As summer wanes, change remains the constant: Former Simon & Schuster President of Sales and Distribution Larry Norton has joined Borders as SVP, Merchandising and Distribution, reporting to EVP Anne Kubek. Norton will lead the merchandising team and will work out of his Connecticut home. Earlier it was announced that Dave Marsico has been named VP, Midwest at Borders. He had been Market Director at online discounter Meijer. John Melnick has been named VP, Northeast. He had been Zone VP at Michael’s Stores. Mike Steele has been named VP, West Coast. He had been Director, Store Operations.

Longtime Baker & Taylor sales executive Bill Preston, SVP for retail and international, has left the company. He may be reached at wpreston1311 [at] aol.com.

CEO of Reed Business Information USA Tad Smith has joined Cablevision as President of Local Media, a new division that will organize local media and programming assets under one business unit, reporting to COO Tom Rutledge.

Jim Joseph has officially been named President and Publisher of Globe Pequot Press after serving as interim President following the departure of Scott Watrous, and previously as COO. Lawrence Dorfman has also been promoted to VP, Sales. He was Executive Director of National Accounts. Following the departures of Michelle Lewy and John Groton last month, Gene Brissie, erstwhile EIC of Lyons Press, has returned to his own literary agency, James Peter Associates, and may be reached at gene_brissie [at] msn.com. A search has begun for an Editorial Director.Andy Ward, Executive Editor of GQ Magazine, has accepted the position of VP, Executive Editor of the Random House imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, reporting to Susan Kamil, RH Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Director of Dial.

Yulia Borodyanskaya, who left Kaplan earlier this summer, has gone to McGraw-Hill as International Rights Director in the Higher Ed division.

After a brief hiatus, Julie Bennett is rejoining Ten Speed Press as Editorial Director, reporting to Publisher Aaron Wehner. She previously worked for the publisher for nine years. Dawn Yanagihara joins the company as Senior Editor. She worked in a number of roles at Cook’s Illustrated and was most recently Senior Editor at Weldon Owen.

Lauren Weidner has been named Associate Sales Manager, Latin America/ Caribbean at Simon & Schuster. She comes from HarperCollins, where she was International Coordinator. Meanwhile, Jessica Wiener has been named Marketing Director for HarperStudio. She was with Hyperion. She replaces Sarah Burningham, who has left the company to concentrate on her writing and launch her freelance PR, marketing, and branding firm, Little Bird.

Jacqueline Murphy has been named in-house Subsidiary Rights Director at FinePrint Literary Management. She had been Executive Audio Editor at HarperCollins. Laura Wood, previously Associate Publisher of Council Oak Books, and Ward Calhoun, Senior Editor at Hylas Publishing, have also joined the agency.

Teresa Fogarty has been named a partner in the Los Angeles–based BookstoFilm.tv. Fogarty was most recently Marketing and Publicity Manager for IBPA (formerly PMA). She joins Rocky Lang, as well as the newly arrived Scott Barker.

PEN American Center, the largest branch of International PEN, announced the appointment of Steven L. Isenberg as Executive Director. For the past six years, Isenberg was a Visiting Professor of Humanities at the University of Texas (Austin). Isenberg succeeds Michael Roberts, who resigned in June after 11 years, to pursue a new career interest.

Mark Greenberg, Editor-in-Chief of Getty Publications, has left the museum, which has begun a search for his successor.

PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES

Kristin Fassler has been named Deputy Director, Marketing Department, Ballantine and Bantam/Dell, reporting to Sanyu Dillon. Fassler joined RH in 2004. Carolyn Schwartz has been appointed VP, Director of Ad/ Promo, reporting to Stacey Witcraft. She was Deputy Director of Creative Marketing at Bantam. Jennifer Smith will return to Ballantine as Editor, reporting to Libby McGuire. Smith began her publishing career at ICM in 2003 and came to RH in 2007 as Associate Editor.

At S&S, Tracy Nelson has been named National Account Manager for Barnes & Noble. She was responsible for selling and marketing the entire adult list to bn.com and will also continue to sell and market e-books on bn.com. Additionally, Christine Weag has been promoted to Associate National Account Manager. She joined the company in 2008. Megan Noyes has been named Manager of Digital Operations, Supply Chain at S&S. She had been Database Operations Analyst. Bill Kinneman has been named Director of Business Intelligence, Supply Chain. He had been Associate Director of Business Analysis. Veronica Lee has been named Sales Manager, International Sales. She had been Regional Associate Manager, Asia Pacific.

At Holt, Helen Atsma has been promoted to Senior Editor. She moved from Little, Brown in 2007 as an editor.

DULY NOTED

For over a decade, publishing houses have been a mainstay of Everybody Wins!, a literacy and mentoring organization. Power Lunch, EW!’s flagship program, pairs volunteers from local businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations with students in nearby public elementary schools for weekly lunchtime reading and conversation. EW! currently partners with four publishing houses: RH, McGraw-Hill, Penguin USA, and Scholastic. They are seeking new partners in publishing who can offer volunteers, book donations, in-school author events, and other language arts–related activities. Interested parties should contact Tom Schroeder: tschroeder [at] everybodywinsNY.org or (212) 965-2291.

HarperCollins is publishing invisible I, the highly anticipated first book in The Amanda Project series, at the end of September, to tie in with the just-launched website. (PW starred review here.) T.A.P. is the brainchild of Fourth Story Media’s Lisa Holton, who created the multiplatform media company after leaving Scholastic, where she was President of Trade Publishing and Book Fairs.

The search for Michael Healy’s successor as Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group is underway. Send nominations and applications in strict confidence to search consultant Angela Henry at BISGedsearch2009 [at] gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Kassia Krozser of Booksquare.com and agents Jenny Bent and Richard Curtis are some of the featured speakers at the annual Writers Digest conference, September 18–20 at NYC’s Marriott Marquis.

The New York Center for Independent Publishing (NYCIP) will present “The Next Chapter in Publishing” October 2 at its headquarters (20 W. 44th St.). Speakers will include Jeff Rivera of GalleyCat, Chris Kenneally from the Copyright Clearance Center, Mark Coker of Smashwords, and Fran Toolan of Netgalley.

A is for Antitrust, B is for Book, C is for Copyright, and D is for Digitize: A Conference on the Google Book Search Lawsuit will be held at New York Law School, 57 Worth St., October 8–10, 2009. Academics and practitioners will examine the settlement through the lenses of copyright, civil procedure, antitrust, the publishing industry, information policy, and literary culture. The conference is timed to coincide with the rescheduled fairness hearing in the Google Book Search case, which will be held October 7. E-mail infolaw [at] nyls.edu for more information.

The Goddard Riverside Community Center’s Gala will honor Josh Marwell, HarperCollins President of Sales, on October 26 at the Loeb Boathouse.

CLMP’s annual fundraising Spelling Bee will take place October 26 at Diane von Furstenberg’s studio. Spellers include Michael Cunningham, Jonathan Burnham, and Francine Prose.

Crown Publishing Group President and Publisher Jenny Frost announced the appointment of Diane Salvatore, who was most recently Editor-in-Chief of Ladies’ Home Journal, as VP, Publisher of Broadway Books, a new position following the realigning of Broadway and Doubleday within the Random House Group.

Margaret Milnes, VP, Licensed Publishing, Nickelodeon, has resigned after 10 years with the company. Paula Allen, formerly Warner Brothers Consumer Products and Screenland Associates, has joined Nick as SVP, Global Publishing. She will report to Leigh Ann Brodsky, President, Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products.

Josalyn Moran, VP, Director, Children’s Books, Barnes & Noble, has been named Publishing Director at Chronicle, succeeding Bill Boedeker, who left late last year.

Betsy Hulsebosch, former VP of Random House, and Ronni Stolzenberg, former VP of RH and HarperCollins, announce the creation of their new book marketing business, Launchpad, which will provide internet, social networking, publicity, advertising, and promotion solutions. E-mail Hulsebosch at betsy [at] launchpad360.com and Stolzenberg at ronni [at] launchpad360.com.

Scholastic eliminated another 11 positions last week in its Trade and Klutz divisions. Among those leaving in the downsizing were Margaret Coffee, Director of Field Sales, and Grace Maccarone, an editor who had been with the company for 30 years.

Angela Battle has joined LearningExpress as Director of Book Products. Most recently, she was a Senior Sales Specialist at Pearson Education. She will oversee all aspects of the book program, including acquisitions of new titles and book channel expansion by working directly with NBN, LearningExpress’s book distributor. She reports to Ilsa Halpern. Karen Wolny, Editorial Director of LearningExpress, has left the company and may be reached at kawolny [at] hotmail.com.

Simon & Schuster imprint Howard Books announced that Becky Nesbitt will join the company as VP and EIC. She was Associate Publisher for Tyndale House’s nonfiction line. Jennifer Willingham has joined the company as Vice President, Publicity. She comes from Guideposts.

Ingram has merged its Digital, Books, and Lightning Source groups into Ingram Content under CEO and President, Skip Prichard, and the Espresso Book Machine will now be available to all Lightning Source customers. Frank Daniels, Chief Commercial Officer of Ingram Digital, will leave the company in July.

At Yale University Press, longtime Associate Director and Publishing Director Tina Weiner is leaving that position to become Special Assistant to the Secretary of Yale, working in the Office of International Affairs.

At Borders, VP of Corporate Communications Anne Roman is joining a marketing firm in Toledo. She will continue to work for Borders on a consulting basis, and will remain the primary “media contact.” In other Borders news, Scott Laverty has been appointed CIO. He was most recently associated with IBM.

Barb Burg, former SVP and Executive Director of Publicity and Public Relations at the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, has launched a new company, barb burg, ink, offering publicity, public relations, media training, media placement, publishing strategy, and brand management services. She may be reached at barb [at] barbburg.com.

Marty McGrath has been hired by Abrams in the newly created position of Executive Director of Sales, reporting to Mary Wowk, VP of Sales and Marketing. Most recently, he was VP, Deputy Director of Adult Sales at Random House.

Nancy Miller has joined Bloomsbury/Walker as a Consulting Editor, acquiring both nonfiction and fiction. Most recently, she had been Executive Editor at Collins.

Anna Stein has left Irene Skolnick’s agency to open the New York office of London-based Aitken Alexander.

Jacqueline Flynn has joined Joelle Delbourgo Associates as an agent. She was formerly Executive Editor at Amacom Books. Carrie Cantor is heading up the agency’s new editorial services division, and may be reached at cantor.carrie [at] gmail.com.

At Little, Brown Children’s, Diane Cain has been hired for the newly created position of Brand Marketing Director, James Patterson, reporting to Deputy Publisher Andrew Smith. She was most recently Executive Director of Marketing at Harper Children’s.

Zagat Survey laid off 16 employees in a variety of departments on May 20. The company previously cut 20 employees in December 2008.

PROMOTIONS AND INTERNAL CHANGES

HarperCollins UK MD Amanda Ridout will leave the company at the end of June to “pursue other ventures.” Following Ridout’s notice, CEO and Publisher Victoria Barnsley said the roles of MD of HarperCollins, MD of HarperFiction, and MD of Harper NonFiction/Collins will be phased out. Belinda Budge will be promoted to the new role of Publisher of HarperCollins UK, reporting to Barnsley. Budge will oversee all publishing for HarperFiction and NonFiction/Collins. Simon Johnson, currently Director of Business Development, will become Group Commercial and Business Development Director, reporting to Barnsley and COO Keith Mullock. BookBrunch notes that Patrick Janson-Smith has “an enhanced role.”

Ken Oxenreider, Simon & Schuster VP Audio Sales, will join the Audio Division June 1, reporting to Audio EVP and Publisher Chris Lynch. He will assume responsibility for the company’s Audible, iTunes, Overdrive, and E-Music accounts and will continue to work with sales for major account presentations. He remains the sales point of contact for distribution clients.

Phoenix Publishing is launching a children’s trade line under its Dove imprint, and Gray Peterson, VP of Sales/Marketing, will now add Associate Publisher, Children’s Books to his responsibilities. He was formerly VP Sales, Mass Market at Scholastic.

Claudia Boutote announced that Laina Adler has been promoted to Director of Marketing at HarperOne.

At Crown Business, Publicity Director Tara Bilbride will serve as Publicity Director of Broadway Business. Liz Hazelton is leaving the company to join Fortier Public Relations.

At Simon & Schuster, Alexis Welby has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity, and Julia Prosser has been promoted to Senior Publicity Manager.

Ten Speed Press acting Publisher Aaron Wehner has been formally named to the job, reporting to Crown Publishing Group President Jenny Frost. Wehner joined Ten Speed in 1997.

DULY NOTED

Ingram Marketing Group announced the results of an industry survey on e- vs. print catalogs. Over 49% of respondents, a “tremendous increase” over last year, are willing to use e-catalogs in place of print, as long as they include features like a shopping list function and point-of-sale download capabilities. About 60% of respondents have already used an e-catalog. Over 80% of the 2,500 survey participants were either librarians or independent booksellers.

The Hay House New York office has moved. Its new address is 250 Park Avenue South, Suite 201, New York, NY 10003. E-mail addresses will stay the same, but phone numbers have changed: Phone: (646) 484-4950, fax: (646)484-4956.

The Kids Licensing Forum, which ran for one day following the Bologna Children’s Book Fair this year, is expanding to a full three-day event in 2010, concurrent with the Book Fair from March 23–25.

UPCOMING EVENTS

There will be a memorial service for Eden Ross Lipson on June 13 at 1:30 at The Century Club, 7 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY. To leave a condolence note in the guestbook, go here.

IN MEMORIAM

Craig Virden, former head of Random House Children’s Books and most recently a literary agent with his wife, Nancy Gallt, died on May 6. His memorial service took place on May 27 at St. Peter’s Church.