Publishing Trends

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Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle is stepping down at the end of the year and will also resign from Bertelsmann’s executive board. His interim successor is Nihar Malaviya, currently President and COO of Penguin Random House US. At DK, Scott Grande joins as VP, Commercial Finance & Operations for North America. He was previously Director of Financial Analysis at Penguin Random House. Hannah Babcock, formerly Rights and Co-Editions Manager at Scholastic, joins Random House Children’s Books as Director of Subsidiary Rights, and Alyssa Eatherly, formerly Literary International Rights Coordinator at William Morris Endeavor, joins as Associate Manager of Subsidiary Rights. At WaterBrook Multnomah, Drew Dixon joins as Executive Editor; most recently, he was Team Leader for Student Ongoing Curriculum at Lifeway. At Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Esther Cajahuaringa, lately Editor at Union Square Kids, joins as Editor.

Jesse Myers has been named President and CEO of Baker Publishing, effective May 1, 2023, and is the first person outside the Baker family to hold the position. He replaces Dwight Baker, who is retiring on April 30. Myers is currently Publisher of Lexham Press and Director of Original Content for Faithlife, makers of Logos Bible Software.

At Macmillan, Ajay Roy joins as COO. Most recently he was COO of PARTS iD. Erin D. Coffey, SVP of Communications and Events, has left the company. Maya Battle, previously Associate Director of Audience Development and Category Specialist at Random House, joins as Director of Marketing Intelligence. Amy Solov joins as Manager of Gift Sales; Anna Shilova, as Product Manager for the Platform Development Team; and Adelynne Chang, as Contracts Associate. At Macmillan Children’s, Abby Granata joins as Junior Designer.

Susan Weinberg will take over as Publisher of the Workman Publishing group on January 1, following the retirement of Dan Reynolds. At the same time, the Perseus division will be reorganized, resulting in a new Basic Books Group comprising Basic, Seal, Public Affairs, and Bold Type Books. The group will be led by Lara Heimert. A newly-formed Running Press Group will comprise Avalon Travel, Black Dog & Leventhal, Running Press, Running Press Minis, Running Press Studio, and Running Press Kids; that group will be led by Kristin Kiser. Brandon Proia, formerly Executive Editor at University of North Carolina Press, joins Basic Books as Executive Editor. At Legacy Lit, Maya Lewis, previously Marketing Manager at HarperCollins, joins as Marketing Manager.

Alyson Forbes has been officially named Publisher of the Catapult book group. She had been serving as interim publisher for almost a year, following the departure of Andy Hunter; prior to joining Catapult, she was VP and Executive Director of Marketing Strategy at the Hachette Book Group.

At Audible, James Finn joins as Head of Global Brand and Content Marketing. Most recently he was EVP and Head of Marketing at FoxNext.

Rick Rekedal joins David C Cook as Chief Creative Officer. Most recently he was President of StoryCrate.

David Nussbaum has left America’s Test Kitchen, where he was CEO and Board Chair. Jackie Ford is serving as Interim CEO.

At Oni-Lion Forge Publishing, Hunter Gorinson has been hired as President and Publisher. He was most recently VP of Business Development at BOOM! Studios.

Josh Marwell, President of Sales at HarperCollins, is retiring. At HarperCollins Children’s Books, Kelly Haberstroh joins as Associate Publicist.

At the Association of American Publishers, J. Carl Maxwell joins as VP, Public Policy. Most recently he was Manager of Advocacy at the American Chemical Society.

Margaret Harrison joins Ingram Content Group as VP, Digital Services. Previously she was Director of Content Solutions, Lightning Source.

Trish Todd will retire as VP and Executive Editor of Atria at the end of the year. At Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, Amaris Mang joins as Marketing Associate for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Beach Lane Books, and Paula Wiseman Books. Most recently she was Digital Marketing Coordinator at Starry Forest Books.

Following a reorganization, Leigh Haber has left her position as VP of Books at Oprah Daily and Editorial Director of Oprah’s Book Club. The new point of contact for Oprah’s Book Club will be Jill Adams, jill.adams@hearst.com, and books section submissions for Oprah Daily can be sent to Editorial Director Pilar Guzmán, pilar.guzman@hearst.com.

On January 1, Traci Lester will step down as Executive Director of The Center for Fiction to pursue other opportunities. An interim executive director will be hired while the search for a new executive director is underway.

At Sourcebooks, Jess Johns joins as Director of Analytics. Johns was previously Manager of Consumer Insights at Ingram and a cofounder of analytics startup OptiQly. Drew French also joins the company as Senior Data Scientist; most recently, he was Data Scientist II on Readerlink’s advanced analytics team. Katrina Turner joins as Production Editor; Antoaneta Georgieva joins as Designer; and Michelle Lecumberry joins as Marketing and Social Media Associate for Sourcebooks Fire.

Andrew “AJ” Murphy joins Humanix Books as Sales Director, North America, and Taline Najarian joins as Sales Director, Special Markets and International.

Sam Mitchell joins Hilsinger-Mendelson East as Assistant Director of Publicity. Previously he was Publicity Manager at Penguin Press.

In agency news…Laurel Symonds joins KT Literary as Literary Agent. She was previously Literary Agent at The Bent Agency. Lauren Hall joins Folio Literary Management as Literary Agent. Additionally, Fernanda Martínez has launched an editorial services agency, Fernanda Literary Services. Most recently she was Scout at Mary Anne Thompson Associates.

At the University of Chicago Press, Karen Levine joins as Executive Editor for Art and Ancient Studies. Previously she was Editor-in-Chief at Getty Publications.

At Erewhon Books, Diana M. Pho joins as Executive Editor. Previously she was Lead Creative Executive for Co-Productions and Partnerships at Realm.

Jessie Kindig, lately Editor at Verso Books, joins Yale University Press as Senior Editor.

At Blackstone Publishing, Sarah Bonamino, formerly Publicist at St. Martin’s Publishing Group, joins as Senior Publicist.

At ReaderLink Distribution Services, Shadrack Orina joins as Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Developer for Information Technology. Additionally, Allison Moua joins as Purchasing Coordinator for Juvenile Property; Karen McKenna joins as Accounting Manager for Finance; and Lorne Hartmann joins as Space and Merchandise Planner.

Olivia Newton joins Microcosm Publishing as Editor.

At Chronicle Books, Sam Goff joins as Publishing Data Manager.

Martha Kennedy joins Candlewick Press as Book Designer.

At Scholastic, Martha Maynard joins as Designer, Licensing, Brands, & Media. She was previously Assistant Designer at HarperCollins. Ashley Vargas joins as Junior Designer, Licensing, Brands, and Media.

Major Jackson joins Northwest Review as Advisory Editor.

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