People
Within Hachette, Jenna Lierman has joined as finance director, sales. She was previously at BBI and earlier at PRH. At Little Brown, Kate Napolitano joins as executive editor starting November 2. She was previously editorial director of nonfiction at Atria.
Penguin Random House Audio brings in Nicole James as senior editor, audiobook originals. She was previously at Quarto.
At Simon and Schuster Children’s, Margaret Rosewitz has joined as reprints design manager. She was most recently a reprints production controller at Candlewick. Within Gallery Books, VP & executive editor Carrie Feron is retiring after three decades in publishing.
At Harper Children’s, Elena Blanco joins as associate publisher, reporting to group publisher Rich Thomas. She previously led sales at Union Square & Co. Within William Morrow, Gabriella Mongelli joins as an executive editor, reporting to Jessica Williams and focusing on commercial women’s and upmarket book club fiction.
New World Library’s editorial director Jason Gardner will retire at the end of 2026 after more than 30 years with them.
At The New York Times Book Review, Ronda Kaysen joins as a books reporter, moving over from the real estate desk.
Mary Durkan has left International Literary Properties, where she was head of acquisitions, UK and EMEA.
Abrams has Caden Truscio joining as a business information developer & analyst.
At Zando, Brittany Leddy and Audree Damiba have both joined as marketing managers.
Sourcebooks brings on Tabetha Hedrick as production manager, ebooks & backlist, Christina Scott as human resources generalist, and Hannah Bowe as production editor – children’s.
Within The Author’s Guild, Audrey Pass has joined as communications director. She was previously at Harpo, USA Today, Pencils of Promise, and the Empire State Building.
At Wayne State University Press, Asha Grant has joined as acquisitions editor and Bianca Brown has joined as assistant editor.
At the Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance, executive director Linda-Marie Barrett will be departing at the end of 2026.
Cherry Lake Publishing Group / Sleeping Bear Press brings on Alison Langlois as manager, marketing & publicity. Sleeping Bear and Tilbury Press has Emma Loy-Santelli joining as associate editor. Loy-Santelli previously worked at the Serendipity Literacy Agency.
In Agency News…
At Page One Media, Anne Marie Turner has joined as associate director of marketing. Most recently, she worked as the Associate Director of Brand & Digital Marketing at Mary Ann Liebert.
Transatlantic Agnecy promotes Brenna English-Loeb to senior literary agent. Kate Moody has been promoted to associate literary agent and associate speaker’s agent. Lakota Rich will join as associate agent and assistant to Samantha Haywood.
At The Future of Agency, Keely Kennedy has joined as a marketing & publicity associate.
Am Oved has Lucy Abrahams now scouting in Israel.
At Bookends, Alice Jin “AJ” Zhang has joined as the agency’s first artist agent. They were previously at Astound US.
Neighborhood Literary promotes Tianna Kelly to agent.
Within Katie Reed Literary, Rachel Beck has joined as senior literary agent. She was previously at Liza Dawson Associates.
At Tobias Literary Agency, Kelly Dyksterhouse is retiring from agenting.
Fine Print Literary Management promotes Bailey Knaub and Jessica Lehr to junior agents.
At Triangle House Literary, Maya Raiford Cohen and Alicia Tan have joined the agency.
Storm Literary Agency promotes Lisa Amstutz to agency administrator, senior literary agent.
At Massie McQuilkin & Altman, Elijah Wolfson is joining as literary agent. He previously worked in magazine and news journalism, including at Newsweek, Quartz, TIME, and the L.A. Times.
Promotions
Harper Children’s promotes Nancy Inteli to SVP, publisher, focusing on early readers and Erica Sussman to SVP, publisher, focusing on middle grade and teen.
Penguin Random House Audio promotes Sarah Hilligoss to associate editor, content development. Within Random House Children’s, Kate Behar has been promoted to senior manager, licensing and brand marketing. Emily Fego has been promoted to editor, Nat Geo Kids.
At Sourcebooks, Zaina Maswood has been promoted to senior digital marketing specialist and Catie Gilhooly has been promoted to production editor.
Balance promotes Natalie Bautista to editor.
At Forever, Jordyn Penner has been promoted to assistant editor.
Within Transit Books, Bayley Harris has been promoted to publishing associate.
Princeton University Press promotes Rebecca Bengoechea to rights director, Inés ter Horst to director of intellectual property & strategic global partnerships, and Taylor Sumereau to intellectual property and contracts manager. Jodi Price has been promoted to senior promotions manager, Shelly Driskill has been promoted to marketing associate, and Natalie Zander has been promoted to promotions associate. Rebecca Binnie and Emma Wagh have been promoted to assistant editors. Abigail Johnson has been promoted to editor for physical and earth sciences.
Duly Noted
It has been reported that Youtube has been exploring the idea of offering audiobooks to their Premium Subscribers. The Wall Street Journal goes deeper in this article.
This year’s Kirkus Prize Winners have been announced including Kin by Tayari Jones for fiction, Catch the Devil by Pamela Colloff for nonfiction, and Anger Is Only A Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo for young adult.
The NYU School of Professional Studies has announced its keynote lineup for the fourth annual NYU Advanced Publishing Institute (NYU API), taking place January 6–7, 2027, at the university’s Washington Square campus. Speakers at the two-day program include Simon & Schuster CEO Greg Greeley, Penguin Random House’s Sanyu Dillon, Nina von Moltke, co-founder and president of Authors Equity, Abrams CEO Mary McAveney, restaurateur and author Danny Meyer and many other notables. Registration and the full agenda are currently open on the NYU API website. Early-bird registration discount remains available through October 23, 2026.