People Round-Up, Mid-October 2018

PEOPLE

Ben Schrank will become SVP, Publisher of Henry Holt effective November 1, succeeding President and Publisher Steve Rubin. Schrank is presently Publisher at Razorbill. On May 1, 2019, Schrank will become President and Publisher and Rubin will become Chairman. Also at Holt, Jack Macrae is retiring after thirty-five years. Most recently he has managed the Holt imprint John Macrae Books.

Susan Moldow, President of Scribner and Publisher of Touchstone, will retire at the end of the year. Eamon Dolan has joined Simon & Schuster as VP, Executive Editor. Most recently he ran Eamon Dolan Books at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, leaving when it was shut down in July. At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Lili Feinberg joins as Associate Publicist, moving over from her previous role as Publicity Assistant at Tor/Forge, and Devin MacDonald joins as Marketing Manager. She most recently worked as Brand Manager for Harry Potter, Captain Underpants, and Dog Man at Scholastic. Francie Crawford has also joined the company as Marketing & Publicity Assistant.

At Bloomsbury, Valentina Rice joins as VP, Sales & Marketing. Previously she served as VP, Sales, Marketing, and Publicity at Bonnier Zaffre in the US. Lily Yengle joins Bloomsbury Children’s as Marketing Manager, having worked previously as Publicist at Penguin Children’s.

Founder Steve Piersanti announced that he will relinquish his position as President and CEO of Berrett-Koehler in mid-2019 but will continue as Acquiring Editor.

Kim Anderson rejoins Chronicle Books as VP, Sales & Marketing. For the past five years, she has worked as a consultant.

At Melville House, Tim McCall joins as VP, Sales and Business Development. He was most recently Trade Sales Director for LSC Communications. Also joining the company are Stephanie Valente, formerly Social Media Editor for Men’s Journal, as Digital Marketing Manager and Michael Seidlinger, previously Digital Producer for Publishers Weekly, as Library and Academic Marketing Manager.

At Ingram Content Group, Steve Marshall joins as VP, IT Services. He was previously VP, Infrastructure at C&S Wholesale Grocers in Keene, NH.

At Ingenta, Scott Winner has been formally appointed CEO. He has served as Acting CEO since May.

At Scholastic Education, Pam Allyn joins as SVP, Innovation & Development. She is the author of twenty-seven professional books and founded global literacy organization LitWorld.

Karen Mayer will retire this month from her role as SVP, Associate General Counsel at Penguin Random House after thirty-three years with the company. At Viking Children, Tamar Brazis joins as Editorial Director, Picture Books. She previously held the position of Editorial Director at Abrams Children’s. Warren Bass is leaving his role as Executive Editor at Penguin Press to return to the Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Review Section. And at Random House Graphic, Patrick Crotty joins as Designer. He was previously Publisher and Co-Founder of Peow.

Jeff Li joins Serial Box as Chief Operating Officer. Most recently he was Head of Ventures at NBCUniversal.

Mary Gannon will become Executive Director of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses on November 5, succeeding Jeffrey Lependorf.

Alessandra Bastagli joins Dey Street Books as Executive Editor; she was most recently Editorial Director of Nation Books. At MIRA, April Osborn has joined as Editor, moving over from her previous position as Senior Associate Editor at St. Martin’s.

In agency news…Laurel Symonds, previously Associate Marketing Manager at Albert Whitman & Company, joins The Bent Agency as Literary Agent. Dana Spector, most recently Agent at Paradigm, joins Creative Artists Agency in the same position, while former CAA Agent Sally Willcox makes the reverse move to Paradigm. Chris Rogers joins Dunow, Carlson & Lerner as Agent; he was previously Editorial Director at Yale University Press. And Lucinda Karter, formerly Director at the French Publishers’ Agency, has joined the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency as Agent.

Ed Several, SVP of Reed Exhibitions, is leaving the company after fourteen years. Event Manager Jenny Martin will step into his role for the foreseeable future.

Kara Plikaitis joins Shambhala Publications as Senior Director, Production and Design and Creative Director, Roost Books and Bala Kids on October 31. She was most recently Associate Creative Director at Ten Speed Press.

William Brandt joins Arcadia Publishing as Director of IT, having worked most recently as IT Project Manager at C&S Wholesale Grocers.

At PEN America, Katie Zanecchia has joined as National Outreach Program Director. She was previously Literary Agent at Ross Yoon Literary Agency.

Bonnier Publishing USA has hired Shari Lichtner, previously Production Director at Hachette, as Production Manager; Patricia Alvarado, previously Backlist Manufacturing Controller at Oxford University Press, as Production Coordinator; and Evan Oare, previously Sales Manager, Specialty Retail at Penguin Random House, as National Account Manager.

Caroline A. Hayes has joined W.W. Norton as Metadata Operations Manager. Most recently she was Manager, Cataloging and Metadata at Barnes & Noble.

At Sourcebooks, Sierra Stovall joins as Rights and Exports Manager. Previously she was Subsidiary Rights Manager at W.W. Norton. Morgan Vogt joins as Marketing Associate.

At Open Road Integrated Media, Stephan Moore joins as Digital Marketing & Analytics Manager. He was previously E-Commerce Manager at Books of Wonder. James Barry also joins as Senior Manager, Email Marketing.

Karen Edwards has joined Workman Children’s as Senior Editor of Curriculum-Based Trade Publishing. She was previously Managing Editor at William H. Sadlier. Chris Duffy, formerly Managing Editor of SpongeBob Comics, also joins as Senior Editor, Graphic Novels and Sequential Arts. At Workman, Sofije Brija joins as Digital Marketing and Advertising Assistant; most recently, she was Associate Manager of Customer Service and Social Media at ESPN.

At Page Street Publishing, Maria Mann joins as Publicity and Marketing Associate and Kayla Tostevin joins as Publicity and Marketing Assistant.

At The Paris Review, Hasan Altaf has joined as Managing Editor. He previously held that title at Harper’s Magazine. Fiction writer, poet, and musician Christian Keifer joins as West Coast Editor. Joining as Advisory Editors are former Poetry Editor Robyn Cresswell and poets Saskia Hamilton and Christopher Merrill.

Megan Schumann has joined Rutgers University as Senior Public Relations Specialist. Previously she was Publicity Manager at Crown.

At Post Hill Press, Heather King joins as Managing Editor and Amy White joins as Accounting and Contracts Administrator.

At UNC Press, Alison Shay joins as Publicist. She was previously Acquisitions Editor at Syracuse University Press.

Lara Blackman joins Audible Originals as Associate Editor, having most recently worked as Assistant Editor at Touchstone.

Kathryn Notestine has joined JKS Communications as Associate Publicist.

Head of Corporate Communications Gil Schwartz (who writes under the name Stanley Bing) will retire from CBS on November 1. He has been with the company for over twenty years.

PROMOTIONS

At Penguin Random House, Amanda Close has been promoted to SVP, Strategic Market Development and Suzanne Sisoler takes on the expanded role of VP, Director, Consumer Engagement. Min Lee has been promoted to SVP, Associate General Counsel, Global Head of Compliance. She continues as Privacy Officer for North America as well.

Elsewhere at PRH: Jen Klonsky is now President and Publisher of both Putnam Children’s and Razorbill, while Casey McIntyre has been promoted to VP, Publisher, Razorbill. Jamie Mendola-Hobbie has been promoted to Executive Director of Advertising and Promotion for Berkley, Dutton, Putnam, and Plume; also moving up are Ashley Fisher-Tranese, Director, Advertising, and Vi-An Nguyen, Associate Art Director, Advertising. Liza Cassity has been promoted to Associate Director of Publishing for Putnam, Dutton, and Berkley. At Putnam, Ashley Hewlett moves up to Senior Publicity Manager, Elena Hershey becomes Publicity Manager, and Helen Richard and Danielle Dieterich are now Associate Editors. At Viking Children’s, Kendra Levin becomes Editorial Director, Middle Grade and Young Adult and Maggie Rosenthal becomes Associate Editor. Talia Benamy has been promoted to Associate Editor at Philomel, where Ellice Lee has been promoted to Art Director. Juliana Kiyan is now Associate Publicity Director at Penguin Press. Claire McGinnis has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity at Riverhead. At DK, Allie Singer becomes Senior Editor. At Berkley, Erin Galloway has been promoted to Deputy Publicity Director and Tara O’Connor becomes Associate Publicist.

At Macmillan, Jennifer Edwards moves up to VP, Children’s Sales. Brittany Pearlman is now Senior Publicist at Macmillan Children’s.

At Simon & Schuster: Sonia Chaghatzbanian has been promoted to Executive Art Director for Atheneum, Margaret K. McElderry Books, and Beach Lane Books. Sarah Creech is now Art Director for Simon Pulse. At Atria, Ariele Fredman moves up to Associate Director of Publicity and Alison Hinchcliffe is now Associate Publicist. Zachary Knoll has been promoted to Associate Editor at Simon & Schuster; in addition, Rebecca Suss has been promoted to Corporate Communications Associate. At Touchstone, Rebecca Strobel is now Assistant Editor. And at Simon & Schuster Children’s, Audrey Gibbons has been promoted to Publicity Manager; Jill Hacking, to Marketing Operations and Events Associate; Amy Hendricks, to Marketing Associate; Samantha Benson, to Associate Publicist; and Emily Hutton, to Associate Director of Sales.

At HarperCollins, Catherine Barbosa Ross is now Director, Foreign Rights while Ashley Mihlebach has been promoted to Director, Sales for General Books, National Accounts, and Amazon. Maureen Cole moves up to Director of Publicity for William Morrow.

Megan Buckman has been promoted to Director of Production at Open Road Integrated Media.

Holly Pisarchuk is now Director of Finance at Post Hill Press.

Sonya Cheuse has been promoted to Senior Publicity Director at Ecco.

In agency news…Alice Tassel has been promoted to Director of the French Publishers’ Agency. Devin Ross becomes Literary Agent at New Leaf Literary & Media. At Yates & Yates, Karen Yates has been promoted to Associate Literary Agent.

Kjersti Egerdahl has been promoted to Senior Editor at Amazon Original Stories.

Jaya Aninda Chatterjee has been promoted to Editor at Yale University Press.

At Thames & Hudson, Sarah Thegeby has been promoted to Publicist, while Anna Skrabacz has been promoted to Marketing Associate.

At Sourcebooks, Tina Wilson has been promoted to Print Buyer.

Norah Piehl has been promoted to Executive Director of the Boston Book Festival.

DULY NOTED

Macmillan has added international distribution for Graywolf Press, which was previously distributed in the UK, Ireland, and Europe by Turnaround Publisher Services.

In other distribution news, Soho Press and Penguin Random House Publisher Services have extended their sales and distribution partnership, established in 2011, and Lerner Publishing Group will begin distribution of Creston Books on January 1, 2019.

Baker & Taylor Publisher Services has added ten new clients: Teachers College Press, effective October 1 worldwide; Behrman House, effective November 1 for US warehouse and fulfillment; Aviation Supplies and Academics, effective January 1 in the US, Canada, and international; Kaminn Media, effective January 1 worldwide excluding the UK and Europe; Urbane Publications, effective January 1 worldwide excluding the UK and Ireland; WunderMill, effective January 1 in the US and Canada; The Sutherland House, effective January 1 worldwide excluding Canada; Bushel & Peck House, effective June 1 in the US, Canada, and international; Obvious State, effective January 1 worldwide excluding the US and Canada; and Microcosm Publishing, effective worldwide January 1 excluding the UK, US, and Canada.

Sourcebooks Publisher and CEO Dominique Raccah has joined the board of Chicago’s American Writers Museum.

Beth Birnbaum, former Chief Operating Officer at Playfab, has joined Wiley’s board of directors.

Independent Publishers Group launched a 20,000 digital print facility, which makes IPG the first full-service distributor to offer comprehensive digital printing solutions exclusively for its distributed publishers.

Having broken ties with the NYU School of Medicine, Bellevue Literary Press is now an independent nonprofit. Its new offices will be located at 90 Broad Street.

Richard Charkin is launching Mensch Press, a new business which “has no mission statement and no stated editorial strategy.” Sales, rights, and distribution will be handled by Bloomsbury. Their first title will be Time To Go, a “darkly funny memoir about assisted dying” by Guy Kennaway, to be released in February 2019.

Also launching is Forefront Books, headed by former Howard Books publisher Jonathan Merkh. The business will provide both consulting and publishing services, with distribution handled by Simon & Schuster.

Steve Ross has launched the Steve Ross Agency. Discussion continues concerning a potential ongoing relationship with Abrams, where Ross was Director of the book division.