PEOPLE
Following Hachette’s restructuring over the summer with Algonquin being moved into Little, Brown, publisher Betsy Gleick will leave the company October 4th, as will associate publisher Michael McKenzie. Also at Hachette, Tracy Bozentka joins as sales manager for children’s sales. She was previously district sales manager for field sales and special markets at Scholastic. Colleen Kurzbach is joining the sales team as director of title management, she was previously the senior director of title management at Penguin Random House, specifically Knopf and Penguin Publishing Groups.
Penguin Random House, emeritus EVP, corporate communications, Stuart Applebuam will step down from the company on September 30th after 52 years with associated companies. He is “Bertelsmann’s longest-tenured employee in North America”.
At Simon & Schuster,VP, director, sales operations Eileen Gentillo will retire from the company after 40 years. The remaining members of the sales operations team will be integrated into other operation groups around the company starting October 1st. Jisoo Leones and Andres Feliciano will join the sales department. Caroline Bonin and Lis Kingren-Hawkins will join information services & technology. Nikita Patil will join client services. Elizabeth Worthy and Billie Anna Runions and Jessica Tosi will join corporate marketing. Sean Duffy will join business operations. Kerri Kolen, previously VP and head of audiobooks at Pushkin Industries has joined Pave Publishing House as VP. Julie Neimat, previously EVP, people and culture at Warner Bros. Discover, has joined as chief human resources officer. Ella Laythem joins as art director at Saga Press. She was previously senior designer at Penguin Random House. At Harmony Rodale, Matthew Benjamin has been promoted to editorial director, Harmony. Donna Loffredo has been promoted to executive editor, director of author development, Harmony and Rodale Books. Dervla Kelly has been promoted to editorial director, Rodale Lifestyle. Michele Eniclerico has been promoted to senior, Harmony.
HarperCollins sees Bailey Thomas, formerly senior imprint manager at Penguin Random House join as director of divisional sales and retail development. Catherine Aramino has joined as academic marketing associate. She was previously at Kaufman Studios and Dover Publications. Amanda Maciel has joined Harper middle grade/teen group as VP, editorial director, reporting to VP, publisher Erica Sussman. She was previously at Scholastic.
Lily Philpott, formerly director of programs and partnerships at Asian American Writers’ Workshop has joined Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull as events manager and can be contacted at lily.philpott@catapult.com.
At Sourcebooks, Cara Nesi has joined as senior inside sales manager. Ashley Mallick has joined as key account fulfillment representative. Justin Krasner has joined as editorial director of Sourcebooks eXplore imprint.
At Chronicle Books, Barbara Bersche is joining as senior designer. Wynne- Au-Yueng has joined as designer.
Phaidon Press sees Kindall Gant join as senior publicist.
At Independent Publishers Group, Rachel McCumber has joined as subsidiary rights and royalties coordinator.
InterVarsity Press, sees Eva Pankratz join as publicity coordinator.
At Baker Publishing Group, Luverta Reames, formerly editorial assistant at Waterbook and Multnomah, has joined Chosen Books as acquisition editor.
Anne McGilvray & Company sees Lisa Bach join as director of sales and publisher relations, she was previously executive publisher relations.
Editor-in-chief of Minnesota Historical Society Press, Ann Regan has retired
At Llewellyn Worldwide, Anthony Dalessandro, formerly national account manager at Sounds True, joined as national account manager and can be contacted at anthonyd@llewellyn.com.
Chelsea Green Publishing sees Anna Bliss join as senior editor.
The University of North Carolina sees Sebastian Biot join as digital initiatives specialist.
Ethos Books sees Justin Chia taking over for Pei Ying as marketing manager. He previously oversaw their marketing and publicity.
In Agency News…
Maria B. Campbell Associates has promoted Madi Tower to junior scout. Nina Dahan-Relijich has been promoted to junior scout. Sara Vitale has been promoted to senior scout.
Transatlantic Agency has promoted Amanda Orozco to senior literary agent. Joni Di Placido has joined as international rights coordinator.
Jemma McDonagh has launched her own literary agency, Jemma McDonagh Agency, selling English language and translation rights for other agencies. She was previously joint managing director at The Marsh Agency.
Rachel Richardson, previously of Watson Little, has launched Rich Lit, which will specialize in children’s books, commercial and upmarket fiction for adults, select nonfiction, and international titles.
BOOM! Studios Michael Kelly will join as publisher. He was previously VP, global publishing at Hasbro.
AARP Books, Jodi Lipson is retiring as director on September 20th, after over 14 years. Leah Miller will succeed her as director.
Astra Publishing House sees Paul Reyes join as retail marketing manager for Astra Children’s. He previously worked at DK and Penguin Young Readers.
PROMOTIONS
At Penguin Random House, Nicole Biton has been promoted to senior publicist at Putnam. Heather Mill has been promoted to senior manager, backlist publicity. Erin Madison has been promoted to senior manager, backlist publicity. Gabriella Shery has been promoted to designer at Penguin Random House Audio. At Kokila, Sydnee Monday has been promoted to editor. Reid Walsh has been promoted to VP for sales analysis at Penguin Random House. Stacey Stein has been promoted to assistant director of publicity at Crown.
Simon & Schuster has promoted Tim O’Connell to VP, publisher at Saga Press. He was previously the editorial director of fiction and now will be reporting to Sean Manning. He will continue to acquire literary fiction and select nonfiction for the Simon & Schuster list. Joe Monti is promoted to VP, associate publisher and editorial director, reporting to O’Connell.
Scholastic has promoted Kara Pauley to rights assistant. Stacey Jaffe has been promoted to the new position of chief digital officer.
Bloomsbury Publishing has promoted Lauren Wilson to associate publicist. Harriet LeFavour has been promoted to editor. Briana Williams is being promoted to assistant marketing manager.
Sourcebooks has promoted Rebecca Atkinson to associate manager of international marketing and publicity. Elisabeth Clary has been promoted to assistant editor at Sourcebooks Wonderland. Zoya Boskovic has been promoted to digital marketing specialist. Alexandra Derdall has been promoted to digital marketing manager for special projects.
Chronicle Books has promoted Gwyneth Morgan to sales and marketing enablement coordinator.
The Future of Agency has promoted Amanda R. Livingston to marketing manager and can be contacted at amanda@thefutureofagency.com.
Books-A-Million promoted Damian Doggett to SVP and chief accounting officer.
InterVarsity Press has promoted Karin DeHaven to senior publicist.
Princeton University Press promoted Chloe Coy to assistant editor. Emma Wagh has been promoted to editorial associate. Lijuan (Sophie) Liu has been promoted to assistant business operations manager. Lina Sun has been promoted to China office operations manager. Will Pagdatoon has been promoted to promotions associate and Taylor Sumereau was promoted to intellectual property and contracts coordinator.
Girl Friday Productions has promoted Abi Pollokoff to senior publishing manager.
BOOM! Studios has promoted Bryce Carlson to VP, deputy publisher, reporting to Kelly.
DULY NOTED
The National Book Foundation will award Barbara Kingslover with the 2024 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, which will be presented at the National Book Awards ceremony and held on November 20th.
NYU Advance Publishing Institute announced that registration is now open, and there is an early bird discount through October 13. (Group discounts are also available.) An information session will be offered September 18
API 2025 program topics include:
- Global Trends and Opportunities in Audio
- A Deep Dive into the Creator Universe
- Mobilizing Communities of Book Lovers
- AI: Tools and Applications You Need to Know
- Analytics in Action: Marketing Case Studies
- DEI 2.0: A Moral and a Business Imperative
- Publishing for the Future: What the Experts Say
For more information about the program, pricing, and to register, click here.”
Apple has announced the cut of approximately 100 jobs and reports from Bloomberg saying “the biggest impact on teams responsible for Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore.” The Apple News team will also be affected.
EVENTS
Sept 14-28
New York, NY
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Brooklyn, NY
Sept 25- Oct 5
Amman, JO
Indonesia International Book Fair
Sept 25-29
Jakarta, IDN
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Sept 26-29
Budapest, HU
New England Independent Booksellers Association Conference
Oct 3-5
Providence, RI
