Publishing Trends

People Round Up, Late February, 2026

February 18, 2026

PEOPLE

Random House brings on Ariana Cruzas developer, corporate bookmaking, supporting business intelligence IT in the data warehouse and business intelligence team. At Random House Children’s, Sarah Wright has joined as associate art director, art and design. Most recently, she was an art director at the LEGO Group.

Within Simon and Schuster, vice president and executive director of art Jackie Seow is retiring from Simon & Schuster after 42 years with the company. Andi Richman has joined the distribution client sales team as national account manager. Richman was formerly with Baker & Taylor Publisher Services. Nicolas Marjolin has joined the distribution client sales team as national account manager. Marjolin was formerly comic market sales manager at Penguin Random House.

At Hachette Book Group, Stacey Lai has joined as associate director, international sales, leading the business across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. She was previously at HarperCollins. Josephine Ernest joined as manager, international online sales & operations. Ernest was previously at Bloomsbury. Sofia Sanchez joins as sales associate for accounts across Latin America & The Caribbean. Sanchez was previously in editorial at Little, Brown. Carmen Chan joins as the newly created role of executive director, client sales. She was most recently at TOPPAN Merrill. Within Little Brown for Young Readers, Victoria Velez has joined as publicist. She was most recently at Scholastic.

Pan Macmillan’s international director Jonathan Atkins will retire on April 2, after 16 years with the company and 40 years in the publishing industry.

At Usborne, publishing director Jenny Tyler will take an advisory role after 50 years with the company, serving as “Professor of Publishing.” Sam Taplin is promoted to publishing director, responsible for baby, pre-school, activity, novelty and non-fiction publishing, reporting to Nicola Usborne.

At Sourcebooks, John Paolello has joined as development manager. Audrey Heying has joined as editorial assistant for adult romance.

Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press brings on Marcy Harris as an editor. She was previously at Radish and Tapas.

At USO Press, Tom Booth will retire from his position as director of Oregon State University Press at the end of February. He has been with the press for 33 years.

Publisher’s Marketplace brings on Mollie Weisenfeld as marketing, operations & project manager.

At Yale University Press, Beth Clevenger will join as executive editor for the sciences in March. She is currently a senior acquisitions editor at MIT Press.

PEN America names Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf co-CEOs. They have been acting as interim CEOs since Suzanne Nossel’s departure in 2024.

At Book Clubs for Inmates, Sarah Smith-Eviemark has joined as communications coordinator. They were formerly marketing manager at Knopf Random Publishing Group Canada.

MamaBear Books has Jackie Garcia-Morales joining as PR director.

At Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive Press, Jon Repetti has joined as marketing director. They were formerly marketing associates at Basic Books Group.

Europa Editions publisher-at-large, Kent Carroll, announced his retirement after a 50-year career. As the publisher-at-large, Carroll has worked with a remarkable group of notable figures and storied prize winners.

Lakeside Book Company names Todd McGarity as SVP of Business Development, Book Services.

At Deep Vellum, Jon Repetti joins as marketing director. Madison Ford joins in the new position of programming director, leading reader-focused programming.

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In Agency News…

At Empire Literary, Kristyn Keene Benton joins as agent. She was previously at CAA.

FinePrint Literary Management promotes Morgan Hughes to agent.

At The Rights Factory Eman Bare has joined as associate agent. She is a journalist, ghostwriter and lawyer, and will be building a list of clients in both adult fiction and platform-driven non-fiction. Clara Chuiton has been promoted to associate agent and children’s and YA foreign rights associate. Claire Cavanagh has been promoted to literary agent and foreign rights manager. Jennifer Chevais has been promoted to literary agent.

Within BookEnds Literary, Emily Forney has been promoted to senior literary agent.

L. Perkins Agency brings on David Valentin as agent, focusing on romantic fiction. He was previously at Riverdale Avenue Books.

Premier Authors Literary founder Frank Breeden has retired to Eastern North Carolina and has announced the agency will not be signing any new clients. The agency will continue to manage its clients’ works still in print. Breeden founded the agency in 2004.

At The Future of Agency, Titi Oluwo joins as campaign manager.

Storm Literary Agency promotes Madelyn Knecht to associate literary agent.

The Transatlantic Agency promotes Eva Oakes to literary agent.

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PROMOTIONS

Harper Collins promotes Laura Brady to senior director, production editorial. In Harper Collins Children’s, promotions include Vanessa Nuttry to associate director, production, Alexandra Merkel to senior editor, HarperPop, Clare Vaughn to senior editor, Harper, Gabri LaFratta to assistant editor, Clarion, and Lily Randall to assistant editor, HarperPop. Lisa DiSarro has been promoted to executive marketing director, Sari Murray has been promoted to senior marketing director, and Michael D’Angelo has been promoted to associate marketing director. Samantha Ruth Brown has been promoted to publicity manager.

Within Random House, Naomi Goodheart has been promoted to assistant editor. Emily Archbold has been promoted to executive editor at Del Rey. Talia Cieslinski has been promoted to assistant editor at the Dial Press. JP Woodham has also been promoted to assistant editor. At Random House Children’s, Rotem Moscovich has been promoted to executive editorial director, Knopf Children’s. Gianna Lakenauth has been promoted to editor, Knopf Children’s. Tessa Rudolph has been promoted to assistant editor, Knopf Children’s and Anne Schwartz Books. Constance Inglima has been promoted to administrative associate, publicity and communications. Stephania Villar has been promoted to senior manager, marketing, young adult. Kelly McGauley has been promoted to executive director, marketing and strategic development. Elizabeth Ward has been promoted to senior director, audience engagement strategy. Katie Burton has been promoted to associate manager, social media strategy, young adult. Bessa Zenebework has been promoted to assistant director, advertising strategy. Nadia Vertlib has been promoted to senior product manager, audience engagement.

Nosy Crow promotes Avery Cook to marketing manager.

At The Experiment, Kamryn Lockwood has been promoted to digital operations manager.

Yale University Press promotions include Marty Gosser to assistant sales director, Abigail Storch associate editor, Amy Canonico to senior editor for art and architecture, Elizabeth Searcy to assistant editor for art and architecture, and Chelsea Connelly to assistant editor for the A&AePortal.

At Candlewick Press, Holiday House, and Peachtree, Sara DiSalvo has been promoted to director of publicity. Elyse Vincenty has been promoted to associate director, trade marketing. Caitlyn Davis has been promoted to marketing coordinator, trade marketing. Adelaide Cronin has been promoted to associate national accounts manager.

At Amplify Publishing Group, Nina Spahn has been promoted to co-COO.

Scholastic promotes Taylor McBroom to associate marketing director for 0-8, licensing, and young reader at Scholastic. Avery Manna has been promoted to assistant editor, Hope-Elizabeth Darris has been promoted to editor, and George Leonidou has been promoted to senior editor.

At SPCK Group, Lauren Windle has been promoted to publishing director.

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DULY NOTED

The Washington Post announced mass layoffs of one-third of its employees on Wednesday, February 4th, which will include closing the books department. The staff was notified in a Zoom call with executive editor Matt Murray. According to Murray, the decision was financial, the result of “difficult and even disappointing realities.”

Ingram Content Group is expanding its Roseburg, Oregon facility, adding printing capabilities for print-to-order business. Construction will begin immediately and should be ready to print titles by Q3 of 2026.

At the London Book Fair, Andrew Franklin, founder and publisher of Profile Books, will receive the LBF Lifetime Achievement Award. Before Profile, Franklin was a director of Penguin Books and ran Hamish Hamilton.

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EVENTS

Feb 20th-22nd

Romantasy Book Con

Los Angeles, CA

Feb 23rd-26th

American Booksellers Association Winter Institute

Pittsburg, PA

Feb 26th – March 1st

Left Coast Crime

San Francisco, CA

March 7th

Literary Women Festival

Long Beach, CA

March 12-15th

New Orleans Book Festival

New Orleans, LA

March 14-15th

Tucson Festival of Books

Tucson, AZ

March 26-29t

Book Lovers Con

Las Vegas, NV

March 27-28th

Venice Book Fair and Writer’s Festival

Venice, FL

March 27-29th

Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival

New Orleans, LA

Posted in Book View • Tagged Amplify Publishing Group, and Peachtree, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services, Book Clubs for Inmates, book events, book publishing, BookEnds Literary, CAA, Candlewick Press, Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press, Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive Press, Empire Literary, FinePrint Literary Management, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Harper Collins Children’s, HarperCollins, Holiday House, Ingram Content Group, Knopf, Lakeside Book Company, Little Brown, Little Brown for Young Readers, London Book Fair, Pan Macmillan’s, Pen America, Penguin Random House, Premier Authors Literary, Publishers Marketplace, publishing news, Random House, Random House Children's, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Sourcebooks, Storm Literary Agency, The Future of Agency, The Rights Factory, The Washington Post, Usborne, USO Press, Yale University Press

People Round Up, February 2026

By PT Editors

February 4, 2026

Comments (0)

PEOPLE

At Penguin Random House, Christine Hung has joined the strategic projects group as senior director, reporting to vp George Kantor. She previously led marketing at Vintage.

Macmillan’s publisher-at-large, Will Schwalbe, will retire from his role effective January 31 to concentrate full-time on writing books. He will continue working with Macmillan as an advisor.

At Hachette Book Group, Michelle Howry joins as editorial director of Little Brown Spark. She was most recently executive editor at Putnam. Current vp, editorial director of Little Brown Spark, Talia Krohn, will leave the company on February 20. Publisher of the line Michael Szczerban will shift his attention entirely to his role as vp, publisher of Voracious. Aya Elamroussi joins HBG as director of communications. Forever brings on Ghjulia Romiti as senior editor, reporting to publisher Leah Hultenschmidt. At Little Brown Ink, Rachel Stark will join as senior editor. They were most recently at Disney-Hyperion.

At Ingram Lightning Source, Sarah High joins as senior key account sales manager moving over from the Ingram Publisher Services marketing team. For Ingram Library Services, Zuanarda “Z” Causey has been named director of sales. Most recently he was sales director at SirsiDynix. Also joining as business development managers Michael Erving and Margaret Hansen, inside sales specialist Harley Beckmann, systems integration specialists Teresa Eldred and Austin Wolfe, and technical service specialists Amy Guerrero and Amanda Bimson.

Julianna Markus has joined Simon and Schuster as manager, advertising & paid digital media. She was previously a senior account executive of paid media at Burson Global Communications Agency. Colin Harrison, vice president and editorial director, has resigned.

At Sourcebooks, Sarah Alli has joined as audio marketing strategy specialist. Kelsey Young has joined as manager, subsidiary rights.

Zando brings on Jennifer Chung as head of legal, reporting to Molly Stern. Chung was previously vice president & counsel at Simon & Schuster.

At St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Lydia Rasmussen has joined as a publicist. She was previously a senior publicist at Smith Publicity.

Bookwire brings on Andrew Weinstein as US country manager. Weinstein succeeds Brittyne Lewis, who will transition to a sales position.

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In Agency News…

The agency Jane Starr Literary Scouts has been appointed as the US scout for Newton Compton Spain.

Rosecliff Literary brings on Shannon Snow as agent. She was most recently a literary agent and audio subrights manager at Creative Media Agency.

At Stonesong, Melissa Edwards has been named managing partner of the agency.

Ginger Clark Literary promotes Maria C. Ministeri to associate agent.

At David Black Agency, Abby Walters joins, focusing on upmarket/book club and literary fiction. She was previously at CAA.

Within Fortier PR, Felicia Sinusas has joined as assistant publicity director. She was previously at Harvard Business Review Press.

At Aaron Priest Literary Agency, Aaron Priest, founder and owner, announced his retirement. Senior agent Mitch Hoffman becomes the new owner and president of the agency. Natalie Rosselli has been promoted to associate agent and will build her own list of clients.

Calligraph has Jane McGehee joining as an agent and foreign rights manager. She was most recently a deputy literary scout at Jenny La Plante.

At Lucinda Literary, Michael Kaler has been promoted to associate agent.

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PROMOTIONS

Simon and Schuster promotes Grace Rambo to assistant director, advertising & paid digital media, and Dalia Baban to manager, advertising & paid digital media.

St. Martin’s Publishing Group promotes Char Dreyer to assistant editor.

At The Morrow Group, promotions include Allison Carney and Kelsey Manning, both to executive director of marketing. DJ DeSmyter has been promoted to senior director of marketing and brand strategy. Lara Baez has been promoted to assistant director of marketing and publicity. Katie Tull has been promoted to senior director. Farah Reza has been promoted to associate director. Megan Wilson has been promoted to senior director of publicity. Kaitlin Harri has been promoted to associate publisher, Morrow fiction. Emily Zhu has been promoted to senior associate, digital marketing & social media. Luke Porter has been promoted to senior manager of video. Deanna Bailey has been promoted to senior associate, marketing. Paige Meintzer has been promoted to assistant editor, and Nicole Braun has been promoted to assistant editor, William Morrow.

At Harper Collins, Maddie Pillari has been promoted to senior editor. Harper One Group promotes Stephen Brayda to senior art director, Sarah Kellogg to assistant art director, Julia DiMarzo-Cohen to assistant art director, Alison Cerri to senior publicist, and Ashley Candelario to publicist. Harper Collin’s Children’s promotes Mikayla Lawrence to senior production editor.

At Tor Publishing Group, Anthony Parisi has been promoted to director of marketing. Jordan Hanley has been promoted to associate director of marketing. Emily Honer has been promoted to associate marketing manager. Yvonne Ye has been promoted to associate manager of ad/promo. Cassian McConnell has been promoted to associate, marketing operations. Jocelyn Bright has been promoted to publicist, and Sarah Weeks has been promoted to associate publicist.

Macmillan promotions include Jennifer Edwards has been promoted to SVP, field sales, author events, wholesale, library marketing, and sales strategy. John Edwards has been promoted to SVP, trade retail sales, Canada, academic marketing & international sales. Ansley Kent has been promoted to national accounts manager, sales. Erin Powell has been promoted to associate, field sales marketing sales. Heather Hili has been promoted to associate general counsel, legal. Alison Macke has been promoted to manager, promotions and data privacy, legal. Rena Segall has been promoted to manager, compliance & anti-piracy, legal. Becca Ramsey has been promoted to senior cost accountant, accounting. Zeinab Saleh has been promoted to senior associate, payroll. Corbin Whitaker has been promoted to manager, finance. Cathy Turiano has been promoted to senior manager, production. Hope Hushon has been promoted to manager, production. Ethan Tolpin has been promoted to senior manager, sustainability. Jeanette Cajas has been promoted to associate manager, human resources. Becks Perez has been promoted to associate, human resources. Claudia Bergin joined as product owner, publishing systems. Jason Catlett joined as a data architect, platform development. Lia Ding joined as manager, international sales. Chelsea LaPlante recently joined as senior manager, inventory, inventory planning. Jennifer Ukegbu joined as product manager & application support, technology. Promotions at Macmillan Children’s include Kristen Stedman to senior production editor, Samia Garcia-Fakih to senior editor at First Second, Nicolás Ore-Giron to associate editor at Roaring Brook Press, and Asia Harden to associate editor at FSG Children’s. At Farrar Straus, Ben Brooks has been promoted to associate editor at MCD and FSG. Hannah Goodwin has been promoted to managing editor, Picador. Lauren Hutton has been promoted to publicity associate.

Within Penguin Press, John Burnham Schwartz has been promoted to executive editor.

At Kensington, Ericka McIntyre has been promoted to senior editor, acquiring fiction related to the American West and Rural America.

Gotham Ghostwriters announced a new leadership structure with the promotion of COO Alison Schwartz to president of the agency.

Chooseco promotes Eamon Dunn to associate editor.

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DULY NOTED

The American Bookseller’s Association names Donya Craddock, co-owner of The Dock Bookshop in Texas, to the board. Craddock is up for election for the 2026-2029 term, along with John Cavalier, co-owner of Cavalier House Books in Louisiana.

The Frankfurt Book Fair announced that Juergen Boos will step down as president and ceo of Frankfurt Book Fair after the 2026 edition of the fair this October. He has held the role for more than 20 years. Joachim Kaufmann will succeed him as president and ceo. Kaufmann was previously the longtime ceo Carlsen Verlag.

Publishers Weekly and Publishers Lunch report that Simon & Schuster has instituted layoffs as they “adjust to the market and focus on growth areas” according to a Simon & Schuster spokesperson. The layoffs in the children’s division include Laurent Linn, art director, Anna Jarzab, associate publisher of the licensed, novelty, and branded publishing group, and Rebecca Kuss, executive editor at Aladdin. Eamon Dolan, VP and executive editor at the flagship S&S imprint, is also listed in the layoffs. Editors Emily Simonson and Mindy Marques, along with Rebecca Strobel at Gallery and Melissa Milsten at Black Privilege/Atria are all also listed. Other high-profile editors let go included Scribner’s editorial director Colin Harrison, and Atria executive editor Nick Ciani. The layoffs currently include about 15 employees. They also reported layoffs at Hachette Book Group, including Joshua Kendall, editorial director of the Mulholland Books imprint, and Nadxieli Nieto, who helped reinvent the Algonquin imprint as editorial director.

At The Association of American Publishers, Chronicle president Tyrrell Mahoney has been elected as chair of the board for the 2026-2027 term. Mahoney succeeds Harper Collins ceo Brian Murray, who will remain an officer in the position of immediate past chair. ACS Publications president James Milne was elected vice chair. Chair of Elsevier and director of corporate affairs for the RELX Group, Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi, was elected treasurer.

A memoriam for Chuck Adams, a longtime editor at Algonquin, Simon & Schuster, and Dell, will be held February 24th at the Hachette Book Group NYC offices.

Duke University Press celebrates 100 years in 2026. Founded in 1921 at Trinity College Press, then becoming Duke University Press in 1926.

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EVENTS

Jan 26th- Feb 3rd

Kolkata International Book Fair

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Feb 12-15th

San Francisco Writers Conference

San Francisco, CA

Feb 13-15h

Love Y’all Fest

Atlanta, GA

Feb 20th-22nd

Romantasy Book Con

Los Angeles, CA

Feb 23rd-26th

American Booksellers Association Winter Institute

Pittsburg, PA

Posted in Book View • Tagged American Booksellers Association, book events, Burson Global Communications Agency, Chronicle, Chuck Adams, Creative Media Agency, Duke University Press, Forever, Frankfurt Book Fair, Ginger Clark Literary, Gotham Ghostwriters, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Harper Collins Children’s, Harper One Group, Ingram Lightning Source, Ingram Publisher Services, Jane Starr Literary Scouts, Kensington, layoffs, Macmillan, Macmillan Children's, Newton Compton Spain, Penguin Random House, People Round-Up, publishing events, Publishing Job Moves, publishing layoffs, Rosecliff Literary, Simon and Schuster, Smith Publicity, Sourcebooks, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Stonesong, The Association of American Publishers, The Morrow Group, Tor Publishing Group, William Morrow, Zando

People Round Up, Late Janurary 2026

By PT Editors

January 22, 2026

Comments (0)

PEOPLE

At Penguin Random House, Kendall Hinson joins as assistant managing editor, corporate bookmaking, supporting the RHPG managing editorial team. She was previously associate production editor Tapas. Nora Becker joins as assistant managing editor, corporate bookmaking, supporting the Harmony, Rodale, Convergent, and One World imprints. She was previously in the editorial department at the University of California Press.

Lakeside Book Company has Todd McGarity joining as senior vice president of business development, book services. He was previously SVP Business Developments at Hachette Book Group.

At Simon and Schuster, Clarissa Hadge has joined the independent sales team as field account manager, New England. She was previously at Hachette Book Group. Simon Maverik has Juliana Nador joining as an associate editor. She was previously at Union Square & Co.

Harper Collins has Noah Perkins joining as production editor. Perkins was previously managing editorial and production associate at Neuwirth & Associates.

Island Press has become an imprint of Princeton University Press, welcoming Heather Boyer, publisher at Island Press, Stacy Eisenstark, senior editor at Island Press, and Emily Turner, senior editor at Island Press. Rachel Kindler also joins as publishing manager. She was previously associate editor at University of Notre Dame Press.

Deep Vellum brings on Hannah Smith as poetry editor.

Lakeside Book Company has Todd McGarity joining as senior vice president of business development, book services. He was previously SVP Business Developments at Hachette Book Group.

At Buchwald, Noah Ballard has joined as VP of Media Rights & Publishing. He was previously at Verve.

Wiley brings on Armughan Rafat as chief AI and data services officer, reporting to CEO Matthew Kissner. He was previously chief analytics officer at Norstella.

Ingram Content Group brings on Gabriel Kashin as vice president of product merchandising. He was previously at Powell’s Books.

At Hub City Press, Kate McMullen becomes associate publisher.

Abrams has Liam Flanagan joining as art director, licensed entertainment.

At Penn State University Press, Abby Naqvi will join as sales and marketing director. She was previously director of marketing and sales at Teachers College Press. Katie Luu has been named journals marketing specialist. She was previously program analyst for Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.

At Lonely Planet, Colin Shields has joined in the newly created role of senior director of sales & marketing, North America. He was previously vice president and executive director of global digital & international sales at Simon & Schuster.

The Collective Book Studio has Rebekah Lovato Piatte joining as children’s editorial director. She was previously at Insight Editions, where she developed, launched, and managed the IncrediBuilds imprint.

Within International Literary Properties CEO of ILP Literary, Scott Hoffman has left his position, working in a consulting role for the company. James Meader has joined as president, publishing. He was previously associate publisher at Vintage. Jennifer Bassuk has joined as president, partnerships. She was previously at Amazon, Audible and News Corp.

At Collective Book Studio, Rebekah Lovato Piatte will join as children’s editorial director. She was previously at Klutz Press and Insight Editions, and worked as an independent contractor.

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In Agency News…

P.S Literary Agency has Elizabeth Guthrie joining as associate literary agent. She was previously talent director and literary agent at Lucinda Literary.

At Context Literary Agency, Monica Rodriguez has been promoted to senior agent. She remains director of brand management.

At Fuse Literary, Karly Dizon and Ernie Chiara have been promoted to senior agent.

TvS Media Group promotes Hannah Boardman to senior publicist.

At Franklin Siegal & Yanez, Jasper Cerone is promoted to associate literary scout. FSY will now scout YA, in addition to adult, for Orion Publishing Group.

Within Assemble Media, Hannah Carande has joined as editor, literary & IP. She was previously associate, literary and IP at 3 Arts Entertainment.

Madeline Milburn Agency brings on Callen Martin as an agent, representing children’s and young adult fiction. He was previously at Bell Lomax Moreton.

Andrea Colvin has created a literary agency, Andrea Colvin Creative Agency, specializing in children’s books. Colvin previously founded Little, Brown Ink and was editor in chief at Lion Forge.

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PROMOTIONS

Within Random House Children’s, Jules Buckley has been promoted to junior designer, art/design. Juliet Goodman has been promoted to senior designer, art/design. Estefania Valencia has been promoted to assistant editor, Random House Studio. Lydia Gregovic has been promoted to editor, Delacorte Press. Random House Publishing has Laura Keefe joining as vice president, executive director of marketing, overseeing marketing efforts for Random House, One World, The Dial Press, Hogarth, and Modern Library. Most recently, she was vp, senior director of marketing at Knopf. At Ballantine Bantam Dell, Keith Clayton moves up to svp publisher, Random House Worlds, now reporting to RHPG president Sanyu Dillon. Within Penguin Random House Christian, promotions include Beverly Rykerd to vp, senior director of publicity and communications, Johanna Inwood to marketing director, Bridget Baxter to senior manager, publisher’s office & operations, reporting to Campbell Wharton, and Leslie Calhoun to editor, reporting to editorial director Madison Trammel. At Berkley, Tara O’Connor has been promoted to publicity manager.

At Macmillan, Celadon promotes Faith Tomlin to assistant editor. Minotaur promotes Kelley Ragland to svp and publishing director and Catherine Richards to vp, associate publisher. Within St. Martins Publishing Group, Zoë Miller has been promoted to senior publicist. Kiara Ronaghan has been promoted to associate publicist. Austin Adams has been promoted to associate marketing manager. Michael Criscitelli has been promoted to executive art director, Creative Studio. Dylan Helstien has been promoted to senior manager, Creative Studio. Lauren Germano has been promoted to senior designer, Creative Studio. At Flatiron, Cathleen Kenney has been promoted to publicity manager, Alexus Blanding has been promoted to publicist, and Kate Lucas has been promoted to assistant editor.

Promotions at Source Books include Scott Eells to director of automation & AI, Lismarie Cuevas to sales manager for international sales, and Cana Clark to senior marketing associate at Sourcebooks Kids.

At Deep Vellum, Sarah McEachern has been promoted to rights director and associate publisher.

The Grove Atlantic promotes Jisu Kim to sales and operations director.

Holt promotes Sam Wiener to associate publicist. Alex Foster, Zoe Affron, and Leela Gebo have all been promoted to assistant editor.

At Avery, Isabel McCarthy has been promoted to editor.

Knopf Double Day Publishing Group promotes Emily Murphy to senior director, marketing, leading the entire Knopf marketing team and Matthew Sciarappa to director.

At Scholastic, Tessa Meischeid has been promoted to associate publicity director. Aleah Gornbein has been promoted to senior publicist.

Kensington promotes Elizabeth Trout to senior editor.

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DULY NOTED

Publisher’s Weekly announced a new weekly bestseller list launched by Independent Publishers Caucus, a collective of 117 small and independent publishers, in collaboration with American Booksellers Association, named the Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers. You can find the list here.

Folio Literary has announced their acquisition of boutique children’s agency, Greenhouse Literary from the Coolabi Group. Chelsea Eberly will join Folio Jr. as VP and agent, along with her assistant, Huyen Vu. “I’ve long admired the Folio and Folio Jr. team and know that the Greenhouse Literary Agency’s legacy will continue alongside such stellar colleagues,” Eberly stated.

At Ballantine Bantam Dell President Kara Welsh departs on March 31 after 25 years at the Random House Publishing Group. Scott Shannon will take over as president of BBD, where he “will drive an ambitious growth agenda while strengthening BBD’s market leadership in commercial publishing across categories such as book club fiction, commercial nonfiction, romance, mystery, thriller and more.”

International Literary Properties secured a five-year credit facility access to more than $100 million of capital to support ILP’s acquisition growth from Fifth Third Bank. Amanda Siconolfi stated “We are pleased to partner with Fifth Third Bank on this landmark transaction. This credit facility will help ILP continue its strong acquisition momentum heading into 2026, after doubling the size of our portfolio in 2025.”

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EVENTS

Jan 23rd

Doing Rights Right 2026

New York, NY

Jan 24th

Biographers International Organization Biography Lab

New York, NY

Jan 26th- Feb 3rd

Kolkata International Book Fair

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Jan 29th-31st

F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival

Daytona Beach, FL

Jan 31st

Bookworm Festival for Young Readers

Houston, TX

Posted in Book View • Tagged Abrams, Assemble Media, Basic Books, book events, Folio Literary, Frankfurt Book Fair, Grove Atlantic, Hachette, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Independent press top 40 bestsellers list, January, job moves, Kirkus, Kirkus Reviews, Literary Scouting, little bee, Little Brown, Macmillan, Martin Literary Managment, McGraw-Hill, New Leaf Literary, Publishing Job Moves, Publishing Perspectives, Random House, Random House Children's, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, Storm Literary Agency, TvS Media Group, UTA, Zando

People Round Up, January, 2026

By PT Editors

January 7, 2026

Comments Off

PEOPLE

At Hachette Book Group, Ed Spade has joined as senior vice president, commercial operations, reporting to deputy ceo Richard Kitson. Spade was previously president of sales at Harper Collins. Abigail Koons has joined as vice president of subsidiary rights, also reporting to Kitson, and succeeding Nancy Wiese who has left the company. VP, corporate business development and strategy Todd McGarity has left after almost 17 years with the company. At Little Brown, Kim Dayman joins as Director of Backlist, reporting to Sally Kim.

At Macmillan, Karen Bullock has joined as senior manager, strategic projects, business development.

Podium Entertainment brings on Jiayun Yang as subsidiary rights manager. She was previously at Assemble Media.

At Publishing Perspectives, Andrew Richard Albanese joins as editor-in-chief. He will retain his role as editor of the site Words & Money as well.

At Scholastic, executive vice president and chief growth officer Jeffrey Mathews has also been named president, Scholastic Education. He has served as interim head of the division since June 2025.

At Kensington, Adam Zacharius has been named president, succeeding his father, Steven Zacharius, who will remain as chairman and ceo.

At Kirkus, Meg LaBorde Kuehn returns as ceo and publisher. The company also acquired AudioFile Magazine and will now feature an audiobook section within Kirkus Reviews, edited by AudioFile’s managing editor Jennifer Dowell.

McGraw Hill has Philip Moyer coming on as president, ceo, and board member on February 9. Moyer succeeds Simon Allen, who will retire and remain board chair.

At Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull, Olivia Hammerman has joined as production editor.

Crooked Lane/Alcove Press brings on Gary Goldstein as an editor. He was previously an editor and editorial director at Kensington for 22 years. Elana Gibson has joined as an editor. She was previously at CamCat Publishing.

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In Agency News…

At UTA, Kelly Karczewski was promoted to agent.

At Triada US, Brent Taylor has been promoted to vice president, executive agent.

Britt Siess Creative Management has Phoebe Schmidt joining the agency, representing upmarket science fiction and fantasy. She was previously an independent scout and book-to-film agent at Paradigm Talent Agency.

At Martin Literary Management, Charlie Serabian has joined as literary manager representing genre fiction and select nonfiction. Jess Taylor has joined as literary manager representing primarily young adult and new adult. She is a former acquisitions editor.

At Great Dog Literary, Ismita Hussain has been promoted to senior agent. Gabriella Melendez has been promoted to agent.

New Leaf Literary and Media promotes Eileen Lalley to licensing manager. Katherine Curtis has been promoted to manager, film & TV. Keifer Ludwig has been promoted to subrights and literary associate. Jenniea Williams has been promoted to literary manager. Lindsay Howard has been promoted to literary associate.

At Handspun Literary, Justina Ireland joins as associate agent. She is the author of multiple books as well as a writer of both comics and television. Cheyenne Faircloth has been promoted to agent.

Fortier Public Relations has Lauren Ortiz joining as assistant publicity director. She was previously at Little, Brown.

International Literary Properties brings on James Meader as the division’s president of publishing, and Jennifer Bassuk as president of partnerships. Both joined ILP’s New York office on January 5.

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PROMOTIONS

At Avery Books & Tarcher, Maya Ono has been promoted to marketing manager.

Promotions at Zando include Sarah Ried to deputy editorial director of the Zando, Tin House and Imprint Partner lists, Caolinn Douglas to senior editor, TJ Ohler to editor, and Natalie Ullman has been promoted to director of social media. Zoey Cole has also been promoted to associate director of marketing, Christopher King to creative director, and Khalil Commissiong has been promoted to manager, inventory and sales analytics. Liz Eriksson has been promoted to contracts director. Kayla White has been promoted to associate production manager.

Little Bee promotes Jaime Gelman to editor and Sydney Hackley to junior designer.

At Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull, promotions include Olenka Burgess to production director, Wah-Ming Chang to director of managing editorial, and Laura Berry to senior production editor.

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DULY NOTED

Novelist Dinaw Mengestu was elected president of PEN America. He succeeds Jennifer Finney Boylan. “Dinaw Mengestu has spent his career illuminating the borders between countries, histories, and identities, and bringing readers into the lives of those too often pushed to the margins,” said PEN interim ceo and chief of Free Expression programs Summer Lopez.

Storm Literary Agency founder Essie White has launched a new, independent agency named Essie White Literary, where she will be representing authors and illustrators. She will continue to represent the majority of her long-term clients and some new clients.

A new literary agency, Confluence Literary Agency, has been founded from the merger of two previous agencies, Bond Literary Agency and Copps Literary Services. They will be representing commercial fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction for children and adults. Founders Sandra Bond, Elizabeth Copps, and Becky LeJeune will serve as principals. Joining as agents are Nicole Payne, who was previously at CLS, and Rose Conway, who was previously at Foreword Literary Consulting.