PEOPLE
(This is a summary of moves that have taken place over the last month.)
At Simon & Schuster, Melissa Vogan has joined Simon Spotlight as senior editor. She was most recently editor and content manager at Epic for Kids. Shannon Rygg has joined the children’s digital marketing team as assistant marketing manager. She was most recently social media & digital marketing associate at Union Square & Co. (now part of Hachette).
At Hachette, Michael Pietsch, former CEO and then chairman, ended his 33 year long career at the company on December 31st. Nan Rittenhouse, former publicist at Simon Element, joins Grand Central Publishing as senior publicist.
At Macmillan, Kaitlyn Cullen has joined as trade sales associate. Anna Skudlarek is joining Macmillan Audio as associate marketing manager of social media and advertising. She was previously a marketing associate at Algonquin Books. Heather Follette has joined as executive assistant. Sarah Vogel has joined as junior payroll associate.
Penguin Random House: Megan Evans, previously events and consumer engagement manager at Abrams Books, has joined Random House Children’s Books as marketing manager. Havilah Sciabbarrasi has joined Random House Books for Young Readers as editorial assistant. Ten Speed Press has Dena Rayess as editor, she was previously associate editor at Chronicle Books.
At Scholastic, Doris Allen, formerly senior sales associate at HarperCollins, has joined as district sales manager. Amanda Book, formerly associate marketing manager Laurence King Publishing, has joined as young adult associate marketing manager.
Sourcebooks, Patience Bramlett has joined as senior production editor. Jianna Castellano has joined as marketing assistant. Tracey Bozentka has joined as national accounts manager. Kate Leboff has joined as quality assurance lead. Michelle Wozny has joined as senior production designer. Annette Mims has joined as senior marketing and publicity associate. Kate Riley has joined as a marketing and publicity assistant. Emily Janakiram has joined as publicity manager.
Feminist Press: executive director and publisher Margot Atwell will step down in February after three years with the press. She will continue to edit select projects, and the company is conducting a nationwide search for her successor.
USA Today, Clare Mulroy has joined as the paper’s new book reporter.
As reported in December, Phaidon Press, Bob Miller became CEO of Phaidon Press and its affiliated companies The Monacelli Press and Artspace on January 1, 2025. Until the end of July, he was president of Flatiron Books, which he founded in 2013. He took over from Keith Fox, who announced in November that he would step down at the end of the year.
At Chronicle Books, Jenny Goodman Abrami returns to the company as executive director of global sales, overseeing all trade, mass market, and specialty sales teams in the US. Most recently she was VP, sales & strategy at Sasquatch Books, and associate publisher of the Little Bigfoot imprint. Abrami will report to VP of sales, Kim Anderson. Amanda Weirich joins in the newly created position of director of international sales and subsidiary rights, reporting to Abrami.
Carter Hasegawa, senior editor of Candlewick Press has left and can be contacted at carterhasegawa@gmail.com.
Logos Press: Stacy Masucci, formerly publisher of bioscience, translational medicine, psychology and neuroscience at Elsevier, has joined Logos as director, publisher relations & rights. Stacy can be contacted at stacy.masucci@logos.com.
At Big River Consulting, Meredith Baker, founder, retired effective 01/03/2025.
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In Agency News…
Trident Media Group has promoted Mark Owen Gottlieb to senior vice president; he will continue to serve as literary agent.
Sterling Lord Literistic, president and later chair of the agency Peter Matson has retired after six decades in publishing. He established his firm, Literistic, in 1979 and then acquired Sterling Lord Literistic in 1987.
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PROMOTIONS
Hachette has promoted Madeline Jones to senior editor at Algonquin. Jovanna Brinck has been promoted to assistant editor. Hachette Audio has promoted Kim Sayle to senior vice president and deputy publisher. Ana Maria Allessi has been promoted to president and publisher.
At Penguin Random House, Todd Doughty has been promoted to senior vice president, deputy publisher, publicity and communications. In his expanded role, he will take on additional responsibilities of overseeing subrights, with Suzanne Smith. Estel Corriveau has been promoted to retail advertising associate.
Catherine O’Mara has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Random House Children’s Books. Megan Mitchell has been promoted to assistant marketing director. Mariana Batista has been promoted to marketing associate at Random House Children’s Books. Tara Grieco has been promoted to assistant director. Lauren Adams has been promoted to director of marketing and licensed and proprietary brands. Cleo Papadopoulos has been promoted to production associate.
Erin Reilly will be promoted to VP, adult mass merchandise & distributor sales as of February 1, 2025. Her portfolio will expand to include all adult mass merchandise classes of trade, along with the four national distributor accounts.
Harper Group has promoted Jennifer Civiletto to senior director of backlist. Lisa Erickson has been promoted to executive director at Harper Perennial. Megan Looney has been promoted to associate director of marketing at Harper Perennial. Daniel Duval has been promoted to marketing associate.
Macmillan has promoted Jazz Key to sales manager for e-commerce.
Abrams, Diane Shaw has been promoted to vice president and creative director of the adult division. Monica Shah has been promoted to vice president of sales and sales operations. Liz Frew has been promoted to senior director of sales, international and distribution client publishers. Kathleen Spinelli has been promoted to senior director of sales, international and distribution client publishers. Shelby Ozer has been promoted to associate director, online and digital sales, distribution client publishers. Jay Salton has been promoted to manager, special markets.
ReaderLink has promoted Breanna Meadows to senior account representative.
The New Press has promoted Julia Fink to subsidiary rights and sales associate.
Catapult Book Group has promoted Vanessa Genao to assistant publicist. Tracey Danes has been promoted to associate production editor. Dan Lopez has been promoted to associate editor.
Association of American Publishers has promoted Isabel Rowader to director of communications. Carl Maxwell has been promoted to senior vice president of public policy.
Transit Books, Lizzie Davis has been promoted to the newly created position of executive editor.
The Poetry Project has promoted Nicole Wallace to executive director.
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DULY NOTED
President Obama has released his “Favorite Books of 2024” list.
The Booker Prize has announced that Sarah Jessica Parker will be a judge for the 2025 Book Prize along with Ayobami Adebayo, Kiley Reid, and Chris Power.
President Jimmy Carter died at 100 years old on December 29th, 2024. In addition to his lifelong commitment to humanitarian pursuits, he also authored 32 books. He will be honored with a state funeral on January 9th, 2025.
Author, David Lodge, best known for his Booker Prize nominated novels Small World and Nice Work died today. He was 89 years old.
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EVENTS
Jan 11-19th
Adana, Turkey
Jan 17-19th
Albuquerque, NM
Jan 24-27th
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 24- Feb 4th
Cairo, Egypt
Jan 28- Feb 9th
Kolkata International Book Fair
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
