People Round Up Early May, 2025

PEOPLE

At Macmillan, Kim Lauber will join in the newly created role of SVP, consumer insights, marketing & analytics, on May 19. She will report to EVP, business development & strategy Alyssa Awe. Lauber was most recently VP of marketing at Abrams. Madeleine Merchant joins as VP of human resources. Justine LeCates has joined as SVP, trade finance. Marina Lerman has joined as senior tax manager. Frances Metzger has joined the field sales team as inside sales rep. William Plunkett has joined as national account manager, eBook sales. Bree Currier has joined as a contracts associate. Diarra Bell has joined as AI engineer.

At Penguin Random House, Lucile Culver has joined Portfolio and Penguin as director of marketing. Culver was previously associate director of marketing at Harper One.

At Bloomsbury, Lilith Dorko will join as senior editor for US politics. Alexandra Ludlow, formerly a publisher liaison and category manager at Barnes & Noble, has joined as senior national account manager.

At Sourcebooks, Corina Lupp has joined as associate art director. Catie Middleton has joined as production specialist. Renee Kahler has joined as production specialist. Christina Leaf has joined Bespoke Publishing as production editor. Jim Dickert has joined as senior accounting manager. Kristen Clawson has joined as managing editor. Pamela Jaffee, senior director of publicity and brand marketing is leaving.

At Entangled Publishing, Rebecca Heyman has joined as editorial director of Amara. Heyman was previously owner at Rebecca Faith Editorial.

At Zando, Nancy Trypuc will join as deputy director of marketing. She was most recently at Macmillan. Alyssa Garcia joins as marketing manager. She was most recently at Sourcebooks.

At Amazon Publishing, Emily Freidenrich has joined as an editor at Lake Union.

At August Books, Ause Abdelhaq will join as senior commissioning editor on May 6. He was previously a commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan.

At Open Road Integrated Media, Nicolette Kanceler has joined as staff accountant.

At Center for the Art of Translation, Alyson Sinclair will join as communications director, starting May 5. Previously, she was publisher of The Rumpus and found of the boutique literary publicity firm Nectar Literary.

At the American Booksellers Association (ALA), Cynthia Compton becomes president of the board. Jake Cumsky-Whitlock becomes co-vice president and Diane Carpriola becomes co-vice president and secretary. Raquel Roque will serve on the board.

At Independent Publishers Groups (IPG), Carolina Manrique has joined as new business development associate of international business.

Chrisalle Maida, formerly designer at Simon Kids, Simon & Schuster, is joining Candlewick Press as designer.

At Common Notions Press, Rebecca McCarthy is leaving for a reporting fellowship with Grist. Emily Miller is now the publicity manager, she was previously the manager at Greedy Reads in Baltimore, MD. Jeff Waxman becomes sales and marketing director. He was previously a sales rep and a marketing consultant for independent publishers.

At ReaderLink, Dylan Stovall has joined as equipment supervisor. Jeff Robinette has joined as warehouse supervisor. David Yeargan has joined as supervisor, equipment team. Maria Cavalacante Lima has joined as designer, Printers Row Publishing Group adult imprint.

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In Agency News…

At Donald Maass Literary Agency, Donald Haston has been promoted to assistant literary agent.

At Aevitas Creative Management, Rachel Anne Cantor joins as senior editor/associate agent. Cantor was previously VP of digital marketing at Harper’s magazine.

At Wave Literary, Bethany Saltman will join as both an agent and director of business strategy, partnering with CEO Rachel Neuman on the design and operations of Wave Studios, the agency’s “new educational and resource-rich wing”. Saltman founded book development agency Bookish and will continue to host the Bookish podcast. Jessica Larios-Zarate joins as assistant literary agent, supporting the agency and representing select fiction and nonfiction.

At Spencerhill Associates, Renee Runge has joined as associate agent.

At SteelWorks Literary, Julie Romeis Sanders has joined as an agent. Sanders was previously editor at Bloomsbury Children’s.

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PROMOTIONS

At Penguin Random House, Celina Sun has been promoted to associate editor. Jessica Davis has been promoted to associate publisher of Penguin Children’s. At Crown, Katie Berry has been promoted to associate editor. Travis Temple has been promoted to senior director of education distribution sales for children’s.

At Macmillan, the following promotions were made within Macmillan Audio: Drew Kilman has been promoted to associate director, publicity. Claire Beyette has been promoted to marketing manager. Emma West has been promoted to associate marketing manager. Briana Mangum has been promoted to marketing associate. Brooke Downey has been promoted to associate editor. Amanda Crimarco has been promoted to director of library marketing. Victoria Wallis has been promoted to senior director of digital distribution. Filip Uscilowicz has been promoted to senior data engineer of platform development. Melissa Rivas has been promoted to senior events associate of meeting services. Lauren Riebs has been promoted to associate managing editor of publishing operations. Kristoff Ramsamujh has been promoted to sales associate for client services and trade sales. David Parket has been promoted to senior director of rights management and trade contracts. Veena Vittal has been promoted to director of central analytics and platform development. Tiffanie Mueller has been promoted to senior manager of Amazon product and trade sales. Sunanda Movva has been promoted to principal data analyst of platform development. Mark Kent has been promoted to senior technical specialist, tech support. Kathleen McCutcheon Luppino has been promoted to national account manager of trade sales. Bhaskaran Mani has been promoted to lead data engineer of platform development. Christopher Leibold has been promoted to principal AI engineer for platform development. Kayla LaVallee has been promoted to associate director of e-commerce sales. Darlene Fernandes has been promoted to associate director of DEI. Ashley Burdin has been promoted to associate manager, digital production. Madi Burwell has been promoted to associate, communications. Maggie Byrd has been promoted to product manager, publishing workflow. Dylan Dobrenis has been promoted to senior manager, inventory on the supply chain team. Lisa Edgar has been promoted to manager, total rewards. David Garbedian has been promoted to senior associate, facilities. Maya Kaczor has been promoted to associate manager, digital distribution. Ebony Lane has been promoted to associate director, subrights and Samantha Havela has been promoted to domestic rights associate. Sabrina Boyle has been promoted to contracts associate. Paul Gudemann has been promoted to senior analyst, finance.

At Scholastic, Abigail Jordan has been promoted to associate publicist.

At Sourcebooks, Oliver Rosario has been promoted to technical support specialist II. Ronit Bulsara has been promoted to information systems asset operations technician. Rafik Dayem has been promoted to cybersecurity engineer II. Bob Lessard has been promoted to information systems security and operations manager. Jessica Thelander has been promoted to associate manager of production editorial. Siena Konscol has been promoted to associate director of publicity at Sourcebooks, Bloom Books, and Casablanca. Delaney Heisterkamp has been promoted to senior marketing and social media associate at Sourcebooks. Katia Herrera has been promoted to senior director of e-commerce and performance marketing. Sean Cohen has been promoted to senior director of performance marketing at Callisto.

At Bloomsbury, Jaclyn Sassa has been promoted to digital sales manager.

At Ingram Content Group, Marit Vagstad has been promoted to director of CoreSource. Amy Cox Williams has been promoted to VP of marketing.

At Entangled, Madison Pelletier has been promoted to editorial director of Mischief and Mayhem.

At David C. Cook, Jana Zachman has been promoted to president, as divisional president of publishing Chadd Miller moves into the role of chief operations officer.

At Watkins Media, Vikki Scott has been promoted to senior publicist and media strategist at Watkins, Datura, Angry Robot, Nourish, and Repeater. Amy Portsmouth has been promoted to senior marketing executive.

At ReaderLink, Kevin Thomas and René Cross have been promoted to demand planner 2.

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DULY NOTED

The AALA has announced that their standalone People of Publishing Conference will take place on September 17, in New York City. The event will focus on “the development, networking, and convening of agents, editors, and publishing professionals- the people who shape and sustain our industry”. Registration is open.

The Ink, a newsletter run by Anand Giridharadas, has launched a book club with a focus on democracy. Critic and editor Leigh Haber, who previously led Oprah’s Book Club, will lead the projects.

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EVENTS

Apr 24- May 12th

Buenos Aires Book Fair

Buenos Aires, ARG

May 5- 11th

Mass Kids Lit Fest

Northhampton, MA

May 7-17th

Tehran International Book Fair

Tehran, IR

May 14-18th