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Harper Collins has had several major announcements recently: Stephanie Fryling has been named president of sales, leading the US trade sales business across all retail channels and distribution partners. She fills the role vacated last summer when Ed Spade left the company. Judith Curr, president and publisher of the HarperOne Group, has decided to retire, effective May 29.
At Hachette Book Group, senior director of publicity and office manager Donna Nopper will retire on July 30 after 17 years at the company across territories. Melanie Freedman will succeed Nopper as senior director of publicity, and Kali Luckee will join as a full-time publicist, reporting to Freedman.
Within Penguin Random House, Taylor Thomas joins as associate, digital production on the DPDO, digital services team. They were previously head of special collections at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center & Museum in New Mexico. At Random House Publishing Group, Navorn Johnson joins as production editor on the corporate bookmaking production editorial team.
At Sourcebooks, Robin Wane has joined as publicity & marketing manager within nonfiction. Kevin Iwano joins as executive director of manufacturing. Iwano was previously director of production for Union Square & Co.
Thames and Hudson has Michelle Komie joining as editorial director. Komie was previously Publisher for Art and Architecture at Princeton University Press, where she worked since 2014, after 13 years in acquisitions at Yale University Press.
Macmillan brings on Jennifer Messineo as senior manager, production.
Within Bloomsbury Children’s, Catherine San Juan joins as senior designer. She previously worked at Insight Editions, Callisto Media, and HarperCollins Publishers.
Within Inklore, Sara Phoebe Miller joins the as editorial director. She will continue to work on the BOOM! Box program while building a list of original and licensed graphic novels for Inklore. Kiara Valdez joins as editor, and will take on Inklore’s growing list of manga localizations and the robust Disney Manga list. Lily Kessinger joins as editor, building on a list of global webtoons, original graphic novels.
Vinci Books has Charlie Redmayne joining as CEO. He was CEO of HarperCollins UK until October 2025.
At Oxford University Press, Clive Priddle has joined as editor at large. He was previously publisher at Public Affairs.
The American Booksellers Association elects Cavalier House Books owner John Cavalier to the ABA board. Karen Torres has joined as member relations manager. She runs KT Consulting and previously was vp, field sales and account marketing at Hachette Book Group.
Epic for Kids has Adriann Ranta Zurhellen joining as studio head, starting a new imprint of original illustrated children’s books for the reading platform. She was most recently senior director, editorial at Kevin Anderson & Associates, after 15 years as a literary agent.
At Wiley, Jessica Kowalski joins as executive vice president and general manager, research. She was previously at Microsoft.
In Agency News…
Liz Parker has launched Parker Projects, an IP management and advisory company that will rep a roster of authors and creators while advising companies and brands on their IP strategies. She is a 20-year veteran of publishing, media, and entertainment, who was most recently at Verve.
DeFiore and Company and the Stuart Krichevsky Agency will combine to form one larger agency, operating under the DeFiore name. They will be based out of DeFiore’s Union Square offices.
At Aevitas Creative Management, Mary C. Moore has been named senior agent.
Aitken Alexander promotes Chris Wellbelove to joint managing director, alongside Lesley Thorne.
At Root Literary, Andrea Blatt has joined as literary agent, after a decade at WME. She will continue to represent book club fiction and a range of nonfiction.
WordServe Liteary has Emma Fulenwider promoted to literary agent and Ellen Scott has joined as an associate agent. Scott was previously at the David Black Literary Agency.
Within KO Media Media Management, Andi Schuler has joined as licensing agent.
Calligraph has Alex Kane joining as a principal agent. He was previously at WME.
At Martin Literary Management, president and owner, Sharlene Martin, has sold the agency to Jennifer Newens, who has been vice president. The agency will be renamed Martin-Newens Literary Management.
Brockman Inc. brings on Libby Fellbaum as project coordinator. She was previously a production editor at the American Thoracic Society.
Promotions
Sourcebooks has lots of promotions including Katrina (Katy) Turner and India Hunter to managing editors. Kate Boggs has been promoted to director of subsidiary rights. Jessica Zulli has been promoted to associate director of production and Diane Cunningham has been promoted to production specialist III. Olivia Haase has been promoted to associate editorial coordinator. Cecilia Petee has been promoted to assistant sales manager, custom. Mikaela Luke has been promoted to assistant editor, Stonefruit Studio. Alexis Banyon has been promoted to associate publisher, custom & proprietary. Sarah Sisterson has been promoted to senior art director. Cynthia Baule has been promoted to executive project editor, Wonderland. Zoya Boskovic has been promoted to senior digital marketing specialist, special projects. Tina George has been promoted to senior director, production operations & systems. Alexandra Derdall has been promoted to assistant director of digital marketing, special projects. Keldyn Miller has been promoted to sales associate, mass merchandise. Emma Bagnall has been promoted to digital marketing coordinator. Kate Riley and Hartley Christensen have been promoted to senior marketing & publicity associates, Sourcebooks Landmark. Campbell Sharpe and Harper Stewart have been promoted to assistant editors, Wonderland. Allison Sundstrom has been promoted to senior art director, children’s. Tiffany Schultz has been promoted to senior advertising marketing manager. Corrin Bronersky has been promoted to publishing and marketing associate, retail marketing & creative services. Morgan Pfeiffer Amico has been promoted to sales associate. Viridiana Contreras has been promoted to associate design manager, digital. Madison Nankervis has been promoted to assistant director of marketing & brand development, romance. Katie Stutz has been promoted to assistant director of marketing, romance. Cindy Cozzi has been promoted to senior royalties accounting specialist.
Abrams has promoted Frank Albanese to the new role of chief operating officer and Michael Sand as executive vice president. Other promotions include Holly Dolce to vice president, associate publisher, and editorial director of Abrams Well. Aria Devlin is promoted to associate editor, adult editorial. Hannah Braden and Ruby Pucillo have been promoted to assistant editors, adult editorial. Anne Heltzel has been promoted to editor-in-chief of akaSTORY. Kathleen Spinelli has been promoted to executive director of sales, international and distribution client publishers. Liz Frew has been promoted to senior director, national accounts and Jay Salton has been promoted to senior manager, special markets. Kristen Luby has been promoted to director, school & library marketing. Maddie Brock has been promoted to marketing associate and Gabby Fisher has been promoted to executive director of publicity, adult. Lisa Silverman is promoted to executive managing editor. Heather Kelly is promoted to associate art director. Katie Gaffney is promoted to associate director, production. Lianne Schmidt is promoted to executive director, contracts. Lindy Humphreys is promoted to executive director, digital contracts and operations and Chloe Moore is promoted to contracts manager, subsidiary rights.
Within their children’s department, Maggie Lehrman has been promoted to vice president, associate publisher, children’s editorial. Courtney Code has been promoted to executive editor, Claire Stetzer has been promoted to senior editor, and Sara Sproull has been promoted to editor, children’s editorial. Angelica Busanet and Lily Rosen Marvin have been promoted to assistant editors, children’s editorial. Gaby Portugal has been promoted to marketing associate, children’s. Tayla Wagenseller has been promoted to publicist, children’s.
At Simon and Schuster, Jordan Moslowski has been promoted to assistant manager within special markets. Ingrid Carabulea has been promoted to senior marketing manager and Omesha Edwards has been promoted to senior publicist. Lisa Litwack has been promoted to executive director of art. Lexie von der Luft has been promoted to associate at the Simon & Schuster speakers bureau.
Hachette Book Group promotes Theresa Collier to senior director, marketing & publicity for Workman, Artisan, and Black Dog & Leventhal. Taylor Norton has been promoted to associate manager of communications and Mitchell Leung has been promoted to communications coordinator.
At Penguin Random House, Erin Nelson has been promoted to senior editor and Caroline Lee has been promoted to editor at Zeitgeist. Dutton promotes Charlotte Peters to associate editor. Putnum promotes Sofie Parker to senior marketing associate and Brennin Cummings to associate director of marketing.
Promotions at Macmillan include Karen Chau to associate manager, contracts, legal. Emily Chung has been promoted to associate director, HRIS. Gayatri Dubey has been promoted to senior manager, talent & development. Courtney Finley has been promoted to sales associate, special markets. Nomaris Garcia Rivera has been promoted to marketing associate, international marketing. Sophie Giroir has been promoted to senior associate, events & sales, Macmillan Speaker’s Bureau. Offauna Goodman has been promoted to senior manager, production, and Sandra Moore has been promoted to assistant manager, production. Brian Martin has been promoted to senior manager, sales analysis, publishing operations. Susannah Noel has been promoted to senior production editor, managing editorial. Holly Ruck has been promoted to senior director, field sales. Margaret Sweeney has been promoted to associate manager, systems integration, Biblio. Jeff Willmann has been promoted to senior national accounts manager, sales. Layla Yuro has been promoted to senior production editor, managing editorial. Within Celadon, Alex Cruz-Jimenez has been promoted to senior marketing manager.
Inklore promotes Katelyn Hemmeke to senior editor, specializing in Korean manhwa, webtoons, and webnovels. Boom! promotes Elizabeth Brei and Ramiro Portnoy to senior editors.
At Bloomsbury Children’s, Jeanette Levy has been promoted to creative director from associate art director.
The University of South Carolina Press promotes Aurora Bell to editorial director.
Knopf Doubleday promotions include John Vorhees to studio director and Peter Quach moves up to senior designer within their art department.
Within Melville House, Michelle Capone has been promoted to editor.
Duly Noted
Publishers Lunch reports that 600 employees of Hachette Book Group have unionized with Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild-CWA Local 32035, of the AFL-CIO. The union says it is seeking better benefits, protections, and rights for workers, as well as increased equity, transparency, and agency in the workplace. They write in a release, “The HWC demands a livable wage regardless of work location, better working conditions, a cap on workload hours, a clear and neutral grievance process, AI protections, follow-through on DEI policies, and more.”
University of Chicago Press Workers Guild has announced it has joined the Chicago News Guild and is requesting voluntary recognition from the nonprofit publisher.
In memoriam of author and literary agent Rhian Thomas-Parry, 30, who passed on April 25 after a stage four cancer diagnosis. Thomas-Parry was an agent with Blair Partnership, where she also managed film, TV and audio rights and permissions. She had just signed with Lauren Gardner at Bell Lomax Moreton for her romantasy novel A Mortal Drowning.