PEOPLE
Kirkus Reviews has announced publisher and CEO Meg LaBorde Kuehn will leave on July 11th after 14 years at the company. Judy Hottensen, formerly VP and associate publisher of Grove/Atlantic, will become interim CEO and assume all of the duties formerly performed by Kuehn. Kuehn has been with the company since 2011 as VP of business development.
Princeton University Press has announced that Caroline Priday stepped down from her role as co-head of PUP Europe on June 26th. She had been with the company since 2005. Following her retirement, Kimberley (Kim) Williams, fellow co-head of PUP Europe and digital and audio publisher, will be the new head, while also retaining her publisher responsibilities.
The American Library Association has announced that Daniel J. Montgomery has beeb selected as executive director; his term begins November 10th. He was previously president and COO at the Illinois Federation of Teachers. He succeeds interim executive director Leslie Burger.
At Abrams, Lori Benton joins as SVP, children’s publishing. She was previously VP, publisher at Scholastic, overseeing Orchard Books, Scholastic Press Picture Books, Cartwheel, Scholastic Audio, and Weston Woods.
At Hachette, associate publisher of Basic Books, TJ Kelleher will leave publishing on August 22. Melanie Wann, formerly associate manager at Scholastic, has joined as associate national accounts manager.
At Penguin Random House, Allie Merola has joined Hogarth as senior editor, reporting to David Ebershoff. She was previously at Viking Penguin. Katherine Robertson has joined Random House Children’s Books as publicist, she was previously the associate publicist at Basic Books and Seal Press. Bella Bledzki has joined Random House Children’s Books as marketing assistant for audience engagement. Ellen John has joined Crown Publishing as marketing manager for Ten Speed Young Readers. Jennifer Dee has joined as publicity manager of Ten Speed Young Readers. She was formerly the publicity manager at Harper360. At Simon & Schuster, Laurie Young has joined the children’s art and design department as senior designer.
At HarperCollins, Josh Sippie has joined as editor of Harper Alley. He was previously senior copywriter at Barnes & Noble.
At Macmillan, Alexis Dunbar has joined as VP of real estate and facilities. Melina Ziambras has joined as assistant of DEI.
At Quarto Group, Hannah Adler has joined as marketing and publicity assistant. Stuart Carter has joined as national account manager. Melissa Close has joined as marketing and publicity manager. Elyse Gregov has joined as senior marketing and publicity manager.
At the Collective Book Studio, Jamie Klingensmith has joined as analyst for sales and marketing.
At Sourcebooks, Vanja Mackic has joined as buyer and Jane Duzansky has joined as human resources generalist. Alessandra Roche has joined as editor of Sourcebooks, Bloom Books, and Cosmo Reads. Barbie Altofer has joined as senior project manager for calendars and general merchandising. Jamie Tan has joined as senior marketing and publicity manager.
At Harlequin Trade Publishing, Laura Gianino has been named as its associate director of publicity. Leyal Erkan has joined as editor and previously was at Little, Brown Children’s.
At Familius, Gretchen Picklesimer Kinney has joined as managing editor.
At ReaderLink, Nandini Arakoni has joined as consumer insight analyst II. Marlesha Coleman has joined as collections specialist. Irina Tenis has joined as business analyst II.
At Phaidon, Nina Santoro has joined as editorial assistant.
At Microcosm Publishing, Leslie Davisson has joined as sales director and Sara Balabanlilar has joined Microcosm Publishing and WorkingLit as sales and marketing manager.
At Candlewick Press, Ellie Friel has joined as editorial services manager.
At Melville House, Jonathan Sturgeon has joined as senior editor. Previously he was editor-in-chief of The Baffler magazine.
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In Agency News…
Lucinda Literary, Lauren Eldridge joins as an agent, specializing in fiction and narrative nonfiction. She was previously freelance consulting. Craig Pyette joins as an agent, specializing in researched nonfiction. He was previously senior editor at Random House and Knopf Canada.
At Neighborhood Literary, Tiana Kelly joins as an associate agent, where she will build a list focused on romance, romantasy, and speculative fiction. She was most recently in marketing at Simon & Schuster.
At Antsu Literary Agency, Wadzanai Mhute has launched their agency and is currently seeking fiction and nonfiction clients. Mhute was previously the books editor at Oprah Daily and Oprah’s Book Club and a fiction editor at The Sunday Long Road.
At Andrew Nurnberg Associates, managing director Jenny Savill has been promoted to agency director and primary agent.
At Edmison/Harper Literary Scouting, the company has been appointed North American scout for Pan Macmillan and its adult imprints.
At Diversion Publishing, the publisher’s UK and translation rights will be represented by Linda Kaplan at Kaplan DeFiore Rights. The rights for WLA Books will continue to be handled by Ashley Lopez.
At Belcastro Agency, Tasneem Motala has joined as junior agent. She was previously assistant agent at The Rights Factory.
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PROMOTIONS
At Penguin Random House, Allison Renzulli is being promoted to VP, director of marketing of Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press. Marni Folkman has been promoted to in-market publicist. Greg Kubie has been promoted to Director of Publicity for paperbacks and in-market. Carrie Nell has been promoted to Director of Publicity and strategic partnerships, working on titles across Random House, Dial Press, Hogarth, and the RHPG division. Michelle Jasmine has been promoted to Director of Publicity at Dial Press. At Berkley, Yazmine Hassan has been promoted to publicist.
At Simon & Schuster, Lauren Wein has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Avid Reader.
At Hachette Book Group, effective July 7, Stephanie Liccardi has been promoted to associate national account manager, joining the Amazon sales team and focusing on the HBG children’s catalog.
At HarperCollins, Kelly Rudolph has been promoted to SVP of Publicity and Integrated Marketing Strategy for the Morrow Group and HarperCollins Children’s Books. Zaynah Ahmed has been promoted to marketing associate for Harper, Broadside Books, and Harper Influence. At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Carter Wilken has been promoted to assistant editor of Quill Tree Books and Heatdrum.
At Macmillan, Andrew Arens has been promoted to Associate Director of quality assurance and platform development. Andrea Morales has been promoted to manager of contracts.
At Sourcebooks, Amy Hoidas has been promoted to royalties specialist.
At Bloomsbury, Maria DeKoning has been promoted to associate publicist and Lauren Wilson has been promoted to publicist.
At the University of Minnesota Press, Alena Rivas has been promoted to publicist.
At Familius, Erika Sargent has been promoted to director of marketing and publicity. She can be contacted at erika@familius.com. Brooke Jorden has been promoted to art director.
At Harlequin, Eden Railsback has been promoted to assistant editor at Hanover Square Press. Sophie James has been promoted to senior publicist at Harlequin Trade Publishing.
At ReaderLink, Olivia Salazar has been promoted to senior account representative. Amaya Sood has been promoted to senior omni channel sales support coordinator.
At Notre Dame Press, Stephanie Marchman has been promoted to marketing and sales director. Morgan Levine has been promoted to assistant acquisitions editor.
At Ingram, Josh Dailey has been promoted to chief legal officer.
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DULY NOTED
The NYU Advanced Publishing Institute is now open for registration with a special early-bird rate. Designed for mid- to senior-level book publishing professionals, the program will take place in-person on New York University’s Greenwich Village campus, from January 5 through January 9, 2026. The full day executive education sessions will feature lectures, case studies, and workshops led by top publishing and media professionals, with an emphasis on management, leadership strategies, and consumer connections. The team at the NYU Center for Publishing,Writing, and Media, hosts of NYU API, are lining up an exciting roster of industry thought leaders. You can view highlights of API 2025 HERE. For questions, please reach out to nyu.api@nyu.edu.
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EVENTS
July 12-13th
New York, NY
July 16-19th
Romance Writers of America Conference
Niagara Falls, CAN
July 18-20th
Atlanta, GA
July 18-20th
Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference
Corte Madera, CA
July 18- August 3rd
Lima, PE
