becomes Publicist for the same. At Artisan, Theresa Collier becomes Director of Publicity and Marketing, while Suet Chong becomes Executive Art Director. At Workman Calendars, Eric Brown is now Senior Designer. At Workman Kids, Kim Campbell is now Assistant Editor for Educational Resources.

Independent Publishers Group (IPG) announced promotions across several departments. In marketing, Lauren Klouda is now Senior Director of Marketing, while Kara Brock becomes Senior Digital Marketing Coordinator, and Chelsea Balesh and Stefani Szenda both become Associate Marketing Manager. In digital & data, Amy Everett moves up to Senior Publisher Development Coordinator; Qassye Inwood moves up to Digital Print, Senior Associate; and Caitlin Stout moves up to Digital Services, Senior Associate. In sales, Layne Ruda has been promoted to National Accounts, Sales Representative and Scott McWilliams and Jason Reasoner both become Sales Coordinator. In admin, Tatriana Burnett has been promoted to Human Resources Coordinator. In operations, Olivia Oeff becomes Supply Chain Coordinator. Additionally, Joshua Williams has been promoted to Acquisitions Manager at Triumph and Elizabeth Logback has been promoted to Royalties & Subrights Coordinator at Chicago Review Press.

Amanda Lucido becomes Director of US Publishing Operations at Humanoids.

Christa Desir has been promoted to Editorial Director at Bloom Books. Ivan Taurisano moves up to Assistant Editor for Sourcebooks Wonderland.

At Rizzoli, Jessica Napp has been promoted to Director of Publicity.

At Scholastic, Stephanie Yang is now Associate Art Director, while Jennifer Thompson becomes Associate Editor and Leslie Owusu becomes Assistant Editor.

In agency news…Vicky Weber is now Literary Agent at the Purcell Agency. Zach Honey moves up to Associate Agent at FinePrint Literary Management.

Emily Samulski has been named Publisher at Fairchild Books. At Bloomsbury, Grace McNamee has been promoted to Senior Editor, Harriet LeFavour to Associate Editor, and Barbara Darko to Managing Editor. Lauren Ollerhead Fries moves up to Senior Publicist. Emily Fishman is now Publicist. In the special interest division, Tyler Aoki is now Marketing & Operations Associate and Maggie Menditto is now Associate Marketing Manager. At Bloomsbury Academic, Saville Bloxham becomes Assistant Editor and Stephanie Grace-Petinos becomes Assistant Editor for Film and Media Studies.

At Printers Row Publishing Group, Grace Oberman has been promoted to Senior Editor.

Rachael Sablik becomes Acquisitions Editor at Avalon Travel.

Rachel Vega DeCesario has been promoted to Associate Editor at The New Press.

At Godwin Books, Kortney Nash is now Assistant Editor. Dylan Hamilton becomes Field Sales Representative at Macmillan, and Madison Dye becomes Inside Sales Representative. At Tor Publishing Group, Carl Engle-Laird becomes Senior Editor; Matthew Rusin, Assistant Editor; and Jocelyn Bright, Associate Publicist.

At Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull, tracy danes becomes Assistant Production Editor.

Abby Velasco is now Publishing Coordinator at Atria.

Chris Colwell joins ReaderLink Distribution Services as Project Manager.

Adelaide Cronin moves up to Sales Coordinator at Holiday House, Peachtree, and Pixel+Ink.

At How2Conquer, Charlotte Bleau is promoted to Assistant Managing Editor.

DULY NOTED

Tor Publishing Group is launching Bramble, a new imprint “dedicated to a wide array of romantic stories for the modern reader.”

Skyhorse Publishing has announced Peakpoint Press, an imprint “specializing in quick-to-market, personal and professional improvement titles.”

International Literary Properties has acquired the intellectual property of Martin Waddell, Adèle Geras, Gianna Marino, and the late Sheila Burnford.

Beginning April 1, Baker & Taylor Publishing Services will sell and distribute Severn River Publishing worldwide.

Princeton University Press is now distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers.

IPG has added four publishers to its Spanish-language and Trafalgar Square Publishing programs: Editorial Destellos (worldwide), Catapulta Editores (North America), Alegría Publishing (North America), and LID Publishing (North America, effective June 1).

Small Press Distribution announced expansion plans in partnership with Ingram Content Group and Publishers Storage & Shipping. To fund the expansion, they have launched a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of $100,000. SPD will close its Berkeley warehouse and promises new services including print on demand, ebooks, and audiobooks, as well as “a wider offering of their titles to Bookshop.org, libraries, and independent bookstores.”

EVENTS

March 6-10
CAMEX 100
New Orleans, LA

March 8-11
AWP Conference & Bookfair
Seattle, WA

March 10-19
SXSW 2023
Austin, TX

March 15-18
Association of College & Research Libraries Conference
Pittsburgh, PA

March 16-19
Left Coast Crime
Tucson, AZ

March 17-19
Toronto Comicon
Toronto, ON

March 22-26
Geneva Book Fair
Geneva, Switzerland

March 22-26
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
New Orleans, LA

March 23-25
The Write Stuff Writers Conference
Bethlehem, PA

March 23-26
Virginia Festival of the Book
Charlottesville, VA

March 24-25
Fan Expo Cleveland
Cleveland, OH