People
Within Simon & Schuster’s Atria division, Richard Rhorer VP, publisher of Simon Element and Simon Acumen, expands responsibilities to include the role of publisher, Atria Nonfiction. Fanta Diallo has joined as senior publicist. Fanta was most recently at Liveright.
Martha Bucci began her new position as SVP, sales and subsidiary rights at Abrams, reporting to president and CEO Mary McAveney. Bucci was previously SVP, sales at Quarto Book Group. Ashley Arias has joined as senior manager, people & culture. Suzy Swartz has joined as senior editor.
At Random House Children’s, Janine O’Malley has joined as executive editor. Most recently, she was executive editor at Farrar, Straus Children’s. Shelby Jenkins has joined as publicist. Most recently she was associate manager, marketing & publicity, at Cherry Lake Publishing Group. Within Penguin Young Readers, Shanta Newlin, SCP, executive director of publicity and corporate communications, will step down from her role at the end of the year to launch her own literary PR firm. She has been with the company for 18 years. Elyse Marshall, vp, executive director, publicity will now oversee the Penguin Young Readers publicity team. At Penguin Random House Audio, Felicity Vallence has joined as senior director, marketing, content development. She was formerly director, digital marketing for Penguin Young Readers. Ten Speed Press has Kate Anderson joining Ten Speed Press Graphic, licensing and Ten Speed Young Readers as a publicist. She was previously at Quarto. VP and publisher at Knopf Children’s, Melanie Nolan will leave the company on November 30, and Crown Children’s editor at large Phoebe Yeh will also leave at the end of the year. Within Putnam, Caleigh Flegg has joined as marketing manager.
Harper Collins brings on Erica Frederick as operations coordinator, publishing operations. Within Harper Collins Christian Publishing, Caitlyn Carlson joins as senior acquisitions editor.
At Melville Press, Rola Harb has joined as editor. She was most recently at One Signal.
At Macmillan, Ryan Jenkins joined as senior production editor and Ben Rogers joined as VP, financial planning & analysis, accounting & finance.
At Basic Books Group, Gabe Kachuck has joined as senior editor. He was previously editor at Oxford University Press. Within Little Brown Children’s, Rachel Jensen has joined as senior publicist.
Sourcebooks has Jessica Yang joining as editor. She was previously at Chooseco.
At Oxford University Press, Brent Howard has been named executive editor for history (trade and academic books) based in the New York office. Howard was formerly executive editor at Penguin Random House.
Milkweed Editions has Erika Stevens joining in the newly created role of senior editor. Stevens was previously a literary agent at Salky Literary Management.
Insight to Market has been launched by Michael Gentile, a consulting company for publishers, authors, and education organizations with a particular focus on education and libraries. He was previously VP of education sales and marketing at Penguin Random House. Kelly Coyle has joined as lead library and retail growth consultant. Coyle continues to run The Little Point Bookshop in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ and previously worked in library marketing at Penguin Random House.
International Literary Properties has James Cawood joining as VP of global partnerships based in the London office. Cawood was previously story and development consultant for the London based literary development agency Pendragon Works.
At MIT Press, Michael Campbell has joined as senior acquisitions editor. He was previously at Skyhorse Publishing.
Orion Magazine names Karen Maeda Allman and Philip Patrick to the board of directors. Allman was previously author events coordinator at Elliott Bay Book Company and Patrick was previously VP at Penguin Random House.
In Agency News…
At Confluence Literary Agency, Shelly Romero has joined as associate agent. She was formerly at Azantian Literary Agency.
Shreve Williams Public Relations promotes Chris Artis to director of publicity, nonfiction, Lauren Hodapp to director of publicity, and Deb Shapiro to director of publicity, lifestyle, wellness and fiction.
KF Literary Scouting has begun scouting for Audible US.
At Aevitas Creative Management, Miles Blom has been named associate agent.
The Bright Agency promotes Georgia Tournay-Godfrey to head of literary.
Promotions
At Penguin Press, Danielle Plafsky has been promoted to deputy marketing director. Knopf promotes Isa Connolly, Margot Lee, John Ingold, and Zuleima Ugalde to assistant editors. Penguin Random House Audio promotes Emily Parliman to executive editor, Listening Library and Katie Lakina to associate editor. Within Ten Speed Press, Kaitlin Ketchum has been promoted to VP, editorial director, of art, graphic & popular culture and Maya Bradford is promoted to director of publicity of Ten Speed graphic, licensing, and Ten Speed Young Readers. Vintage Books promotes Maddie Partner to associate art director.
Sourcebooks promotes Deve McLemore to associate director of manufacturing and Ellie Tiemens to senior production editor.
At Harper Collins, Catherine DeGenaro has been promoted to associate director, publishing operations.
At Simon and Schuster, Caroline Pallotta has been promoted to associate director of managing editorial for the Atria Gallery Publishing Group. Sabrina Brawley has been promoted to assistant director of email marketing and Elise Portale has been promoted to senior manager, social media and audience growth. Simon Element promotes Ashtin Ballard to senior publicity manager, Clara Skeppstrom to associate publicist, and Katie McClimon to assistant editor.
At Princeton University Press, promotions include Christian Carey to senior accounting analyst and Sandy Davis to senior benefits and leave manager. Chris Ferrante has been promoted to assistant art director, Amanda Gillette has been promoted to production associate, and Theresa Liu has been promoted to senior production editor. Agnieszka (Aga) Maziarz has been promoted to accounting team lead. Karl Spurzem has been promoted to assistant art director and Erin Suydam has been promoted to senior specialist, production & sustainability. Siqi Wi has been promoted to library business development manager and Yan (Lizzy) Zhou has been promoted to content and academic marketing lead.
Adam’s Media promotes Gia Manalio-Bonaventura to associate marketing director and Natalie McGregor to editor.
Within Atria, Dana Trocker has been promoted to VP, deputy publisher, assuming additional responsibilities and oversight for backlist, following Suzanne Donahue’s recent retirement. At Scribner, Kassandra Engel has been promoted to senior publicity manager, Addie Gilligan has been promoted to senior publicist, and Ellie Crowley has been promoted to publicist. Avid Reader promotes Allie Silvas to assistant editor.
Summit Books promotes Anna Skrabacz to marketing director and Luiza De Campos Mello Grijns to associate publicist/assistant editor.
At Grove Atlantic, Sophie Pugh-Sellers has been promoted to associate editor.
Oxford University Press promotes Morgan Jones to senior editor for politics.
Duly Noted
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.
Shelf Awareness reports that Word Bookstore’s two locations in Brooklyn and Jersey City, NJ are for sale by owners Christine and Vincent Onorati, in advance of their move out of the country next year. According to Christine, the stores hit record sales in 2025 and are up 25 percent year-to-date in 2026.
Open Road Integrated Media and Lakeside Book Company have announced a new partnership. Lakeside Book’s distribution clients will gain access to Open Road’s digital marketing technology and Open Road will be using Lakeside Books as their printer and distributor.