PEOPLE
At Penguin Random House, Iria Alvarez joins PRH Audio as VP, director, global audio strategy. She previously worked on the global strategy team. At Ballantine Books Group, Lizzie Poteet joins Dell as senior editor, reporting to editorial director Shauna Summers. At PRH Christian Publishing Group Nicole Grimes joins the creative services team as senior designer, adult jacket program. She was previously at Tyndale House. At Random House Children’s, Jasmine Daniel has joined as production associate. Most recently she was curation manager at Paramount.
At Simon & Schuster Bree Martinez has joined as publicity manager for Simon & Schuster Children’s. She was most recently a senior publicist at Crown Publishing Group. Ashtin Ballard has joined as publicity manager for Simon Element and Simon Acumen. Previously she was senior publicist at Fortier Public Relations. Ivy Quirk is joining Simon & Schuster as field account manager for the Northern California region, effective April 21. She was previously with Bookshop Santa Cruz for over 10 years. She will be taking over for Cheri Hickman, who is moving to the new role of new accounts and backlist specialist.
Chronicle Books has shuttered Chronicle Chroma, its pop culture and visual arts imprint. According to reports from Publishers Lunch three employees associated with the imprint will be leaving.
At Abrams, Morgan Hillman has joined as senior sales director, indies, school & library, and wholesale. Grace Ball has joined as associate managing editor. Andy Weiner is now the director, indie bookstore channel and Ingram.
Andrew Smith will join Candlewick, Holiday House, and Peachtree, as SVP and publisher. He previously was the SVP and publisher at Abrams Children’s. Sarah Howard Parker has joined as publicist. Parker previously worked as director of operations and outreach at the Boston Book Festival.
At Bloomsbury, Meghan McCullough has joined as an editor. She was previously at Inkyard Press.
At Open Road Jennifer Olsen will join as VP, managing editorial and publishing operations. She has been consulting with the company on workflow and metadata after 13 years at Penguin Random House scaling digital product, production, meta data and copy.
OverDrive has Renee Davenport joining the company’s first VP of education, leading OverDrive’s strategy to “expand digital access in schools, deepen engagement with educators, and support literacy outcomes for all students.” She was previously VP and general manager of education partnerships at Learning Ally.
At Publishing Perspectives Hannah Johnson is leaving her role as publisher for a role at Veristage. Johnson helped found Publishing Perspectives in 2009. Erin L. Cox will return to the publication to succeed Johnson as publisher. Cox will add this role to her current role as publisher of the Words & Money.
At the University of North Carolina Press, senior executive editor Mark Simpson-Vos will retire on June 30, after 27 years at the press. Matthew Somoroff will join as project editor on May 5.
At Bookends Ana Ban has joined as global rights director.
Neal Thompson has joined as publisher of Orion Magazine, . He is an author, journalist, editor, and literary arts founder. Donovan Arthen, who has been serving as interim executive director for the last year, will remain on staff and return to his previous role as chief of finance, operations.
At AAP Lucy Grace Noyola has joined as deputy general counsel, reporting to Terry Hart. She was at the Department of Justice, where she led IP trials on behalf of federal agencies. Prior to that, she was counsel at Oppenheim + Zebrak.
At Andrew McMeel Publishing Kate Zimmerman has joined as executive editor. She was previously executive editor at Union Square Books.
Two Dollar Radio was acquired by Seven Stories Press and will continue to run as an imprint. Two Dollar Radio co-founder Eric Obenauf joins Seven Stories as publisher of the imprint. Co-founder Eliza Wood Obenauf will work on special projects. Penguin Random House Distribution will sell and distribute in the US, Canada, and globally, starting Jan 1, 2026, moving from Ingram. Brett Gregory will become the publicity and marketing coordinator of the imprint and select Seven Stories titles.
At The Censored Press, Andy Lee Roth becomes editor-at-large, for Project Censored, focused on producing the annual State of the Free Press and developing new titles for Project Censored’s imprint. Mischa Geracoulis has been named managing editor of the Project and of the Censored Press imprint.
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In Agency News…
At Azantian Literary Agency Shelly Romero joins as associate agent. She was previously the senior editor at ChooseCo.
At the Grand Agency, Elisabet Brannstrom has joined as literary agent. Previously she was a consultant at Daniela Schlingmann Literary Scouting.
The Waxman Literary Agency has changed its name to WLA Books. Susan Canavan has been named editorial director, agent and Ashley Lopez has been named director of subsidiary rights, agent.
Writers House has promoted Sasha Landauer to agent.
The Unter Agency Krista Van Dolzer has joined as literary agent. She has been a middle grade novelist and query contest host.
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PROMOTIONS
At Penguin Random House, Carly James and Annie Odders have been promoted to assistant editor at Berkley.
At Simon & Schuster, Savannah Breckenridge has been promoted to marketing manager at Saga Press.
At HarperCollins Sophia Kaufman has been promoted to associate editor for Harper and Harper Perennial.
Macmillan Publishers has promoted Giselle Gonzalez to senior publicist at Tor Publishing Group.
At Harlequin, Stacy Boyd has been promoted to executive editor. Kathryn Lye has been promoted to senior editor, Harlequin Heartwarming. Charlotte Ellis has been promoted to senior editor, Harlequin Romance and Medical Romance. Former senior editor of those series, Sheila Hodgson, will be focusing on author management. Erin Toma has been promoted to associate editor. Katixa Espinoza has been promoted to assistant editor for Harlequin Special Edition.
At Sourcebooks the following editorial promotions were made: Shana Drehs was promoted to VP, editorial director for Sourcebooks Landmark and Sourcebooks Nonfiction. Christa Desir was promoted to VP, editorial director for Bloom Books and Sourcebooks Romance, and Anna Michels was promoted to senior editorial director of Sourcebooks Nonfiction and Poisoned Pen Press. Mary Altman was promoted to assistant editorial director, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Jenna Jankowski was promoted to assistant editorial director, Poisoned Pen Press, and MJ Johnson was promoted to assistant editorial director.
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DULY NOTED
As of April 8, Publishers Weekly is now charging $25 for every book submitted for review consideration, unless publishers purchase a license starting at $950.
Children’s author Jean Van Leeuwen, best known for her Oliver Pig series, died at 87 following a battle with cancer.
Founder of the Lerner Publishing Group, Harry Lerner, died at 93. He retired in 1998, and his son, Adam Lerner has been the publisher and CEO since.
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EVENTS
April 25th
Apr 23-27th
Eurasian International Book Fair
Astana, Kazakhstan
Apr 24-27th
Calgary, AB, CAN
Apr 24- May 12th
Buenos Aires, ARG
Apr 28-29th
Bogota International Book Fair
Bologna, ITA
Apr 29-30th
Nashville, TN
