People Round Up, January, 2026

PEOPLE

At Hachette Book Group, Ed Spade has joined as senior vice president, commercial operations, reporting to deputy ceo Richard Kitson. Spade was previously president of sales at Harper Collins. Abigail Koons has joined as vice president of subsidiary rights, also reporting to Kitson, and succeeding Nancy Wiese who has left the company. VP, corporate business development and strategy Todd McGarity has left after almost 17 years with the company. At Little Brown, Kim Dayman joins as Director of Backlist, reporting to Sally Kim.

At Macmillan, Karen Bullock has joined as senior manager, strategic projects, business development.

Podium Entertainment brings on Jiayun Yang as subsidiary rights manager. She was previously at Assemble Media.

At Publishing Perspectives, Andrew Richard Albanese joins as editor-in-chief. He will retain his role as editor of the site Words & Money as well.

At Scholastic, executive vice president and chief growth officer Jeffrey Mathews has also been named president, Scholastic Education. He has served as interim head of the division since June 2025.

At Kensington, Adam Zacharius has been named president, succeeding his father, Steven Zacharius, who will remain as chairman and ceo.

At Kirkus, Meg LaBorde Kuehn returns as ceo and publisher. The company also acquired AudioFile Magazine and will now feature an audiobook section within Kirkus Reviews, edited by AudioFile’s managing editor Jennifer Dowell.

McGraw Hill has Philip Moyer coming on as president, ceo, and board member on February 9. Moyer succeeds Simon Allen, who will retire and remain board chair.

At Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull, Olivia Hammerman has joined as production editor.

Crooked Lane/Alcove Press brings on Gary Goldstein as an editor. He was previously an editor and editorial director at Kensington for 22 years. Elana Gibson has joined as an editor. She was previously at CamCat Publishing.

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In Agency News…

At UTA, Kelly Karczewski was promoted to agent.

At Triada US, Brent Taylor has been promoted to vice president, executive agent.

Britt Siess Creative Management has Phoebe Schmidt joining the agency, representing upmarket science fiction and fantasy. She was previously an independent scout and book-to-film agent at Paradigm Talent Agency.

At Martin Literary Management, Charlie Serabian has joined as literary manager representing genre fiction and select nonfiction. Jess Taylor has joined as literary manager representing primarily young adult and new adult. She is a former acquisitions editor.

At Great Dog Literary, Ismita Hussain has been promoted to senior agent. Gabriella Melendez has been promoted to agent.

New Leaf Literary and Media promotes Eileen Lalley to licensing manager. Katherine Curtis has been promoted to manager, film & TV. Keifer Ludwig has been promoted to subrights and literary associate. Jenniea Williams has been promoted to literary manager. Lindsay Howard has been promoted to literary associate.

At Handspun Literary, Justina Ireland joins as associate agent. She is the author of multiple books as well as a writer of both comics and television. Cheyenne Faircloth has been promoted to agent.

Fortier Public Relations has Lauren Ortiz joining as assistant publicity director. She was previously at Little, Brown.

International Literary Properties brings on James Meader as the division’s president of publishing, and Jennifer Bassuk as president of partnerships. Both joined ILP’s New York office on January 5.

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PROMOTIONS

At Avery Books & Tarcher, Maya Ono has been promoted to marketing manager.

Promotions at Zando include Sarah Ried to deputy editorial director of the Zando, Tin House and Imprint Partner lists, Caolinn Douglas to senior editor, TJ Ohler to editor, and Natalie Ullman has been promoted to director of social media. Zoey Cole has also been promoted to associate director of marketing, Christopher King to creative director, and Khalil Commissiong has been promoted to manager, inventory and sales analytics. Liz Eriksson has been promoted to contracts director. Kayla White has been promoted to associate production manager.

Little Bee promotes Jaime Gelman to editor and Sydney Hackley to junior designer.

At Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull, promotions include Olenka Burgess to production director, Wah-Ming Chang to director of managing editorial, and Laura Berry to senior production editor.

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DULY NOTED

Novelist Dinaw Mengestu was elected president of PEN America. He succeeds Jennifer Finney Boylan. “Dinaw Mengestu has spent his career illuminating the borders between countries, histories, and identities, and bringing readers into the lives of those too often pushed to the margins,” said PEN interim ceo and chief of Free Expression programs Summer Lopez.

Storm Literary Agency founder Essie White has launched a new, independent agency named Essie White Literary, where she will be representing authors and illustrators. She will continue to represent the majority of her long-term clients and some new clients.

A new literary agency, Confluence Literary Agency, has been founded from the merger of two previous agencies, Bond Literary Agency and Copps Literary Services. They will be representing commercial fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction for children and adults. Founders Sandra Bond, Elizabeth Copps, and Becky LeJeune will serve as principals. Joining as agents are Nicole Payne, who was previously at CLS, and Rose Conway, who was previously at Foreword Literary Consulting.