People Roundup, April 2014

PEOPLE

Phaidon Press announced it has appointed Keith Fox as its new CEO.  Fox was previously President of McGraw Hill Construction Division, President of BusinessWeek, and McGraw Hill Professional; he will work out of the New York offices.  Jacky Klein will join Phaidon Press in June as Commissioning Editor, Art, working primarily out of the London offices. Previously, she was Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson London.

Meanwhile, Lucas Wittmann has joined Regan Arts as Associate Publisher and Executive Editor. Previously, he was at The Daily Beast. Also joining him are Senior Editor Michael Szczerban, who was previously at S&S, and Associate Editor Fritz Brantley, who was an Editor and Marketer at Routledge.

Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch, announced that Mauro DiPreta has joined HBG as VP and Publisher of Hachette Books, the new publishing division that HBG will launch on the foundation of the Hyperion backlist that HBG acquired in 2013.  DiPreta was most recently VP and Editor in Chief of Crown Archetype, an imprint at Penguin Random House.  Pietsch thanked Martha Levin, who has been Interim Publisher since last Fall.  She may be reached at mlevin004@nyc.rr.com.

Peter Ginna has left Bloomsbury, where he was Publisher of Bloomsbury Press.  In an unrelated announcement, Bloomsbury will consolidate Walker Children’s Books into the larger Bloomsbury Children’s, resulting in the departure of Walker Books Publisher Emily Easton.

Dervla Kelly will join Rodale as Senior Editor on April 7. Previously, she was an Editor at Abrams.

Diana Gill will join Ace and Roc Books as Executive Editor, reporting to Susan Allison. Previously, she was Executive Editor at William Morrow, where she ran the US branch of HarperVoyager.

Michael Harnaga-Rentas has been named CFO at Skyhorse Publishing; he was most recently at Hyperion.

Former Director of Publicity at Hachette Nashville Shanon Stow, will join Icon Media Group as Partner and President of the PR firm’s literary division.

Liza Murphy was named Director of International Sales at Rizzoli, and recently she was at Cambridge University Press and ran her own consulting company.

Devin Kirk will join Macmillan on April 14 as VP, International Sales and Marketing, succeeding Judy Sisko, who is retiring next month. Kirk was previously Senior Director, International Sales for Penguin Random House.

Marlena Bittner will join Flatiron Books on May 15th as the Director of Publicity, reporting to Associate Publisher Liz Keenan. She is currently Director of Publicity at Little, Brown. In addition, Karen Horton has joined Flatiron Books as Senior Designer, reporting to Henry Sene Yee, who has been named Creative Director of Flatiron Books, in addition to his current role as Creative Director of Picador USA. Karen was most recently Art Director at Little, Brown and is the Co-founder of design firm design: related.

Maris Kreizman has joined Kickstarter as Publishing Projects Specialist. She was previously Editorial Director of Digital Content at Barnes & Noble.

Julia Kardon joins Mary Evans as a Foreign Rights Director and Agent. Previously she was an Agent at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Ira Silverberg, formerly Literature Director of the National Endowment for the Arts, has joined Open Road Integrated Media, as Strategic Advisor for Author Brands. In his new post, which starts April 22nd, Silverberg will be signing on authors and acquiring backlist catalogs.

Andrew Tsui has joined Open Road Media in the new role of Senior Product Manager. He will oversee integration of analytics and sales within Open Road’s marketing platform, reporting to CMO Rachel Chou. Tsui has worked at McKinsey & Company, Accenture, Barnes & Noble, and Bookish.

CEO of Osprey Group Rebecca Smart will move to Penguin Random House UK at a date to be determined to take over as Managing Director of Ebury. Longtime Ebury leader Fiona MacIntrye has  retired after nearly 30 years with the unit.

Highlights announced that Jack Perry has been appointed VP, Print and eBook Sales.  He was formerly at Random House, and then ran his own consulting company.

After 4 years building retailer and educational platform provider CopiaSol Rosenberg has moved to consulting company DDC and may be reached at sol@DynamicDC.com.

Daisy Kline will join Penguin Children’s on April 7 as VP, National Accounts for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She was most recently VP of Marketing & Brand Management at Scholastic Media.

Rosanne Romanello joined HarperCollins Children’s Books as Senior Publicity Manager. She was previously from EVINS, an integrated Marketing and Public Relations firm with a focus on luxury goods and services.

Laura Duane will join Diversion Books as Senior Acquisitions Editor on April 7. She currently holds the same title at Penguin Random House Audio. Hannah Black has joined the company as Marketing Coordinator, moving over from Dorchester Publishing.

At Workman, Margaret Rogalski has been named Publicist, moving over from Gotham Books.

Sasha Tropp has joined The Experiment as Editor. She was previously an Associate Editor at Sterling.

Children’s Book Blogger and Agent Danielle Smith has joined boutique agency Red Fox Literary. She has been at Foreword Literary.

Jenny Heller at Quercus Books UK announced that she has left the company where she was Publishing Director, General Non Fiction and will be the Managing Director of Guinness World Records.  Meanwhile she is reachable at jenny.heller123@gmail.com

PROMOTIONS

Sanj Kharbanda has been promoted to SVP, Digital Markets at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, responsible for driving digital market strategy.

Publishing Technology PLC announced that Michael Cairns has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He joined Publishing Technology in May 2013, when he took the position of Chief Operating Officer of the company’s online division.

At Penguin Random House, Kim Shannon has been appointed to newly created position of VP, Director, Adult Retail Sales, Random House. Adult Retail Sales at Penguin continue to be overseen by John Lawton and Norman Lidofsky.

Random House Publisher Services announced a number of recent promotions: Katie Ly has been promoted to Manager, Client Development, while Christina Stanley moves up to Manager, Programming and Education. Tessa Reck has been promoted to Senior Imprint Sales Manager, while Whitney Chenoweth moves up to Associate Manager, Client Support. Pete Desrochers has been promoted to Associate Sales Manager and Jenn Lara, to Sales Coordinator.

At the Random House Publishing Group, Sam Nicholson and Anna Pitoniak have been promoted to Editor.  Tracy Devine has been promoted to Executive Editor at Ballantine Bantam Dell.

Tiffany Tomlin has been promoted to Executive Director of the newly aligned Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau.

Jessica Shoffel has been promoted to Publicity Manager at Penguin Children’s.

At Crown Business, Ayelet Gruenspecht has been promoted to Marketing Manager. Megan Perritt moves up to Publicity Manager for the imprint and for Crown Forum.  Campbell Wharton, Associate Publisher for Crown Forum and Three Rivers Press, takes on an additional role in project directing selected Crown Business campaigns.

Chad Cannon has been promoted to VP of marketing at Thomas Nelson‘s Nelson Books imprint.

At DK Publishing, Mindy Frichter has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity.

In addition, Disney Press has promoted Nachie Marsham to Executive Editor.  Rotem Moscovich has been promoted to Senior Editor, Brooke Dworkin to Senior Editor, and Clarissa Wong rejoins to Assistant Editor.

At Other Press, Elana Seplow-Jolley has been promoted to Managing Editor, and Terrie Akers moves up to Director of Online Marketing.

At HarperCollins, Adam Silverman has been promoted to Senior Director, Digital Business Development. In addition, Brittany Hamblin has been promoted to Editor at Dey Street Books (the recently rebranded It Books).

At Chronicle Books, Liz Marotte has been promoted to Senior Client Account Manager. Erin Thacker has been promoted to Senior Production Manager, Format Development, while Graham Barry moves up to Senior Distribution Client Coordinator. Mary O’Hara has been promoted to Inventory Planning Manager, while Yolanda Cazares has been promoted to Senior Production Developer. Courtney Drew has been promoted to Assistant Editor. In addition, Lara Starr has been promoted to Senior Publicist, Children’s Publishing, and Jaime Wong has been named Children’s Marketing Coordinator.

Little, Brown announced a number of promotions:  John Parsley has been promoted to VP, Executive Editor, while Wes Miller moves up to Editor, Mulholland Books. Victoria Matsui has been promoted to Associate Editor, and Frederica Bepler moves up to Associate Editor, Paperback Manager;  Malin von Euler-Hogan has been promoted to Assistant Editor.  Heather Fain has been promoted to VP, Deputy Publisher and Marketing Director. Reporting to Fain is Pam Brown, newly promoted to Director of Marketing for Mulholland Books and Senior Marketing Manager for Michael Connelly.  Alexis Gilbert has been promoted to Manager, Brand Marketing for James Patterson.

Little, Brown Children’s also announced that Connie Hsu has been promoted to Senior Editor; Mary-Kate Gaudet moves up to Editor. Patti Ann Harris has been promoted to Executive Art Director, while Saho Fuji moves up to Associate Art Director. Mara Lander has been promoted to Associate Director, Brand Marketing.

Grand Central Publishing announced a number of recent promotions. In Editorial, Emily GriffinMichele Bidelspach, and Alex Logan have been promoted to Senior Editor.  Sonya Cheuse has been promoted to Deputy Director of Publicity, and Caitlin Mulrooney-Lyski to Publicity Manager.

At Hilsinger-Mendelson East, David Kass has been promoted to Director of Publicity, and Anwesha Basu has been hired as Assistant Publicity Director. She was Publicity Manager at  Workman Publishing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Click here to see our full calendar of publishing events

Mar 28 – Apr 7
Bangkok International Book Fair
Bangkok, Thailand

Apr 2 – 4
State of Maryland International Reading Council (SoMIRAC) Conference
Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, MD

Apr 7
Digital Minds Conference
London, England

Apr 8 – 10
The London Book Fair
Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England

Apr 11 – 14
Museum Store Association Conference and Expo
Houston, TX

Apr 12 – 13
LA Festival of the Book
USC Campus, Los Angeles, CA

Apr 30 – May 5
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Apr 30 – May 4
Geneva International Book Fair
Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland

May 7 – 9
Playcon
Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ

May 9 – 12
International Reading Association Annual Convention
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA

May 12 – 14
Worldwide Media Marketplace 2014
Bangkok, Thailand

May 15 – 18
Book World Prague
Guest of Honour: Hungary
Palace of Industry, Prague Exhibition Grounds

May 18 – 21
National Stationery Show
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 20 – 25
Norwegian Festival of Literature
Lillehammer, Norway

May 29
BISG’s Making Information Pay
Co-located for the first time with IDPF Digital Book 2014 at Book Expo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – 31
BookExpo America (BEA)
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 2 – 6
CUNY Publishing Institute 2014
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, New York, NY

Jun 8 – 10
Dust or Magic App Camp
The fifth annual children’s app design institute
Marconi Conference Center, Marshall, CA

Jun 12 – 14
16th National Museum Publishing Seminar
Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, Boston, MA

Jun 17 – 19
Licensing Expo 2014
Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Jun 22 – 25
International Christian Retail Show 2014
Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA

Jul 2 – 5
Tokyo International Book Fair
Tokyo, Japan

Jul 10 – 12
Harlem Book Fair
New York, NY

Jul 16 – 22
Hong Kong Book Fair
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Jul 23 – 26
Romance Writers of America Conference
San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter& Marriott Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX

Jul 24 – 27
Comic-Con International: San Diego
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Aug 1 – 4
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Summer Conference
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA

Aug 9 – 25
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Aug 27 – 31
Beijing International Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Turkey
Beijing, China

Aug 28 – Sep 7
São Paulo Book Fair
São Paulo, Brazil

Aug 30
National Book Festival
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

Sep 3 – 8
Moscow International Book Fair
Moscow, Russia

Sep 15 – 21
Brooklyn Book Festival
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, NY

Sep 19 – 21
NAIBA Fall Conference 2014
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport, Arlington, VA

Sep 26 – 28
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Show
Hotel Murano, Broadway, Tacoma, WA

Sep 30 – Oct 2
NEIBA Fall Conference
Providence, RI

Oct 1 – 3
LIBER 2014
Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain

Oct 7 – 9
Brand Licensing Europe 2014
Hilton London Olympia Hotel, London, United Kingdom

Oct 8 – 12
Frankfurt Book Fair
Guest of Honour: Finland
Frankfurt, Germany

Oct 9 – 11
Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association Conference
Denver, CO

Oct 9 – 12
New York Comic Con
Javits Center, New York, NY

Leave a Comment

One Comment

  1. Apr 13, 20143:20 pm
    Ralph Aldori

    A creative writer friend of mine with an extra-ordinary original diversified portfolio – some back-to-back with Film/TV fare – that has been pre-Market tested in over 50 countries with positive reactions, fraustrated by the Americans’ Literary Agencies and trade publishers, when he went to Europe and called cold one of the major Houses’ Chief Editor, he was received the next day and guided accordingly, as well as a slow mail letter follow up. When he asked
    that Chief Editor, how come this could not happen in the States, the answer was short and simple:”Because they are stupid since one never knows what pearls and diamonds can come oout of the street! Is the American literary “family”that dense to have isolated itself so much?”You have interesting stories come with your agent to talk further.” Which Agent when few bother with new talent mostly due to their misperception of the global Market? Thank you Publishing Trends and PW for keeping us abrest, BUT…

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