People
At Simon and Schuster, Ashley Herzig joins in the newly-created role of director of publishing operations for all children’s imprints and Scarlett Press, taking over some of the functions of VP, deputy publisher Anne Zafian, who will retire at the end of June. Herzig was previously a national account manager for Amazon at Simon & Schuster.
Random House Publishing Group has Caro Perny taking on the newly created role of publicity director, genre specialist. Emily Isayeff has been named director of publicity, Ballantine Bantam Dell, leading the full BBD publicity team. Both continue to report to SVP director of publicity and strategic communications Susan Corcoran. Bantam Books brings on Megha Parekh as editorial director, reporting to Kara Cesare. Parekh was previously editorial director at Thomas & Mercer.
At Macmillan, Brenna Connor takes on the new role of senior director, consumer insights, reporting to SVP, consumer insights, marketing & analytics. She was previously at Circana Bookscan. Joe Barros joined as director, accounting rights & royalties, finance. Alison Bloomer joins as associate director, design publishing operations and Melissa Brodin joins as associate director, contracts. Rachel Loring joined as associate, direct-to-consumer marketing & ecommerce, CIMA. Jen Didik transfers to contracts as associate director, legal operations. Within St. Martin’s Publishing Group, publisher-at-large Andrew Martin retired on June 1 after 20 years with the company.
Harper Collins has Annie Schatz joining the sales department as divisional sales director. At Harper Collins Christian, Susan Ligon will join as VP, publisher of W Publishing Group, reporting to SVP, group publisher Don Jacobson. She was previously principal at Ligon Group Consulting. See “Promotions” for other HarperCollins news.
Sourcebooks brings on Sam Schauer as design production manager. Adriana Yochelson has joined as associate manager, international marketing & publicity. Sonja Meigs has joined as key account fulfillment representative. Jennifer Eschrich has joined as senior director, audio acquisitions. Christine Witek has joined as accounts receivable accountant.
Orbit brings on Cailin Duffy as assistant editor.
Libro.fm has Julie MacKay joining as senior director of content partnerships & strategy. Phoenix Logan joins as senior technical product manager. Lee Hooyboer joins as sr. manager of bookseller partnerships. Ruby Chan joins as marketing associate.
At DK, Dan Hurst takes on the newly created position of publisher, lifestyle, within the Life division, reporting to publishing director Stephanie Jackson.
At The Lakeside Book Company, Michael Riley has joined as national account manager selling to Barnes & Noble, Books A Million & BN College. He was previously VP of sales at Independent Publishers Group. Lorina Lana has joined as special markets manager. She was previously at Quarto.
Phaidon brings on Kat Harding as publicity director, North America, based in the New York office.
At Kensington, Jess Goodwin has joined as social media manager.
Zibby Media brings on Mary Marolla as director of publicity. Allison Pollack joins as digital marketing associate.
At The New York Times Book Review, editor Gilbert Cruz Gilbert Cruz is leaving his position for another job at the newspaper. Tina Jordan will serve as interim editor in the meanwhile. Cruz is taking on the new role of Canon Editor.
Bloomsbury Academic brings on Andrew Lee as senior marketing manager. Lee was previously at Sage.
In Agency News…
Peters Fraser and Dunlop has named former longtime ceo of Simon & Schuster UK, Ian Chapman, chair of the agency.
Maria B. Campbell Associates has promoted Kaylee Hirzel-Duff to scout, children’s & YA. Irene Vazquez has joined as scout, children’s & YA. Vazquez was previously at Levine Querido.
The Purell Agency brings on Emma Levrau as associate literary agent. Amy Nielsen has been promoted to senior literary agent, Paige Broadbent is now associate literary agent, and Kimberly Monaghan also moves up to associate literary agent.
At Triada US, Ashley Reisinger has been promoted to associate agent.
Context Literary has promoted Celsie Moseley to junior agent.
At Talcott Notch Literary Services, Amy A. Collins has been promoted to senior agent.
Bookends has Keifer Ludwig joining as literary agent. He was previously at New Leaf.
The Bright Agency has Michael Joosten joining as agent in the US office, building a list of commercially-driven author-illustrator talent. He was previously an editor at Random House.
At Corvisiero Literary Agency, Gabrielle Harbowy and Alisha West have been promoted to literary agents.
Darhansoff & Verrill Literary Agents brings on Jenny Lewis as associate agent. She was previously at Norton.
Aevitas Creative Management is launching online courses for authors at every stage of their careers in partnership with Roadmap, a screenwriting education and training platform. The offerings will include “one-on-one consultations, in-person convenings, contests, and more.”
At Art Omi, Erin Edmison has been named director of the writers residency in Ghent, NY (the residency program previously known as Ledig House). She will also continue her role at Edmison/Harper Literary Scouting.
Promotions
Harper Collins is reorganizing their US trade division into seven groups—Avon, Dey Street, Harper, Harper Collins Children’s, Harper One, Mariner, and Morrow, pulling Day Street at Avon into their own groups. With this comes the following promotions: Kelly Rudolph becomes SVP, marketing, publicity, and strategic initiatives, US Trade. Benjamin Steinberg will become SVP, publishing operations, US Trade, as well as deputy publisher for Dey Street, Harvest, Harper Wave, and nonfiction for Mariner and Morrow. Jennifer Hart becomes SVP, director, fiction brands & estates, US Trade, in addition to her duties as deputy publisher for Morrow fiction, Avon, and Voyager, and Harper Alley manga and adult graphic novels. Amy Ryan has been promoted to the new role of SVP, creative director, US Trade, reporting to Hart. Harper Collins also promotes Kara Coughlin to director, sales operations. Katherine Jacobs has been promoted to editorial director for Zonderkidz and Blink YA. Jacque Alberta has been promoted to acquisitions editor at Blink YA, continuing as senior editor at Zonderkidz. For full details on the trade changes at Harper Collins click here.
Penguin Random House promotes Chris Dufault to SVP, director of adult retail sales, continuing to report to Jaci Updike. He has been at PRH for 23 years, most recently as SVP, publishing, sales, and operations strategy at the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. At Berkley, Sarah Blumenstock has been promoted to executive editor and Gabrielle Pachon has been promoted to associate editor. Within Putnam, Nicole Biton is promoted to publicity manager and Maggie Leone is promoted to associate publicist. Molly Donovan is promoted to assistant editor.
At Macmillan promotions include Michelle McMillian to director, design, publishing operations. Omar Chapa, Greg Collins, and Devon Norman have been promoted to managers, design, publishing operations.
At Simon & Schuster Aimee Bell has been promoted to VP and editor-in-chief of Gallery.
Libro.fm promotes Kay Farmer to chief operating officer. Madi Mullen is promoted to director of product. Danny Hitzelberger is promoted to support team lead.
Zando promotes Emily Morris to publicist.
At Springer Nature, Harmen van Paradijs has been promoted to executive vice president.
Zibby Media promotes Violet Guinness to publicity & sales associate manager.
At Bloomsbury Academic, Annie Lee has been promoted to marketing manager and Emi Herman has been promoted to associate marketing manager.
Duly Noted
A memorial service for Ann Godoff featuring reflections from authors, friends, and colleagues will be livestreamed on June 9 at noon Eastern. Attendees can watch here. There will also be a memorial gathering celebrating the life and legacy of Don Weise on Wednesday, June 10, at 4:30 PM (doors open at 4:00) at: The Center, 208 W. 13th Street, New York, NY. Attendance is open, but advance registration is requested.
Dark Horse Comics has voluntarily recognized the workers’ union with the National Labor Relations Board. In a statement published by Publisher’s Lunch, interim CEO Jay Komas noted that, “Voluntary recognition is an unusual step for employers, but in doing so Dark Horse intends to reaffirm its commitment that this new leadership wants to do things differently and enter into good-faith bargaining.”.