PEOPLE
Little, Brown editor Reagan Arthur has received her own imprint, Reagan Arthur Books. Arthur’s title will be VP, Editorial Director, and she will continue to report to Geoff Shandler. The imprint’s first books will be published in Fall 2009.
Nancy Hancock has joined HarperOne as Executive Editor, reporting directly to Mickey Maudlin. Hancock was most recently the Executive Editor of Rodale.
Dick Robinson announced that Seth Radwell has decided to leave Scholastic following the sale of Scholastic at Home this past summer. He has served as President of eScholastic since joining the company in 2005.
Andrea Glickson has been named Director of Publicity and Marketing at Octopus USA, reporting to Jonathan Stolper. She was at Watson-Guptill.
Biagio Vignolo has been hired as CFO of Perseus Books Group. He was most recently at Topps. Tom Allen will continue on in a consulting role. Matthew Lore has resigned from his position as VP Executive Editor at Da Capo Press/Da Capo Lifelong books. He may be reached at matthew.lore.email [at] gmail.com. David Ouimet is returning to PGW as Director of National Accounts after two years at FSG. He will work from NYC, reporting to Sales VP Kim Wylie. Tim Sullivan has gone to Basic Books as Executive Editor. He was a senior editor at Portfolio/Penguin. Claudia Dizenzo has been named Publicity Manager at Basic Books. She was at Oxford University Press.
Markus Dohle announced the departure of Ed Volini as Deputy Chairman and COO at Random House. The positions of Deputy Chairman and COO will not continue. Hays Steilberg, VP, Director, HR, “has accepted an opportunity from our Human Resources colleagues in Bertelsmann’s corporate center.” Frank Steinert has taken over as SVP, HR, for Random House in the U.S. He comes from Bertelsmann’s Arvato. Robin Sutton, VP, Director, HR, reports to Steinert.
Ron Longe has joined Media Masters Publicity, which specializes in children’s books and graphic novels, as Account Director. He was Publicity Director at Workman/Artisan. He may be reached at ron [at] mmpublicity.com….Michelle Blankenship will join Bloomsbury as Associate Director of Publicity on October 13. She was Director of Publicity at Harcourt.
Beau Friedlander has joined Air America Media as its website EIC. He was most recently at Chelsea Green and Abrams Image. He may be reached at bfriedlander [at] airamerica.com.
Christine Aronson has been hired as Director of Publicity and Marketing at Dutton, reporting to Brian Tart. She was formerly Publicity Director for Crown. EIC Trena Keating is moving to Endeavor as an agent in the NY office with Richard Abate. Keating joined Penguin in 2001 as EIC and later Associate Publisher of Plume, and moved over to Dutton in 2006.
Pamela Clements has joined Hachette Book Group as Associate Publisher of Marketing for Center Street and Faith Words, focusing on publicity and promotions. She spent 16 years at Thomas Nelson, most recently as Publisher of the general interest & lifestyle division.
S&S has launched an in-house digital media studio to record and edit author interviews, headed by Charlie Corts, Director, Video Production and Development. Corts was previously in digital production at Yahoo! and CBS Interactive.
Mary McAveney has left S&S to become Director of Strategic Partnerships at Smilebox, a creative messaging photo-sharing service. She will develop partnerships with women’s media companies and brands; partners include Hallmark, Corel, and drugstore.com. Reach her at (718) 855-7347 or mary.mcaveney [at] gmail.com.
Parragon has hired Edward Benitez from Perseus as Sales Director for Latin America, domestic Spanish language sales, and special markets. Paul Kolkka is now Sales Manager for Mass and Discount Markets. He was National Sales Director for Playmore.
On the West Coast, Chronicle has hired Emily Haynes as Editor, specializing in pop culture, humor, and media tie-ins. She was at Plume….Helena Brantley has been named Associate Director of Publicity and Promotion at Nolo Press. She was Associate Director of Publicity at HarperOne, which has hired Julie Burton for that position. Burton comes from MacAdam/Cage, where she was Director of Publicity. Leslie Davisson joined the group as Publicity Manager from Chronicle. Kathleen Spinelli has been hired as Publisher of Custom Packaging at Walter Foster and will work from their new offices in Irvine, CA. E-mail kathleen [at] walterfoster.com. Rachel Geerlings has been named Product Manager at Silver Dolphin. She was Marketing Associate at Harcourt. Finally, Regan McMahon, who took over as book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle when Oscar Villalon took a buyout, is also leaving.
Melville House has hired Daniel O’Connor for the new position of Managing Editor. He spent ten years at Thunder’s Mouth. With Neil Ortenberg, he just co-produced and co-directed the documentary Obscene, a look at the life and work of Grove Press founder Barney Rosset. Clara Heyworth has been hired to head its publicity department. She has relocated to New York from the UK, where she was at Verso.
Sheryl Stebbins is joining Author Solutions in the new role of Director of Author Marketing Services. She was most recently at Random House.
Nancy Clements has been named Executive Managing Editor for the Collins imprints. She was most recently at Knopf and Holt.
Karen Rice has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade & Reference division as Senior Marketing Manager for adult books in the New York office. She has been at Random House, most recently as National Account Manager, Baker & Taylor for Knopf and Crown.
In children’s: Stephanie Lurie is leaving Dutton, where she was President and Publisher of the Children’s group, to become Editorial Director of the Disney-Hyperion Books imprint in late October….Francesco Sedita has been named VP and Publisher of Grosset & Dunlap and Price, Stern Sloan, reporting to Don Weisberg, President, Penguin Young Readers Group. Sedita was most recently Executive Creative Director at Scholastic. Nadine Topalian has been promoted to the role of VP, Associate Publisher of Grosset & Dunlap and PSS and Associate Publisher of Frederick Warne in the U.S. She reports to Sedita.
Agent Michelle Andelman has left the Andrea Brown Literary Agency to join Franklin & Siegal as a children’s scout. Her e-mail is michelle [at] fsainc.com….Dan Ambrosio has left Vigliano Associates to join Wiley as an Editor.
Tim Brazier has joined Kaplan Publishing as Publicity Director. He was Publicity Manager at Basic Books. Brett Sandusky has joined Kaplan as Marketing Manager. He was at Shared Marketing Services.
PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES
In a move that puts Avery under Bill Shinker’s Gotham imprint, Lisa Johnson has been named VP Associate Publisher of both imprints and will head the publicity and marketing department. Lauren Marino runs the Gotham editorial group as VP, Editorial Director, and Avery Publisher Megan Newman becomes Avery VP, Editorial Director. All three report to Shinker.
At HarperCollins, Frank Albanese has been promoted to SVP, Supply Chain following the recent reorganization. He has been at Harper since 1994. At the HC Speakers Bureau, Jamie Brickhouse has been promoted to VP.
Lucia Macro has been promoted to VP, Executive Editor of Avon Books, where she has been for 11 years.
Derek Gullino has been promoted to Production Director for Potter, Potter Craft, and Potter Style.
Founder and President Jane Dystel and partner Miriam Goderich announced the promotions of agents Michael Bourret and Lauren Abramo to VP and Subsidiary Rights Director, respectively. And after a three-year stint in Cairo where she handled international rights sales for the American University in Cairo, agent Jessica Papin will rejoin the company.
Alysse Soll, formerly VP Marketing of the National Hockey League, has joined DC Comics as VP, Ad Sales & Custom Publishing.
Shanta Small has become Director of Publicity at Penguin Children’s. Most recently she headed marketing and publicity at Tarcher, after five years in publicity at RH Children’s. She takes over from Rhalee Hughes, who is starting her own PR and marketing firm.
Deborah Darrock has been named VP, Associate Publisher of Atria Books and Washington Square Press, reporting to Judith Curr. She moved over from the S&S imprint, where she was VP, Associate Publisher.
At HMH, Amanda Cook has been promoted to Executive Editor.
Andrew Hutchings has been appointed Blackwell Group CEO, with responsibility for Blackwell Book Services and Blackwell UK Ltd. He was CEO of Blackwell Book Services.
Allison Myers has been named Digital Content and Marketing Manager at Macmillan Audio.
At HarperOne, Cynthia DiTiberio has been promoted to Editor.
At Harlequin, Senior Editor Krista Stroever has assumed responsibility for the Silhouette Desire line.
Erika Imranyi has been promoted to editor at Dutton. She has been there since 2003.
At Hachette’s Orbit, Devi Pillai has been promoted to Senior Editor.
FOR FRANKFURT LOVERS
From Margaret Willes’s upcoming Reading Matters: Five Centuries of Acquiring Books (Yale University Press, 11/08), on the Frankfurt Book Fair:
Now it takes place in October, but in the sixteenth century it occurred twice a year, at Lent in spring and at Michelmas in autumn….The first week was spent buying and selling books and swapping the latest news, the second finalising and settling accounts, using Rhenish gold florins as the common currency or letters of credit and promissory notes, with credit being extended from fair to fair. There was even a special ‘Frankfurt rate’ organised between publishers as a special deal—a phenomenon still encountered by publishers at the modern Frankfurt Buchmesse….To have a book published at the time of the fair could be a great advantage. The sensation of the 1587 fair, for instance, was Fausten, which was translated into English in 1592 and became the basis for the play by Christopher Marlowe.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
CLMP’s annual Spelling Bee will take place on Monday, November 3 at Diane von Furstenberg’s studio. She will host the event. Contact jlependorf@clmp.org.
Esther Margolis, Founder and Publisher of Newmarket Press, will be honored with the New York Center for Independent Publishing’s Poor Richard Award at the Center’s Annual Benefit and Cocktail Reception. November 10, from 6 to 8 PM, at 20 W. 44th St.
