People Round Up, Mid-December, 2023

Happy Holidays from the Editors 

PEOPLE

At Simon & Schuster, Judy Clain will be joining on January 16 as SVP and publisher of the relaunched Summit Books Imprint, reporting to CEO Jonathan Karp. She had been with Little, Brown & Company since 2011. Avery editor-in-chief Caroline Sutton has left Penguin Random House and will join Avid Reader in January. Kathyrn Renz Hamilton joined as executive editor for Convergent on December 6th.  She was previously at Harper One. Marie Florio, VP and director of subsidiary rights, will retire from Simon & Schuster, effective December 31.

 

At Random House Children’s, Julie Black has been named senior VP of sales strategic planning at Penguin Random House. . DK Children’s Arabella Stein will join the company on January 8 in the new role of trade strategy director, reporting to Sarah LarterLiz Sutton has joined as a production assistant. She was previously a production acquisitions liaison at Nori Media Group.

 

Neil Strong has been named COO of Macmillan effective January 2nd, 2024. He will be reporting to Jon Yaged. He previously was with Barnes & Noble as VP of supply chain and customer service. Jillian Briglia, formerly associate publicist at Doubleday has joined Farrar, Straus and Giroux as publicist.

 

At Hachette Book Group, Amar Deol will join as executive editor for Grand Central Publishing and begin his new role on January 3rd.  He was previously the senior editor at Atria. 

 

At HarperCollins, Beth Coates becomes publisher to The Borough Press after working a year as a consultant to the imprint. She was previously the publishing director at Vintage UK. Suzie Dooré will stay in her editor-at-large role. At the Morrow Group, Jennifer Hart and Benjamin Steinberg have been promoted to the role of deputy publisher, overseeing publishing strategy and operations. Hart will guide the fiction program and branded fiction properties and Steinberg will steer the nonfiction publishing programs. 

 

Harper Fiction’s Frankie Gray will join as managing director and publisher in spring 2024, reporting to Kate Elton. She is leaving her position as publisher at Bantam UK. Zondervan Books will have Mark Glesne joining as vice president of marketing. Most recently he led the special imprints team at HarperCollins Christian Publishing

 

Jennifer Finney Boylan has been elected president of PEN America. Boylan previously served as a vice president of the PEN America board of trustees.

 

At ReaderLink Distribution Services, Steve Rosenzweig has joined as district operations auditor. Calli Grimes has joined as assistant product manager. Matthew Balster has joined as lead SQL administrator. Kristen Aguilar has joined as account coordinator.

 

Kristin Rasmussen, formerly co-executive director at CALIBA, has joined Scholastic as district sales manager.

 

Gary Thompson has joined as editorial director for Square Enix Manga & Books. He was previously the director of Dead Reckoning, the graphic novel imprint of the Naval Institute Press.

 

At W.W. Norton & Company, Meghan Brophy has joined as senior academic marketing manager for trade.

 

Delaney Heisterkamp has joined Sourcebooks as a marketing and social media associate.

 

Ariane Moore has joined Fortier Public Relations as senior podcast publicist.  Most recently, she was assistant manager, satellite tours at Penguin Publishing Group.

In Agency News…

At New Leaf Literary & Media, Alaina Mauro has joined New Leaf Literary & Media as chief operating officer. Keifer Ludwig has joined as subrights assistant and Matt Belford has joined as literary agent.

 

Jane Rotrosen Agency’s Tori Clayton has been promoted to subsidiary rights sales agent. Allison Hufford has been promoted to subsidiary rights sales agent. Jack McIntyre has been promoted to subsidiary rights coordinator. Maria Burfield has been promoted to office manager, business affairs. Kristen Comeaux has been promoted to director of data management.

 

Agnès Rigou has joined Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as translation agent in the books department in London. She was previously head of rights at Harper UK.

 

Yelena Gitlin Nesbit, formerly executive director of publicity at HarperCollins, is joining Park & Fine Literary and Media as executive director of publicity and marketing. Danielle Barthel is joining as manager of creative development.

PROMOTIONS

At HarperCollins, Amy Perkins of Borough Press has been promoted to editor director. May Chen and Tessa Woodward have been promoted to v-p and editorial director for Avon Books

 

Scott Shannon has been promoted to president of Random House Worlds and will report to Random House Publishing Group president Sanyu DillonKeith Clayton has been promoted to vice president, publisher, Random House Worlds, and Inklore co-publisher, Del ReyTricia Narwani has been promoted to vice president, co-publisher and editor-in-chief, Del Rey

Ana Giovinazzo has been promoted to associate director, backlist digital strategy, penguin publishing group at Penguin Random House. Cassie Marini has been promoted to senior associate, backlist, at Penguin Random House. Aurora Slothus has been promoted to associate director, backlist publishing, at Penguin Random House.

 

Thea James has been promoted to v-p of customer operations at Penguin Random House. Jessica Wells has been promoted to v-p of customer operations and strategy at Penguin Random House. Stephen Shodin has been promoted to director of sales operations. Tom Broucksou has been promoted to manager of sales operations. Lillian Ball has been promoted to publicity manager at Avery and TarcherPerigee Imprints. At Ballantine Books, Sara Weiss has been promoted to editorial director for nonfiction.

 

At Macmillan Publishers, Sonja Flancher is promoted to marketing associate at Henry Holt & Company.

 

Nicole Bond has been promoted to v-p and executive director of subsidiary rights at Simon & Schuster.

 

Laura Elmassih has been promoted to senior national accounts manager at ReaderLink Distribution Services. Lawrence Carls has been promoted to senior sales operations manager. Zach Zivo has been promoted to account representative. Rebecca Schenkenfelder has been promoted to collection specialist.

 

Sourcebooks’ Ashley Delaney has been promoted to customer experience order specialist.

 

Joel W. Coggins, formerly design and production manager at University of Pittsburgh Press, has joined University of Virginia Press as production manager, 

 

Deborah Arca has joined The Upper Room as marketing manager for books and devotionals. 

DULY NOTED

Publisher’s Weekly editorial director, Jim Milliot received the first-ever Frederic G. Melcher Lifetime Achievement Award. The annual award recognizes those who make a significant impact on publishing business.

Obituary: Roy Gainsburg

Former president of St. Martin’s Press Roy Ellis Gainsburg, 91, died on December 9. He worked for 30 years as a lawyer at Szold & Brandwen, specializing in publishing and literary law and representing St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Ltd. of London, and the J.R.R. Tolkien estate. He became president of St. Martin’s from 1987 until 1997, then served as an administrative VP until he retired in 2009.

 

EVENTS

January 4-7

MLA Annual Convention 

Philadelphia, NJ

January 5-7

Fan Expo New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

January 11-14

Key West Literary Seminar

Key West, FL

January 13-21

Çukurova Book Fair

Adana, Turkey

New York, NY 

[A note on the site states:  Digital Book World 2024, originally scheduled for January 15-17 in New York City, has been postponed indefinitely.]

January 19

BISG: Doing Rights, Right Making the Case for Change 

New York, NY 

January 19-21

Albuquerque Comic Con

Albuquerque, NM

January 22

Gathering of The Ghosts

New York, NY

January 26-27

Sunshine State Book Festival

Gainesville, FL

January 18-31

Kolkata Book Fair

Kolkata, India

February 1-5

Jaipur Literature Festival

Jaipur, India

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/11-12/15

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Real Consequences For Fake Reviews- Publisher Drops Author for “Review Bombing” 

PEN America Releases Book Ban Research 

Can One Book Really Explain it All? – Why is Millennia Spanning History So Popular?

Bringing Banned Books Back to Florida- Why is a Non-Profit Responding to The Rise in Book Bannings?

A Year in Review 

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 12/04 -12/08

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Is TikTok Making a Difference in Publishing? These Authors Think So…

How are Legislatures Fighting Book Bans on Capital Hill? 

Representation Matters – How a NYC Pop-Up Bookshop Created a Space for Authors and Readers

People Are Suddenly Reading More, Why?

Why Do Prisons Ban Fantasy and Science Fiction?

 

People Round-Up, Early December 2023

PEOPLE

Marcus Leaver has announced the launch of his new company, Gemini Books Group. Gemini has acquired Imagine That!, Palazzo Editions, Ad Lib Publishers, Mardel Books, and Pimpernel Press. He previously was the CEO of The Quarto Group until 2018 and the co-founder of Welbeck Publishing Group until late 2022 where it was then sold to Hachette UK.

 

At Hachette Book Group, associate publisher Jaimee Callaway will succeed Bill Newlin, VP and publisher of Avalon Travel, who will be retiring on June 30th, 2024. 

 

At Macmillan Publishers, Andrew Miller has been named president and publisher of Henry Holt, effective mid-January 2024. The position was previously held by Amy Einhorn who is now SVP and publisher of Crown.  Alisa Trager has joined as managing editor. David Garabedian has joined as associate for facilities programs and systems. Amber Cortes has joined as junior associate for procurement. Robert Naggar has joined as senior director of production operations. Hannah Dragone has joined as senior production manager.

 

At Penguin Random House SVP, sales & customer operations John Bohman will retire on December 15 as part of the company’s VSO.

 

Matt Gannon is joining HarperCollins Publishers as senior director of warehouse operations. Kelsey Manning has joined as director of marketing for The Morrow Group.

 

Shawn Dahl has joined Abrams as art director.  She is the co-author of Brooklyn Street Style.

 

Maria Goldverg will join Liveright, the imprint of W.W. Norton as senior editor. She was previously senior editor at Pantheon

 

Katie Raissian is joining Scribner as executive editor; she was previously senior editor at Grove Atlantic.

 

Erica Gelbard has joined Chronicle Books as associate director of publicity. She was previously at Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press.

 

At Scholastic, Abigail Jordan has joined as a publicity assistant. She was formerly a publicity assistant at Other Press.

 

Nate Rapach has joined Sourcebooks as accounting associate. Siena Koncsol has joined as  senior publicity and marketing manager. 

 

At Candlewick Press, Zach Simpson has joined as senior accountant.

 

Chris Kouzes has joined Cottage Door Press as senior VP of sales.

In Agency News…

Rachel Mann, formerly literary agent at Jo Unwin Literary Agency has joined Creative Artists Agency’s book department as publishing agent.

 

Donya Dickerson has joined Aevitas Creative Management as an agent. She was previously an associate publisher at McGraw Hill.

PROMOTIONS

Beverly Hare has been promoted to manager of compliance and quality control at Simon & Schuster. Diane Lalli, Bradley Bratcher, and Mike Schmidt  have been promoted to VP of warehouse operations and logistics at Simon & Schuster. Lori Perino has been promoted to director of distribution and logistics.

 

HarperCollins Children’s Books’ Harper Group saw the promotion of Megan Ilnitzki to executive editor. Jes Lyons is being promoted to publicity manager at Willam Morrow. Rachel Berquist has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Morrow Group. Kelly Dasta has been promoted to senior marketing associate. Beatrice Jason has been promoted to publicity manager at Morrow Group. Jessica Vestuto has been promoted to associate editor at Mariner Books.

 

At Macmillan, Ahmed Scott has been promoted to senior associate for facilities programs and systems. Michelle Timmins has been promoted to library marketing coordinator. Samantha Slavin has been promoted to manager of diversified sales.

 

Lara Phan has been promoted to VP of account marketing and event strategy at Penguin Random House

 

Sarah Bonamino has been promoted to senior publicity manager at Blackstone Publishing.

 

Arune Singh has been promoted to VP of brand and editorial at Skybound.

DULY NOTED

Larry Hughes, the longtime William & Morrow chief, died on November 14 at the age of 98. He spent more than 40 years with the company and then went on to form his company, Hobson and Hughes and assist in multiple publishing organizations including, the Association of American Publishers, National Book Foundation, and National Book Awards.

 

Publishing executive Gladys Carr died on November 29th, at age 90. She spent her career at HarperCollins and McGraw-Hill working most notably with James Baldwin and Erma Bombeck. In retirement, her poetry and writing appeared in more than 100 journals and magazines. The Legends Internship Program at the Poetry Center at Smith College is named in her honor.

 

Casey McIntyre , VP and editor-at-large of Putnam Books for Young Readers, died on November 15th from ovarian cancer. A fundraiser in her name has raised more than $800,000, surpassing the initial goal of $20,000.

 

EVENTS

January 4-7

MLA Annual Convention 

Philadelphia, NJ

January 5-7

Fan Expo New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

January 11-14

Key West Literary Seminar

Key West, FL

January 13-21

Çukurova Book Fair

Adana, Turkey

January 15-17

Digital Book World

New York, NY 

[A note on the site states:  Digital Book World 2024, originally scheduled for January 15-17 in New York City, has been postponed indefinitely.]

January 19-21

Albuquerque Comic Con

Albuquerque, NM

January 26-27

Sunshine State Book Festival

Gainesville, FL

January 18-31

Kolkata Book Fair

Kolkata, India

February 1-5

Jaipur Literature Festival

Jaipur, India

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/27-12/01

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Too Many Books, So Little Time- Why Booker Prize Does Not Read All Contenders? 

Should We Say Goodbye to Literary Fiction? 

Posting to Printing – How Webtoons and Webcomics Are Becoming a Recognized Market

Should Books Have Movie Ratings?

#CiderMonday vs. #CyberMonday – How Indie Booksellers Are Getting Customers Offline and In Stores 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/20-11/24

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Creating Solidarity and Community- How Black-Owned Bookstores Are Redefining Bookselling

Why Are Publishers Still Using X? 

Can We Judge a Book By Its Sound?

Gather Round The (Grammar) Table – How One Writer is Teaching Others About Words

Freelancers Granted More Protection Under New NYS Law

People Round-Up, Mid November 2023

PEOPLE

Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch, is transitioning to the role of Chairman, and will be succeeded by Hachette UK CEO, David Shelley, who will take on both HBG and HUK roles.  Richard Kiston, deputy CEO of Hachette UK, will be taking on the same role for Hachette Book Group. COO Joe Mangan has announced his retirement. The changes take place Jan 1st, 2024.

 

At Frankfurter Buchmesse, Christian Ebert will join as director of strategic marketing and sales, as of Jan 1st, 2024.

 

At Macmillan, Casey Sears has joined as senior production manager. Marc Dauphin has joined as recruiter, HR. Becks Perez has joined as assistant recruiter, HR. At Tor Publishing Group, Erika Tsang has joined their imprint Bramble as executive editor. 

 

At Penguin Random House, CFO, James Johnston, will retire after 33 years with the company. He will be succeeded by Manuel Sansigre on Jan 1st, 2024, and will report to Nihar Malaviya and continue leading global mergers and acquisitions as well.  Oliver Munday has returned to Doubleday, from Knopf, as creative director. Kelly Blair has been named senior art director for the Knopf Cooks line. At Viking/Penguin, Rebecca Marsh will lead the publicity department effective immediately, reporting to Kate StarkAdam Castro, previously associate graphic designer at IDW Publishing, has joined Random House Children’s Books as junior designer.  

 

At HarperCollins, Frank Albanese, SVP, market insight & sales operations will be leaving after 30 years with the company. Jim Hanas, VP, central marketing will now oversee sales analysis, market intelligence, data science, metadata and digital advertising teams. Megan Pagano, director of sales analysis will report to Hanas. Bel Banta has joined as senior publicist. She was previously associate publicity at Viking/Penguin. At William Morrow Group, Melissa Esner, formerly deputy director of marketing at Crown, has joined as senior director of marketing. At Ten Speed Press, Ginee Seo has joined in the newly created position of VP, editorial director of children’s publishing, reporting to publisher Aaron Wehner. She was previously at Chronicle. 

 

 New York Times Magazine poetry editor, Anne Boyer, has resigned from the company. 

 

At Insider, CEO Henry Blodget is stepping down and will be succeeded by Barbara Pang. The company will also be changing its name back to “Business Insider” as they look to improve the brand positioning of the business and tech news publication.

 

At Simon & Schuster, Stephanie Hitchcock has joined Simon Element as executive editor. She was previously the senior editor at Atria Books.

 

Liz Gough will join Dorling Kindersley (DK) in February 2024, taking the role of managing director of DK Adult and reporting to CEO Paul Kelly. She was previously executive publisher of Hodder & Stoughton.

 

At Sourcebooks, Nicole Lecht has joined as associate art director for Bloom Books.

 

At Fortier Public Relations, Lindsay Prevette, formerly executive director of publicity at Viking Penguin, has joined as director of publicity. 

 

At Chronicle Books, Alex Astras, has joined as associate manager for institutional and independent trade marketing.

 

At ReaderLink Distribution Services, Franklin Jackson has joined as director of information technology infrastructure. Danica Krenson has joined as production assistant. Kathleen McGuire has joined as accounts receivable deductions analyst. Madison Nickles has joined as purchasing coordinator. 

 

At Monacelli Press, Holly La Due has joined as publisher. She was formerly the editorial director at Princeton Architectural Press.

 

Publishers Marketplace announces that Sarah Perillo has joined as data and operations manager. She was previously director of foreign rights at Curtis Brown

 

Marcus Drenth, previously senior marketing manager at HarperCollins, is launching Dood Digital Marketing, a company that works with publishers and authors to fine-tune their digital marketing.

 

At the American Booksellers Association, design and production manager, Linda Ford will retire at the end of the year after 27 years with ABA

At the University of Pennsylvania Press, Isaiah Holbrook has joined as editorial assistant.

 

At the Morgan Library and Museum, Jennifer Kalter has been named director of education and public programs.

 

At Milkweed Editions, Joanna Demkiewicz, marketing director is leaving.

 

At Little Bee Books, Jeanine Le Ny, formerly senior category manager at Calisto, has joined Little Bee Books as executive editor for BuzzPop.

 

At the Greensboro Literary Organization, Lex Orgera has been named executive director. She was the founder and former owner of Penny Candy Books.

 

At the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, Josh Leventhal has been named director.

 

At Independent Publishers Group, Tim McCall, formerly trade sales director at Baker & Taylor Publishing Services, is joining as VP of sales. Breanna Spiegal has joined as trade sales representative for the west.

 

At Capstone Publishing, Haygood Poundstone has been named chief revenue officer.  

In Agency news:

Former founder of Brotherstone Creative Management, Charlie Brotherstone, has joined Aevitas Creative Management UK as VP and senior agent. 

 

Maria B. Campbell Associates has been appointed U.S. and U.K. scouts for Le Seuil and Points. This change will take place Dec 1st. 

 

At Curtis Brown, Karin Schulze has joined as director of foreign rights. She was previously director of subsidiary rights at Abrams Books.

PROMOTIONS

At Macmillan Publishers, Catherine Marvin has been promoted to senior director of communications.  Elena Guzman has been promoted to associate director of sales, specialty retail. Katie Gore has been promoted to director, talent programming. Lisa Edgar has been promoted to benefits manager. Eunice Pak has been promoted to sales product manager. D’Kela Duncan, Isaac Loewen, and Julia Metzger have been promoted to sales coordinator, children’s national accounts. Heather Hill has been promoted to counsel, employee relations, legal at Macmillan Publishers. 

 

At Penguin Random House, Divya Sawhney has been promoted to chief strategy officer. Emily Mahon has been promoted to senior art director at Doubleday. Linda Huang has been promoted to art director at Pantheon. Maddie Partner has been promoted to senior designer at Vintage Books. At Viking Penguin, Sarah Leonard has been promoted to senior publicist. Sara DeLozier has been promoted to publicity manager. 

 

At HarperCollins, Kristi Smith is being promoted to VP of marketing at Thomas Nelson Gift and Zondervan Gift. Nancy Inteli, has been promoted to VP and publisher at HarperCollins Children’s Books. Alyson Day, Bethany Vinhaterio, Dave Linker, and Luana Horry, have been promoted to editorial director at HarperCollins Children’s Books.  Kelly Roberts has been promoted to VP, divisional sales director at HarperCollins. Kara Coughlin has been promoted to associate director of sales operations at HarperCollins Publishers. Elizabeth Semrai has been promoted to associate director of marketing. Kim Silverton has been promoted to senior manager, sales analysis. Eduard Fabregat has been promoted to senior data scientist.  At William Morrow, Ariana Sinclair has been promoted to editor at Avon. At HarperOne, Sarah Schoof has been promoted to publicity manager. Alison Cerri has been promoted to publicist. Ashley Candelario has been promoted to associate publicist. At HarperVia, Alexa Frank has been promoted to associate editor. 

 

At Simon & Schuster, Louisa Solomon has been promoted to executive managing producer and casting director at S&S Audio. Mike Noble has been promoted to senior producer and supervisor for special projects at S&S Audio. Tiffany Frarey has been promoted to producer for S&S Audio. Allison Light has been promoted to producer & supervisor for special projects at S&S Audio. Hannah Woodruff has been promoted to marketing coordinator at S&S Audio. Gaby Audet has been promoted to associate marketing manager at S&S Audio.

 

At Scholastic, Anna Bloom has been promoted to executive director for trade. Shifa Kapadwala has been promoted to senior manager of global brand publicity. Kelsey Albertson has been promoted to trade sales manager for special markets. Brittany Schachner has been promoted to manager of frontlist planning. 

 

At Dorling Kindersley (DK), Mike Sanders has been promoted to senior VP and publisher at DK Alpha.

 

At Chronicle Books, Bora Kim, has been promoted to associate sales manager for national specialty at Chronicle Books.

At Hay House, Melody Guy has been promoted to editorial director.

 

At Sourcebooks, Christy Droege has been promoted to VP of data and analytics. Alexandra Derdall has been promoted to assistant digital marketing manager – special projects. Bonnie Svoboda has been promoted to associate director of customer experience. Margaret Kelly has been promoted to senior manager of customer experience. Taylor Geldermann has been promoted to assistant editor. 

 

At ReaderLink Distribution Services, Debra Zakarin has been promoted to VP and publisher of Printers Row Publishing Group children’s imprints Studio Fun and Silver Dolphin. Diane Cain has been promoted to editorial director of licensed publishing for adult imprints. April Graham has been promoted to editorial director of non-licensed products for the adult imprints of Printers Row Publishing Group. Korrina Cook has been promoted to director of accounting for Printers Row Publishing Group. Spencer Curley has been promoted to senior director of business analytics. Zach Gorski has been promoted to director of juvenile product management. Sara Branstetter has been promoted to senior space and merchandising planner. Ashley Fuchs has been promoted to supply planner. Courtney Garza has been promoted to senior manager, supply planning II  at ReaderLink Distribution Services. Sarah Kingsbury has been promoted to account executive. Alejandra Lavander has been promoted to international logistics manager. Mike Lepsi has been promoted to Blue Yonder WMS functional analyst. Robert Lisak has been promoted to senior support specialist. Audrius Macenis has been promoted to business analyst III. Ivan Martino has been promoted to supply planning manager. Mary Beth McDermott has been promoted to functional analyst. Benjamin Mertes has been promoted to Microsoft D365 applications manager. Amelia Meyer and Whitney White have been promoted to space and merchandise planner. Nimmi Patel has been promoted to co-op and billing specialist. Brian Potter has been promoted to demand planner III. Erich Weber has been promoted  to fulfillment planner III. Michael Wieringa has been promoted to supply planner III. 

 

At American Booksellers Association, Kate Brennan has been promoted to production manager. Sarah Lacey Graham has been promoted to member relations and data coordinator. 

DULY NOTED

Italy’s 21letters is opening an U.S. subsidiary with 26letters and will be releasing its first title this month. The publishing house focuses on translated fiction and graphic novels.

 

Sharon Fitzhenry, Canadian Distributor and Publisher died at 73 on Nov 8th. She served as president and COO of Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

 

Casey McIntyre, the publicist turned publisher died at 38 on Nov 12th. Earlier this year she assumed the role of VP, editor-at-large for Putnam Books for Young Readers

 

EVENTS

November 17- 19

China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF)

Shanghai, CHN

November 25- Dec 3

Guadalajara International Book Fair

Guadalajara, MX

November 27 

FutureBook Conference

London, ENG and Virtual

Top 5 Publishing Article/Blog Posts of the Week 11/13-11/17

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

2023 National Book Awards Authors Appeal for Humanitarian Aid in Gaza 

Will Amazon Change Its Ways and Support EPUB?

Has AI Written Writers Out or Is There Still Time to Control it?

Superstar P!NK Teams Up With PEN America to Give Banned Books at Florida Concert 

Who Should Pay for Open Access Publishing? 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 11/6- 11/10

Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

How did this bestselling author fight against book bans?

What can listeners expect from Spotify’s new audiobook feature? 

Who is getting involved to protect librarians amidst book bans and censorship? 

Who are the 2023 National Book Award Finalists?

Why was Mark Meadows sued by a book publisher? 

People Round-Up, Early November 2023

PEOPLE

At Penguin Random HouseRoseanne Serra, VP and director of art and design and Paul Buckley, senior VP and executive creative designer have left Penguin Publishing Group. Sabrina Papas has joined Penguin Random House Canada as marketing and publicity coordinator. Alex Lu has joined Random House Children’s Books as editor for Random House Graphic, previously they were a contributing editor at First Second. Jacinta O’Halloran has joined Random House Worlds as editor acquiring licensed visual nonfiction.

 

At Simon & Schuster, Elizabeth Huang has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing as a digital marketing assistant. Alin Haberle has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing as production assistant.  At Atria Books, Laura Brown has joined as executive editor. 

 

At Macmillan Publishers, Alice Jerman has joined as senior editor at Entangled Publishing. She was formerly the senior editor at HarperTeen.

 

At HarperCollins, Andrea Palpant Dilley, formerly online managing editor at ‘Christianity Today’, has joined Zondervan Books at HarperCollins Christian Publishing as senior acquisitions editor.

 

At Scholastic, Annie Krege, formerly marketing intern at Astra Books for Young Readers has joined as trade sales assistant.

 

At Sourcebooks, Jenne Abramowitz has joined as editorial director for Jabberwocky, Young Readers, and Fire Children’s Imprint. She previously was the editorial director at Scholastic. Sonja Holzman has joined as a customer experience representative.

At William B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, Claire McColloy has joined as digital marketing specialist.

 

At Publishers Weekly, art director Clive Chiu will retire at the end of the year. With his departure, Bobby Lawhorn, who is currently deputy art director, will take the lead on print design for the magazine.

 

Lara Starr, associate director of publicity, has left Insight Editions.

 

At Skylark Publishing Company, Birla Xavier has joined as manager. She was formerly a reservation manager at Seaview.

 

At Nosy Crow, Sofie Jones has joined as a publishing assistant.

In Agency news:

Nour Sallam has been promoted to associate agent at P.S. Literary Agency.

 

Mark Tavani has joined the David Black Agency as literary agent. He was formerly the executive and VP of Putnam

PROMOTIONS

At Simon & Schuster, Alex Kelleher has been promoted to publicity director at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Antonella Colon and Lindsey Ferris have been promoted to associate publicist to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Amy Lavinge Tormey has been promoted to assistant digital marketing manager at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Brian Young has been promoted to marketing associate at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Antheum Books for Young Readers, and Beach Lane Books. Perla Gil has been promoted to marketing coordinator at Aladdin, Boynton Bookworks, Little Simon, Simon Spotlight, Simon Pulse, and Margaret K. McElderry Books. At Simon Spotlight, Little Simon, and Libros Para Niños, Christine Marshall has been promoted to senior managing editor

 

At Penguin Random House, Jillian Vandall has been promoted to senior director of publicity at Random House Children’s Books. Josh Redlich has been promoted to associate director of publicity and media strategy at Random House Children’s Books. Kris Kam has been promoted to associate director of publicity and DEI strategy at Random House Children’s Books. Kim Small has been promoted to associate publicist at Random House Children’s Books. Kathy Dunn has been promoted to executive director of publicity and school event strategy at Random House Children’s Books. Cindy Murray has been named VP and senior director of publicity, marketing, and brand strategy for the Harmony Rodale imprints. At Crown and Ten Speed Press, Matt Inman has been promoted to VP and editorial director of entertainment and special projects

 

At HarperCollins, Theresa Dooley has been promoted to associate director of publicity at Harper. Adam Silverman is being promoted to VP of digital business development at Harpercollins Publishers. Sara Nelson, has been promoted SVP, executive editor at Harper.

 

At Hachette Book Group, Katherine Robertson is being promoted to associate publicist at Hachette Book Group’s Basic Books and Seals imprints.

 

At Scholastic, Maria Mercado has been promoted to senior designer. Hope-Elizabeth Darris has been promoted to trade assistant editor, licensing at Scholastic. Katie Fitch has been promoted to art director of licensing, brands, and media at Scholastic. Amanda Trautmann has been promoted to trade publicity coordinator at Scholastic. Mona Tavangar has been promoted to cross channel coordinator for trade at Scholastic. Ezra Aronowitz has been promoted to associate marketing manager for Klutz at Scholastic. Jalen Garcia-Hall has been promoted to trade assistant editor at Scholastic. Lerina Velazquez has been promoted to trade assistant editor at Scholastic. Orlando Dos Reis has been promoted to trade senior editor at Scholastic. Samantha Palazzi has been promoted to trade senior editor at Scholastic. Maeve Norton has been promoted to trade art director at Scholastic. Hope-Elizabeth Darris has been promoted to trade assistant editor, licensing at Scholastic. Katie Fitch has been promoted to art director of licensing, brands, and media at Scholastic. Amanda Trautmann has been promoted to trade publicity coordinator at Scholastic.

 

At Lerner Publishing Group, Leo Lerner has been promoted to sales associate.

 

At William B. Eerdmans Publishing Group, Jason Pearson has been promoted to marketing and publicity manager. Will Hearn has been promoted to advertising and promotions coordinator. Jeff Dundas has been promoted to publicity and author care associate. 

 

At Nosy Crow, Avery Cook has been promoted to associate marketing manager.

 

At Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, Laura Peraza has been promoted to head of membership and partnership.

 

At Levine Querido, Irene Vãsquez has been promoted to associate editor and publicist.

 

At North Carolina Press, Lucas Church is being promoted to executive editor at University of North Carolina Press.

DULY NOTED

Kristin Mehus-Roe and Leah Tracosas Jenness, former Publisher and Publishing Director of Girl Friday Books/Flashpoint Books, opened One+One Books, a book production company that forges creative partnerships with nonprofits, publishers, and corporations who want to make a difference with thoughtfully crafted books.

 

Hillel Stavis, Founder of WordsWorth Books, died October 20th at 78. He was best known for his work in computerized inventory and online selling and being the cofounder of the WordStock inventory and POS system.

 

Jordan Miller, Cofounder of Academy Chicago Publishers, died October 18th at 97. When he and his wife Anita Miller retired from publishing in 2013, they sold the press to Chicago Review Press.

 

Ken Norwick, first amendment and IP lawyer whose clients included the Association of American Literary Agents, died on Oct 30th at 82. 

 

EVENTS

November 1 – 12

Sharjah International Book Fair

Sharjah, UAE

November 25- Dec 3

Guadalajara International Book Fair

Guadalajara, MX