People Round-Up, Late August 2014

PEOPLE

Michael Sand, previously Executive Editor at Little, Brown is joining Abrams as VP, Publisher, Adult Trade on September 22nd.

Also, Miriam Tribble has joined Abrams as Editor, Calendars, Licenses & Custom Publishing She will report to Lindley Boegehold, who is Editorial Director of that department. She was previously Associate Product Development Manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Rick Horgan has joined Scribner as VP, Executive Editor. Previously, he was Crown’s VP, Executive Editor.

Jennifer Romanello has joined the Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division as VP, Director of Publicity. She was most recently Principal of Jennifer Romanello Public Relations and was previously VP, Executive Publicity Director at Grand Central.

As PW reported, Editor Sarah Durand and VP, Senior Editor Malaika Adero have left Atria.

Tricia Boczkowski is joining Crown Archetype, Three Rivers Press as VP, Editorial Director. Formerly, she was Editor-at-Large at Gallery Books.

Jay Sacher has joined Potter Style as a Senior Editor.  Formerly, he was an Editor at Princeton Architectural Press.

Ballantine Bantam Dell has hired Lucy Danziger, most recently Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine, as an Editor-at-Large. She will report to VP and Editorial Director of Nonfiction Jennifer Tung and work with Executive Editor Marnie Cochran to acquire and develop projects.

Elizabeth Gay has joined Tarcher/Perigee as Publicist. Previously, she was Associate Publicist at Simon & Schuster. Lindsey Ruthen has joined Tarcher/Perigee as Senior Publicist.  She was previously at Palgrave as Publicist.

Stephanie Hargadon has joined Putnam as Publicity Manager. Previously, she was Senior Publicist at St. Martin’s Press.

Bill Clegg is leaving William Morris Endeavor to set up his own literary agency.

Ben Wright has been named Group International Sales Director at Hachette Book Group.  Wright will be based in London and report to Commercial Director of Hachette UK, Richard Kitson. Formerly, he was the Director, Digital Sales and Channel Development at Penguin Random House.

Nationally known speaker and author Donalyn Miller has joined Scholastic Book Fairs as Manager, Independent Reading & Outreach.

Freelancer Jessica Meltzer has joined Scholastic as Designer and freelancer Lizzy Yoder has joined as Senior Designer.

Lauren Scobell has joined Macmillan’s Swoon Reads as Director.  She is the former Consumer Marketing Director at Nickelodeon.

Matt West has left his position as VP, Sales Operations and Data Strategy at B&H Publishing Group and can be contacted at matthewlwest@gmail.com.

Dave Fessenden has joined WordWise Media Services as a Literary Agent.  Formerly, he was Acquisitions Editor at CLC Publication. James Lance, has also joined WordWise Media Service as a Literary Agent. Previously, he was Publisher at Kumarian Press.

Julie McKay joined Scribd as Manager, Content Acquisition. Greg Freed has also joined Scribd as a Content Operations Specialist.

Kelli Christiansen is launching a professional editorial service firm called Bibliobibuli. The firm will take on select authors in such subjects as business, finance & investing, history, memoir, and non-genre fiction. The firm’s website is www.bibliobibuli.com.

Stacey Ashton has left her position as Marketing Director, Trade and Professional Reference at McGraw-Hill Professional and can be contacted at Staceynyc27@gmail.com.

Elizabeth Lagno has left her position as Publicist at Phaidon and can be contacted at emlagno@gmail.com.

In the wake of Hachette and Ingram’s failed acquisition of Perseus Book Group, Mark Suchomel will officially resume his position at Legato, which he founded in 2013, after leaving the company at the end of July.

Jenny Cima, has joined Rowman & Littlefield as Head of Sales. Previously, she was International Sales Manager at Bloomsbury Publishing. Mihela Kralj has joined Rowman & Littlefield as Marketing Executive. Her previous position was Marketing Assistant at Bloomsbury Publishing.

Sam Caggiula has joined Skyhorse Publishing as Senior Publicity Manager. Previously, he was Publicity Manager at Rowman & Littlefield. 

Christina Noriega has returned to Ryland, Peters & Small + CICO Books as Sales Director after a short time at Skyhorse Publishing as Director, Special Markets.

There were several changes at university presses this month. John Warren will be leaving Georgetown University Press on Sept 3, to head up a new publishing venture at George Mason University.  His role at GMU will be to develop a university press with a digital library publishing program.  Amanda Keith has joined Wake Forest University Press as Managing Editor.  Harper One’s former Executive Editor John Loudon will join Yale University Press as Consulting Editor.  Richard Morrison has left his position as Editorial Director at University of Minnesota Press to become Editorial Director at Fordham University PressJason Weidemann, previously a Senior Editor at the University of Minnesota Press, has been named the new Editorial Director. Gary Dunham, previously the Director of Publications for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,was appointed Director of Indiana University Press.

Jon Sternfeld has left his position as Acquisitions Editor at Lyons Press and can be contacted at jasternfeld@gmail.com.

Julia Borcherts has joined Kaye Publicity as Publicist. Previously, she was a columnist for RedEye Chicago.

PROMOTIONS AND CHANGES

J.T. Fales has joined Seal Press and Avalon Travel as Marketing Associate. Previously, Fales was the Digital Marketing Associate at Perseus Books Group, the parent company.

According to Publishers Lunch, the Simon Pulse imprint announced a new structure to “maximize the amazing potential of Pulse and continue to support the success of Aladdin.” Liesa Abrams is being promoted to VP, Editorial Director of Pulse and Associate Editorial Director of Aladdin.  Additionally, Michael Strother is being promoted to Associate Editor of Simon Pulse.  Editorial Director Patrick Price is leaving the company “as a result of this reorganization.”

After moving to KKR in 2011 as a Senior Advisor, Richard Sarnoff has been named Head of KKR & Co.’s Americas Media and Telecoms Team, as well as a Managing Director of KKR. Before joining KKR, he was President of Bertelsmann Digital Media.

Carly Watters has been promoted to VP, Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary Agency.

At Macmillan, Krista Loerche has been promoted to Director of Amazon Sales and Astra Berzinskas and John Edwards have both been promoted to Director, Mass Merchandise Sales.

At St. Martin’s Press, Dori Weintraub has returned full time to the publicity department as VP, Publicity. She was previously the VP, Marketing, Communications & Audience Development.   Laura Clark has been promoted to Senior Director of Marketing, Communications and Audience Development.

Penguin Books and Penguin Classics named Louise Braverman Director of Publicity. Braverman was previously the Associate Director of Publicity at VikingBob Wojciechowski was promoted to VP, Production at Penguin Adult.

Tarcher/Perigee promoted Jillian McElgunn to Marketing Coordinator; Brianna Yamashita to Executive Director, Publicity/Marketing; and Kevin Howell to Senior Marketing Manager. Tarcher/Penguin promoted Sara Carder to Editorial Director.

Penguin Random House Publisher Services promoted Dallas Middaugh to Senior Director, Publisher Services.

Random House promoted both Leigh Marchant and Kristin Fassler to VP.

Gotham/Avery promoted Lindsay Gordon to Director of Publicity.

Skyhorse Publishing promoted Lauren Burnstein to Senior Publicist.

Cave Henricks Communications has promoted Jessica Krakoski to VP, Director of Publicity.

McGraw-Hill promoted Casey Ebro to Senior Editor.

Storey Publishing is promoting Michaela Jebb to Book Designer and Carolyn Eckert to Design Manager.

The NOOK Media eBooks team announced promotions recently. Ali Kokmen has been promoted to Director of Sales, eBooks. Norman Waters has been promoted to Senior Merchandising Associate. Matt Warner has transitioned to Director, eBook Channel Sales & Marketing.

Scholastic announced some promotions this month. Gavin Brown has been promoted to Digital Product Director, Multiplatform Publishing and Rachel Griffiths to Editorial Director. Rachel Harmuth has been promoted to Director of Sales, Klutz. Jacqueline Bernacki has been promoted to National Account Manager, eBooks.  Cassandra Pelham was promoted to Senior Editor, Graphix and Scholastic Press. Erin Black has been promoted to Associate Editor, Scholastic Press. Katie Rakowski has been promoted to Advertising and Digital Marketing Coordinator.

Morgan James Publishing has promoted Wes Taylor to Publisher of its Faith imprint.

DULY NOTED

Leon Black, whose family owns Phaidon Publishers, has bought Artspace.com as well as the Knoedler & Company Gallery building.

Eckhart Tolle, author of mega-sellers The Power of Now and A New Earth, will launch his own imprint, Eckhart Tolle Editions, in spring 2015 in conjunction with New World Library.

Mary Jane Karwoski and Annie Philbrick joined the Board of Directors for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Click here to see our full calendar of publishing events

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

Oct 14
Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2014
Announcement of the winner on 10/14/14.

Oct 21 – 22
Digital Kids Summit
San Francisco, CA

Oct 25 – 26
Texas Book Festival
Austin, TX

Oct 25 – 30
DMA 2014
San Diego Convention Center, West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA

Nov 5 – 15
Sharjah International Book Fair
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Nov 6 – 9
World Fantasy Convention
Washington, DC

Nov 8
Twelfth International Conference on Books, Publishing and Libraries
Simmons College, Fenway, Boston, MA

Nov 13 – 16
Bouchercon Mystery Convention 2014
Long Beach, CA

Nov 13 – 16
Toronto Book Fair
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada

Nov 19 – 24
Salon du Livre de Montréal
Place Bonaventure, Montreal, QC, Canada

Nov 29 – Dec 7
Guadalajara International Book Fair
Expo Guadalajara, Avenida Mariano Otero, Verde Valle, Guadalajara, Mexico

Jan 8-11
Key West Literary Seminar
Key West, FL

Jan 8-11
MLA Annual Convention
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Jan 13-15
Digital Book World
New York Hilton Midtown, Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

Jan 18-19
Ciana -2015 January Remainder and Promotional Book Fair
Barbican Exhibition Hall 2, Golden Lane, City of London

Jan 30-Feb 3
ALA 2015 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibitions
McCormick Place, West Chicago, IL

Feb 8-11
ABA Winter Institute
The Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC
Event registration opens in September