People Round Up, Early April, 2024

PEOPLE

Penguin Random House, Anna Paustenbach will join Avery Publishing as executive editor on April 1st. She was previously executive editor at Harper One. Jen Schwabinger, VP and director, sales development is departing after 40 years with the company. Valerie Van Delft, SVP of logistics, will retire this August. Alison Martin is named SVP of customer solutions, analytics, projects, and strategy, and Jeanie Wood will report to her. Tiffany Liao has joined as executive editor for Random House Children’s. She was most recently an executive editor at Zando Young Readers. At Random House, Sara Birmingham will join May 6 as executive editor, reporting to VP editor in chief Ben Greenburg and working closely with editorial director Caitlin McKenna, to expand the fiction list. She was previously at Ecco. John Sicilliano is now executive editor for Viking and Penguin Life, in addition to his current title of executive editor for Penguin Classics and Penguin Books. At Clarkson Potter, Emma Brodie has joined as executive editor. At Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Ciara Tomlinson joins Pantheon as an associate publicist. She was previously at St. Martin’s.

The New Press announced that Ellen Adler is leaving at the end of September, after 21 years at the press.

At Simon & Schuster, Allen Lindstrom has been named executive VP, CFO, starting April 22. He will also join Simon & Schuster’s executive committee. He has been CFO at Barnes & Noble for the past 11 years. Joy de Menil has joined as VP and executive editor of Avid Reader Press. She was previously director of Belknap Publishing at Harvard University Press.

At Hachette Book Group, Pierre Leroy is retiring as deputy chief executive officer. He now serves as advisor to CEO Arnaud Lagardère. Working at Lagardère for 54 years, Leroy had been chair and CEO of Hachette Livre from 2021 to 2023 as well. Jennifer Trzaska will join as imprint sales director for Little, Brown, Running Press Group, and Workman Publishing. She was previously at Penguin Random House as imprint sales director of the Penguin Publishing Group.

At Macmillan Publishers, Nicholas Chubb has joined the IT team as manager, security operations. Kaitlin Connolly has joined the royalties team as manager. Gus Shlimbaum has joined the IT team as senior product manager.

At HarperCollins, Laura Schreiber has joined as executive editor of Avon. Caroline Weishuhn has joined as editor, reporting to Doug Jones. She will acquire fiction and select nonfiction for the Perennial and Harper lists. She was previously at Ballantine. At HarperOne, Nina Shield will join as VP, editorial director, starting April 22. She was most recently executive director at Tarcher Perigee and Avery.

At the New York Times, Trish Daly has joined as book development editor. She was previously senior editor at Portfolio.

At Chronicle Books, Emily Daluga has joined as editor, children’s.

Podium Audio has named Kate Runde head of acquisitions and Shannon Frost has been named director, growth marketing.

At Broadside PR, Kate Lloyd has joined as literary publicist. She has been an independent publicist since 2011 and was previously deputy director of publicity at Scribner.

At RB Media, Michael Paull joins as CEO. He was most recently the president of Disney’s direct to consumer businesses overseeing Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.

At Storytel, board chair Hans-Holger Albrecht will not run for reelection at the company’s annual meeting in May. The company will search for a replacement in time for the meeting.

At Scholastic, Alix Guerrier and Kaya Henderson have been appointed to the board. Guerrier is the CEO of DonorsChoose. Henderson is the CEO of Reconstruction US. Jenna German has joined as junior designer.

At Astra Publishing, Emily Bell will join as editorial director of Astra House on April 15. She was previously head of editorial at Zando until earlier this year.

Laura Fitzgerald has joined as marketing and publicity manager at DAW Books. They previously worked at Tor, Orbit, Redhook, and Yen Press.

At Gemini Books Group, Lisa Dyer has joined as publisher. She was previously at Hachette. Heidi Lowde has been appointed group production director. She was previously production director at Imagine That. Dan Graham has been named publisher, Gemini Children’s Books. He was previously publishing director at Imagine That.

Sourcebooks is launching a new children’s book imprint, broadly publishing fiction, nonfiction, and graphic titles across age categories. Joining Sourcebooks on April 11 to build the imprint are two editorial staffers from Katherine Tegen Books: Ben Rosenthal, who was editorial director, and Mabel Hsu, who was executive editor. They will report to Sourcebooks editorial director Jenne Abramowitz. Asia Barnes has joined as technical support specialist I. Julie Schrader has joined as associate art director. Kelsey Fenske has joined as purchasing logistics manager.

At Abrams, Aria Devlin has joined as assistant editor.

At Zando, Liz Eriksson has joined as senior contracts manager, reporting to Dennis Lee.

At Interlink Publishing Group, Hannah Moushabeck has joined in a newly created role handling marketing, publicity, and special projects. She was previously independent retail marketing manager at Simon & Schuster.

At Andrews McMeel Publishing, Amanda Meadows has joined as editor. She was previously at Oni-Lion Forge and co-founder of The Devastator.

In Agency News…

At WME, Eve Attermann has been promoted to partner in the books department.

At Storm Literary Agency, Sheila Fernley has joined as an associate agent.

At Tobias Literary Agency, Danai Christopoulou has been promoted to assistant literary agent.

At Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, Ariella Datz has been promoted to agent.

At Aevitas Creative Management, Rubin Pfeffer Content has joined ACM, Rubin Pfeffer joins as executive agent at large, and his colleague Amy Thrall Flynn joins as senior agent.

At Maria B. Campbell Associates, Jennifer Custer joins as director of the London office. She has led UK scouting at Eccles Fisher Associates.

At Transatlantic Agency, Jo Ramsay joins as literary agent representing adult fiction and nonfiction. Ramsay previously was a literary assistant to Carly Watters at P.S. Literary Agency.

PROMOTIONS

At Macmillan Publishers, Henry Holt has promoted Caroline Zancan to executive editor. Laura Flavin has been promoted to senior director, marketing. Clarissa Long has been promoted to senior manager, publicity. At St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Brigitte Dale is promoted to associate editor. Drue VanDuker, Claire Cheek, and Grace Gay are promoted to assistant editor. Alexis Neuville is promoted to manager, marketing. Kirsi Balazs is promoted to manager, marketing & sales operations. Jonathan Bush and Young Lim are promoted to art director. Chris Scheina is promoted to director of subsidiary rights. Emily Miller is promoted to associate, foreign rights. At Reactor (formerly Tor.com), Emmet Asher-Perrin has been promoted to senior editor, news & entertainment. Christina Orlando has been promoted to senior editor, books coverage. Leah Schnelbach has been promoted to senior editor, features. Stefan Raets has been promoted to senior production editor. At Macmillan Children’s, At First Second Books, Robyn Chapman has been promoted to senior editor. At Holt Children’s, Mark Podesta has been promoted to editor. Lindsey Whitt has been promoted to senior designer. Mia Moran has been promoted to senior production editor. Elysse Villalobos has been promoted to marketing manager on the School & Library Marketing team. Johanna Allen has been promoted to director of account marketing. Leigh Ann Higgins has been promoted to associate manager, marketing. Nicole Schaefer has been promoted to senior manager, account marketing. At Flatiron, Alexus Blanding has been promoted to associate publicist.

At Simon & Schuster, Lucy Nalen has been promoted to senior publicist at Gallery Books. Scribner has promoted Georgia Brainard to publicist.

At Penguin Random House, Tracey Presley has been promoted to SVP of global transportation and logistics reporting to EVP Annette Danek. At Berkeley, Craig Burke has been promoted to VP, associate publisher. Sareer Khader has been promoted to editor. Jessica Mangicaro has been promoted to associate director of marketing. Bridget O’Toole has been promoted to associate director of digital marketing. At Random House Children’s, Cat Reynolds has been promoted to senior editor on the Dr.Seuss Publishing team. Jena Debois has been promoted to manager, marketing licenses & proprietary brands. At Penguin Children’s, Jenna Smith has been promoted to publicist. At Clarkson Potter, Robert Diaz has been promoted to senior designer. Mia Johnson has been promoted to associate art director. At Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Demetri Papadimitropoulos has been promoted to publicist at Pantheon. Elka Roderick has been promoted to associate publicist at Knopf.

At Hachette Book Group, Lauren Shade has been promoted to assistant marketing director. Michelle Forde has been promoted to senior marketing manager. Sarah Alli has been promoted to associate marketing manager. Kenzie Sena has been promoted to marketing & sales associate. Lindsay Ricketts has been promoted to manager, trade frontlist Boulder. Elizabeth Blue Guess has been promoted to the newly created role of imprint sales director, working with Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Books, Hachette Nashville, Basic Books Group, and Orbit. At Basic Books Group, Jessica Breen is promoted to executive director of marketing. Chin-Yee Lai is promoted to creative director. Emmily O’Connor is promoted to designer. Kristen Kim is promoted to assistant editor. Jaime Leifer is promoted to VP and associate publisher. At Little, Brown Children’s, Kelly Moran has been promoted to publicity manager. Hannah Klein has been promoted to senior publicist.

At HarperCollins, Jackie Quaranto has been promoted to assistant editor at Harper, and will work with Sarah Stein and Sean Desmond. At Ecco, Rachel Sargent has been promoted to associate editor. At HarperCollins Children’s, Allison Brown has been promoted to associate director, production. Kristen Eckhardt has been promoted to associate director, production. Melissa Cicchitelli has been promoted to senior manager, production. At W Publishing, Carrie Marrs has been promoted to associate publisher. Lisa-Jo Baker has been promoted to senior acquisitions editor.

At Bloomsbury, Jennifer Choi has been promoted to Rights Director, Andrew Nguyen has been promoted to Rights Manager, Katya Mezhibovskaya has been promoted to Associate Art Director, Suzanne Keller has been promoted to Production Editor, and Katie Vaughn has been promoted to Marketing Manager for their adult trade division. Erica Chan has been promoted to Executive Designer for Bloomsbury’s Trade and Special Interest divisions. Rachel Ewen has been promoted to Marketing and Publicity Director for Bloomsbury’s Special Interest, Osprey, and Head of Zeus divisions. María Núñez has been promoted to Assistant Editor for Fairchild Books. Hali Han has been promoted to Assistant Editor for Literary Studies at Bloomsbury Academic. Rachel Moore has been promoted to Acquisitions Editor for Music and Sound Studies at Bloomsbury Academic. Jennifer Hutchinson has been promoted to Editorial Specialist in the ABC-CLIO editorial database team. Ellie Scott has been promoted to Assistant Marketing Manager at Bloomsbury Academic. At Bloomsbury Children’s, Camille Kellogg has been promoted to senior editor. Jeanette Levy has been promoted to associate art director.

At Chronicle Books, Lizzie Vaughan has been promoted to art director. Alexandria Martinez has been promoted to senior graphic and production designer. Juliette Capra has been promoted to assistant editor. Jessica Tackett has been promoted to senior marketing manager. Janice Yi has been promoted to social media manager. Gabriella Frenes has been promoted to social media coordinator. Reg Lim has been promoted to marketing coordinator. Deborah Kenmore has been promoted to inventory control manager. Zora Driscoll has been promoted to subsidiary rights coordinator.

At Norton, Helen Thomaides is promoted to associate editor. Nneoma Amadi-obi is promoted to associate editor. Mo Crist is promoted to associate editor.

At Abrams, Frank Albanese has been promoted to SVP, supply chain. Allison Gervais, director, production, and Sarah Masterson Hally, promoted to associate director, production. Maggie Moore is promoted to associate production manager and Hayley Earnest is promoted to production associate.

At Independent Publishers Group, Walt Braley has been promoted to accounts receivable manager. Kristen Noon has been promoted from to director, credit & collections. Mai Yang has been promoted to accounts payable associate. Tashina Richardson has been promoted to senior manager, supply chain. Travis Hale has been promoted to trade sales representative, central. Alicia McCray has been promoted to director, human resources.

At Holiday House, Peachtree, and Pixel+Ink, Kayla Phillips has been promoted to publicity coordinator.

At Candlewick Press, Lydia Abel has been promoted to editor. Juan Botero has been promoted to assistant editor. Olivia Swomley has been promoted to senior editor.

At Sourcebooks, Laura Boren has been promoted to production designer III. Tara Jaggers has been promoted to production designer II. Antoaneta Georgieva has been promoted to senior designer. Michelle Mayhall has been promoted to associate art director. Emily Proano has been promoted to senior production editor.

DULY NOTED

HarperCollins has partnered with Storiaverse, a mobile app that creates immersive, animated content in a patent-pending ‘read-watch’ format.

Elizabeth Bryant has launched Truant Media, an editorial services business focused on literary writing, from book manuscripts to shorter works. She previously worked as senior editor at Harper’s Magazine.

BISG Industry Study Group announced the recipients of its Industry Awards, to be honored at the organization’s annual meeting on April 12: Phil Ollila, chief commercial and content officer at Ingram Content Group, will receive the Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service. Author Walter Mosley will receive the Industry Champion Award. Scribd will receive the Industry Innovator Award.