Who's Moving Where?
News and Editorial Changes at Children's Book Publishers
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Compiled by Harold Underdown from a number of sources:
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May 2008
Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins: Joanna Cotler, who had been running her imprint as publisher and senior vice president for 13 years, is moving into a position as editor-at-large. The imprint will continue, possibly with fewer titles. Associate editor Alyson Day is staying with HC, but moving elsewhere in the department. Senior editor Karen Nagel is leaving.
Penguin Young Readers Group : Barbara Marcus will be working as strategic advisor for the group after some executive moves. Doug Whiteman has been promoted from his position as head of the group to be executive v-p of business operations. He will be succeeded by Don Weisberg, most recently at Random House.
April 2008
Aladdin: Emily Lawrence has joined Simon & Schuster's Aladdin imprint as an associate editor. She was formerly with the Katherine Tegen Books imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Executive editor Beverly Reingold has left the company.
Flash Point: This will be the name of the new nonfiction imprint at Roaring Brook Press. See January 2007 for earlier news.
Harcourt: I am told that Harcourt's children's imprint will be maintained as a separate imprint, and will be moving into the same office building as Clarion. Jeannette Larson has been promoted to Editorial Director, Picture Books, and Kathy Dawson has been promoted to Editorial Director, Fiction. I may have said this before, but Betsy Groban is now the Senior Vice President and Publisher.
HarperCollins Children’s Books: Gretchen Hirsch has joined the staff of HC as Associate Editor; she is another of the people leaving Harcourt in the wake of the merger.
Hyperion: Donna Bray and Alessandra Balzer, who had been editorial director and executive editor at Hyperion Books for Children, are moving to HarperCollins, where they will run an imprint called Balzer & Bray.
March 2008
Harcourt: As a a result of the Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin merger, the Harcourt San Diego office is being closed. A few have been offered the opportunity to relocate to New York; which children's book staff are affected is not clear. The SD office will be closed on June 30. More details from PW
HarperCollins Children's Books: Michael Stearns is leaving to become an agent. He will be working with Firebrand Literary.
Julie Andrews Collection: This small imprint, which publishes works by other authors as well as Julie Andrews, has moved from HarperCollins to Little, Brown.
Roaring Book Press/David Macaulay Studio: David Macaulay is moving to Roaring Brook Press. It's not entirely unexpected that he would leave Houghton Mifflin after Walter Lorraine retired, but he's not just publishing with RBP. He'll head his own imprint, as creative director, and publish his own books as well as books by others. More details from PW
Simon and Schuster: Harcourt's loss is S&S's gain, as former Harcourt children's editor-in-chief Allyn Johnston is starting an imprint at Simon and Schuster, as yet unnamed. She will remain in San Diego and report to Rubin Pfeffer.
February 2008
Bloomsbury: Jill Davis, Executive Editor at Bloomsbury for the past 2 1/2 years, has been laid off, as of January 31. She previously worked at Viking.
Egmont: Egmont USA's Elizabeth Law has announced that she has hired Regina Griffin, who had left Holiday House just last fall, as Executive Editor.
Henry Holt : I'm told that Nina Ignatowicz has left Holt, where she had been Editor at Large. She will be working freelance.
Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt: On top of last month's news, more staff have been laid off, as fallout from the merger continues. I don't know who has been affected and will post names of any children's book editors as soon as I hear more.
Kingfisher: This imprint has been acquired by Macmillan (see October for an explanation of this name) and will be overseen by Simon Boughton, who is also publisher for Roaring Brook Press.
Simon and Schuster's Children's division: The head of the division, Rick Richter, has announced a reorganization. There are now three groups in the division, and editors Susan Burke of Atheneum and Dee Anne Grande of Little Simon Inspirations have been laid off. Full details can be found in this Publishers Weekly article.
Westside Books: This is a new imprint, publishing edgy, "issue-oriented" YA fiction. Their website, at www.westside-books.com, was still "under construction" when last I checked.
Whitman: Rumor control--Albert Whitman has been sold, to a long-time staffer with a business partner. The current owners want to retire and will be handing over in an orderly way. Everything will be continuing as before. As one insider said, "This sort of thing happens every 40 years or so at Albert Whitman."
January 2008
Charlesbridge: Editor Judy O'Malley has been away from work since late October, due to an extended illness. The company expects that she will be returning to work: existing staff are covering her projects, so expect delays with submissions and other non-urgent business.
Christy Ottaviano Books: This will be a new personal imprint at Henry Holt, where Christy Ottaviano has been an editor for 15 years. The new imprint has a tighter submissions policy than the general Henry Holt one, so be sure to check the guidelines. More info at Publishers Weekly
Dial: Kate Harrison has moved to Dial from Harcourt Children's. She will have the title of senior editor.
Henry Holt: Sally Doherty joins the staff as executive editor. She had most recently been freelancing, and previously worked for Bantam, HarperCollins, and Scholastic.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing: The purchase of Harcourt by HM is now final, and HM has now announced that the San Diego offices of Harcourt are to be closed on June 30. Some of the 65 people working there will be invited to move to New York or Boston, so the full impact is not yet clear. Earlier, HM's Betsy Groban was named as senior vice-president and publisher for the children's book group, and Harcourt's Lori Benton will leave the company at the end of the month.
Little, Brown BFYR: Joseph Monti has arrived from Houghton Mifflin, where he had been national accounts manager; previously he was a a buyer at Barnes and Noble. He will work in the new position of director of paperbacks, and will be editing and acquiring as well as overseeing paperback reissues of MG and YA fiction.
Scholastic Trade: In an additional change in the aftermath of the departure of Lisa Holton (see October below), Suzanne Murphy has been named vice-president and publisher, trade publishing and marketing, essentially moving into the position that Ellie Berger had held.
November 2007
Egmont USA: Update on November 27: Egmont has announced that Elizabeth Law, formerly at Simon and Schuster (see January 2007 below), will be the Vice President and Publisher for the new imprint.
Egmont, one of the largest publishers in Europe, is launching a US children's book imprint. Egmont USA will publish YA, middle grade, and a limited number of picture books, with Fall 2009 planned as the first list. Douglas Pocock, who is currently the group sales director of Egmont UK, will be moving to the US in January to set up the US office in New York. He will be executive VP, and will be hiring several staff. As Candlewick, the US subsidiary of Walker Books UK, has done, Egmont intends to bring in some of their UK titles, but will also originate titles in the US and be better positioned to acquire world rights. Publishers Weekly article.
October 2007
Bowen Press: Correction to a previous note. This will be the name of Brenda Bowen's new imprint at HarperCollins (see May), not Bowen Publishing. The imprint will publish 15 titles per year, of a variety of types, but is not open to unsolicited submissions.
Chronicle: Julie Romeis is joining the staff of Chronicle as editor, and will focus on middle grade and YA novels. She leaves Bloomsbury.
Houghton Mifflin: Walter Lorraine will be retiring at the end of the year. He worked at HM for over 50 years, running their children's book division for many of them. Most recently, he started a personal imprint.
Macmillan: Holtzbrinck's US division, which includes Farrar, Straus, Henry Holt, Roaring Brook, and Feiwel and Friends, is being renamed as Macmillan. If you've followed the children's book industry for some time, this may seem odd--Macmillan as a company ceased to exist in the US some time ago, when it was bought out by Simon and Schuster. But Macmillan as a company had separated some years before that into US and UK companies. And Holtzbrinck owns Macmillan UK, and wants to give its English-language companies in the US and UK the same name. Makes sense, right?
Marimba Books: This new imprint has been launched by Cheryl and Wade Hudson, as part of The Hudson Publishing Group, a partnership with Kensington Publishing. The new imprint will be mass market, with a multicultural focus, and will publish for children 2 to 12.
Random House: Editor Lisa Findlay has left, to pursue a career in teaching.
Scholastic: Lisa Holton, president of both the trade and book fairs divisions since May 2005 (when she replaced Jean Feiwel), is leaving Scholastic to "launch a new media venture." She will be replaced by Ellie Berger, a Scholastic veteran, as president of the trade group; Berger had been publisher for the trade division. Alan Boyko, president of book fairs, will report directly to Dick Robinson.
Roaring Brook Press: Nancy Mercado is leaving Dial BFYR to become an executive editor at Roaring Brook Press, starting at the beginning of December.
Tricycle Press: Joanne Taylor joined the staff a few months ago, with the title of Project Editor. As far as I can tell, she fills the vacancy created by the departure of Summer Dawn Laurie, who recently sent me this update (see also May below): "I am now happily working as a freelance children's book editor, contracting with authors to critique and develop manuscripts written for kids 12 and under. I can now be reached by email at sdledits(at)comcast.net."
September 2007
Holiday House: Editor-in-Chief Regina Griffin is leaving, and is being replaced by Mary Cash, an experienced Holiday House editor.
Poppy (Little, Brown): Poppy will be the name of a new teen paperback imprint at LB, overseen by editorial director Cindy Eagan. The new imprint takes over existing teen series and will be adding others.
August 2007
HarperFestival: HC's mass market appears to be shifting strategy. I've heard that they are canceling yet-to-be-published novelty books and will be concentrating on licensed product. No word on staff changes.
Rising Moon/Northland: Northland Publishing, which includes the children's imprint Rising Moon, has been acquired by an investment group. All of the staff have been laid off, though there seems to be a possibility that some will be rehired.
For more information, see the Publishers Weekly article.
Otherwise, no news to report. Check back after Labor Day, when staff will be back in the office. . . .
July 2007
HarperCollins Children's Books: Rachel Orr is leaving and will be working at the Prospect Agency.
Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt: Industry news--HM Riverdeep, the company created by the acquisition of Houghton Mifflin by Ireland's Riverdeep (see Dec. 2006) has agreed to acquire Harcourt. Though the deal was made primarily for Harcourt's educational publishing division, the combined HM/Harcourt trade operation will be a substantial company too. The finances of the company as a whole seem shaky to me, as more money was spent to acquire HM and Harcourt than they seem to be worth, but we'll have to wait to see how that plays out. Read more in the Financial Times.
North-South Books: Mary Chris Bradley is stepping down from her position as publisher, effective October 8.
Simon Pulse/Simon and Schuster: Anica Mrose Rissi left Scholastic to join the staff at Simon Pulse as an editor, specializing in commercial teen fiction and nonfiction. At Scholastic, she had developed the Candy Apple "tween" line.
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House: Caroline Meckler recently joined the staff, moving over from Henry Holt. She has the title of assistant editor.
June 2007
Aladdin: Mark McVeigh is joining Aladdin as editorial director, reporting to Ellen Kreiger. He was at Dutton Children's. Kate Angelella has joined Aladdin as assistant editor.
Simon Scribbles: Siobhan Ciminera is joining as senior editor, moving over from Grosset & Dunlap.
May 2007
Aladdin Mix PW Daily reports that Simon and Schuster has launched this imprint, the first to target "tweens." Titles will be a mix of paperback originals and reprints. Ellen Krieger, v-p and associate publisher of Aladdin, will be in charge of the imprint. PW article.
Disney Publishing: Non-news of a sort--though Disney Pub. is moving its office to White Plains, Hyperion Books for Children will stay in Manhattan, though at a new location.
HarperCollins Children's Books: Brenda Bowen will come to HC on June 18 to start a new children's imprint. The imprint has yet to be named and staff have yet to be hired. Full details at PW
Hyperion Books for Children: Margaret Cardillo, Assistant Editor, is leaving to do an MFA in Creative Writing.
Magic Wagon: This is a new company in the ABDO Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis, and selling to the library market. According to PW, it "will focus on library-bound picture and graphic books for preK to eighth-grade readers." There will be two imprints to start with: Graphic Planet, publishing graphic format fiction and nonfiction; and the Looking Glass Library imprint, fiction and nonfiction, preK to fourth grade. Another imprint is planned for 2008. Visit the Red Wagon web site to learn more about their books.
Scholastic Reference: I've heard that Kate Waters has been let go and that Scholastic is closing down the imprint. No other details at this point.
Smith & Kraus: Here is news of a new children's book imprint from PW Children's Bookshelf: "Smith & Kraus Publishers, long known for its line of theater books, is expanding its reach this fall with a middle-grade fiction imprint called Smith & Sons." They are starting with a fantasy trilogy, at the instigation of the owners' teenaged son. See this article for full details.
Tricycle Press: Senior Editor Summer Dawn Laurie has left the company.
April 2007
Bloomsbury: Michelle Nagler will fill the position of editorial director. She reports to Melanie Cecka, who is publishing director for the Bloomsbury and Walker children's imprints. She leaves Simon Pulse, where she was senior editor. See Sept. 2006 below for related news.
Chronicle: Bill Boedeker will become the children’s publishing director for Chronicle Books. His most recent experience was as VP of marketing at Little, Brown BFYR. This new position seems to complete the realignment of Chronicle's children's division that started when Victoria Rock stepped aside to become editor-at-large (see November 2006 below).
Disney: It's been confirmed that Brenda Bowen has left the Disney Book Group, apparently not entirely of her own volition. She is being replaced by Jonathan Yaged, with the titles of v-p and U.S. publisher, in a redefined position, as her titles had been v-p, editor-in-chief, and associate publisher, Global Books." That makes sense, as Yaged's previous postion, also in the DBG, had been in business development and strategic planning. Bowen will be working with Curious Pictures and the Library of America.
Little, Brown: Little, Brown has moved their office. I assume that mail will be forwarded for some time, but here's the new info.:
Little, Brown and Company BFYR
Hachette Book Group USA, 237 Park Ave, New York NY 10017. (212)364-1100.
Fax: (212)364-0925. Web sites: www.lb-kids.com; www.lb-teens.com
Credit for this information goes to Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, which I'm sure will have this new address in their 2008 edition.
Roaring Brook Press: Deborah Brodie, executive editor, is leaving Roaring Brook. PW Daily quotes her as saying "I'm looking forward to new opportunities to do what I love most—editing a wide range of books for children and teens." Simon Boughton, publisher for Roaring Brook, describes the decision to leave as mutual, says that she will be replaced, and that there will be other new hires in the coming months.
Robin Corey Books: The first list for the new personal imprint at Random House will appear in the fall. PW Daily notes: "Corey plans to do 12 titles annually in a mix of pop-up, novelty and other commercial titles." She had most recently been at Little Simon: see February 2006 below for more info.
Running Press Kids: Old news from the fall: Kelli Chipponeri is the new senior editor (effectively head of imprint?). Elizabeth Encarnacion and Andra Serlin have left.
Walker BFYR: Mary Gruetzke will be leaving her position as Senior Editor in April. She has no plans to move to another company at present.
March 2007
Scholastic: Lynn Smith is the new director of licensed publishing, reporting to publisher Ellie Berger. She was director of licensing and brand management in Simon & Schuster's children's book division.
Simon & Schuster BFYR: Justin Chanda is moving within the company from his position as executive editor at the Atheneum impint to fill the associate publisher vacancy at S&S. (Note that the S&S associate publisher is the head of the imprint.)
February 2007
Candlewick Press: Amy Ehrlich, who was the first staff at Candlewick when it was started up by Walker Books UK fifteen years ago, is retiring. She has been working as editor-at-large and before that was editor-in-chief.
Dial BFYR: Alisha Niehaus moves to Dial with the title of editor, from DK Publishing.
Grosset and Dunlap: Jenny Bak is moving to G&D from HarperFestival.
Harcourt: The Harcourt children's division is being reorganized, and Liz Van Doren, editorial director, is leaving. She started at Harcourt in 1988. All children's editorial will now be under Allyn Johnston, editor-in-chief, who reports to publisher Lori Benton. Four people in other departments were also let go.
January 2007
Atheneum: Susan Burke has been promoted to editor. She has been there since 2000.
HarperTeen: HarperColins further commits itself to the teen market with this new imprint. I don't know if new staff are being hired (I suspect not). More about it at the HarperTeen web site.
Hyperion: Editor Tamson Weston is leaving Harcourt for Hyperion, where she will start on February 5.
Putnam's Children's Books: Susan Kochan has been promoted to associate editorial director. She reports to Nancy Paulsen.
Roaring Brook Press: Roaring Brook is starting a nonfiction program, launching in 2008. Deirdre Langeland will be acquiring and developing titles for it, starting March 6, with the title of senior editor. She worked at Kingfisher Books.
Scholastic: Eleni Beja is moving from Houghton Mifflin to Scholastic as an associate editor, reporting to Andrea Pinkney
Simon & Schuster BFYR: Associate Publisher Elizabeth Law will leave the company at the end of March "to pursue other opportunities in publishing." She will continue to work on some of her books as a consultant. Rubin Pfeffer will run the imprint until a successor is named.
December 2006
Cartwheel Books/Scholastic: Rotem Moscovich joins the staff as associate editor from Houghton Mifflin.
Houghton Mifflin: Industry news: HM is being bought by software publisher Riverdeep from the equity groups that had acquired HM from Vivendi. Riverdeep is based in Ireland and publishes "electronic courseware," so there is something of a match with HM's strong educational division. The combined company will also be carrying a lot of debt. The HM trade/reference division ends up as more of an anomaly than ever, but management says they have no plans to sell.
Houghton Mifflin: HM has hired Julia Richardson away from Aladdin Paperbacks, where she had been the editorial director, to be paperback director of the children's book group.
Little Simon Inspirations: Simon & Schuster is combining LSI with the recently-acquired Howard Books' children's books. The new imprint will be called Howard Kids/LSI, and be overseen by publisher Valerie Garfield. Dee Ann Grand joins Howard Kids/LSI as editor at large.
Putnam Books for Young Readers: Stacey Barney is joining Putnam as an editor. Most recently, she was at Dafina/Kensington, where she launched a YA African American imprint.
November 2006
Chronicle: Victoria Rock is stepping aside from her position as associate publisher of the children's books division to become editor-at-large and founding publisher. I expect that other changes will follow. More from PW's Children's Bookshelf.
Minx (DC Comics): DC Comics have jumped simultaneously onto both the graphic novel and chick lit bandwagons with Minx, which will release its first list in May 2007. The imprint will publish original graphic novels for teenage girls. Staff include Vertigo executive editor Karen Berger and Vertigo group editor Shelly Bond. I'm curious to see how long it takes them to change that unfortunate name.
Scholastic: Graphix editor-at-large Janna Morishima has been hired by Diamond Book Distributors to start a new children's comics and books division called Diamond Kids Group. According to a short write-up in PW, she will help comic book publishers reformat their materials for the book market and with trade publishers to move in the other direction.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: Editor Alyssa Eisner Henkin is leaving to become a literary agent at Trident Media Group. At Trident, where she starts on December 11th, she will represent picture book, middle grade, and young adult authors as well as illustrators.
Yen Press: The Hachette Book Group is jumping onto the graphic novel bandwagon with this new imprint. Co-directors Rich Johnson, formerly a VP at DC Comics, and Ken Hassler, Borders Group graphic novel buyer, report to Megan Tingley, VP and Publisher of Little, Brown BFYR. Yen Press will publish both for adults and young readers.
I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.
September 2006
August House: The founders of August House, Ted and Liz Parkhurst, who had stayed with the company after selling it last year, are now leaving. According to PW, "AH executive v-p and creative director Graham Anthony will become publisher." The Little Rock office will be closed, and the company is now based in Atlanta. More information at Publishers Weekly.
Bloomsbury: Melanie Cecka is now publishing director of Bloomsbury Children's USA and Walker BFYR. She had been co-editorial director of Bloomsbury with Victoria Wells Arms, who is stepping down to be an editor-at-large and concentrate on books. Emily Easton, publisher at Walker, will now report to Cecka.
Kids Can Press (Canada): Publisher Valerie Hussey is leaving after many years with the company, and is being replaced by Karen Boersma.
Modern Publishing: Rachel Nugent has left.
National Geographic: Amy Shields came on board in the spring as Executive Editor to start a library series publishing program.
Scholastic: A shuffling of top-level staff: Ellie Berger is being promoted to publisher, and Andrea Davis Pinkney, who had been publisher for hardcover and early childhood (i.e., Cartwheel), is becoming an editor-at-large. Both report to Lisa Holton.
August 2006
Children's Book Council: Paula Quint, executive director of the CBC, which is the children's publisher's trade association, recently retired after 40 years (not a typo!). Robin Adelson is taking over mid-September. She is currently associate general counsel at Primedia. Primedia is a publishing company, and the lack of a connection to any children's publisher seems to have been a deliberate choice on the part of the search committee. Read more in PW Daily.
Delacorte: Editor Joe Cooper has left.
July 2006
Gryphon Press: Emilie Buchwald, who retired three years ago as publisher of Milkweed Editions, is starting a new company. She described her focus in this way to PW Daily: "titles intended to inspire readers grades K-3 to empathize with, respect and care for animals, especially pets."
LIttle, Brown: News of two assistant editors leaving: Sangeeta Mehta left to become an associate editor at S&S/Simon Pulse. Phoebe Spanier (formerly Sorkin) is moving to France. No replacements are in place yet.
Magination Press: Editor Darcie Johnston has left. Associate editor Kristine Enderle is leaving.
Razorbill (Penguin): Starting August 7, Ben Schrank will be the new president and publisher of Penguin's teen/tween imprint. He had been editorial director at Alloy Entertainment.
I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.
Last update May 14, 2008
Maintained by Harold D. Underdown
About this page: It's difficult to keep track of who is where at the major publishers, with editors coming and going every month of the year. Books get out of date and magazines and newsletters may be a few months behind in reporting.
Here I maintain a chronological list of these moves, both incomplete and infrequently updated, along with occasional nuggets of relevant industry news. Please do not take it as the final word, and do not assume that it is accurate: it is not all based on first-hand information. I base it on information I've obtained from messages I get from folks on the Internet, articles in various sources, and my contacts in the industry. The latest information is added at the top. Companies losing or laying off staff are coded in red, while those adding staff or filling vacancies are in green; unless I state otherwise, this should not be taken as an indication of growth or shrinkage in their publishing program. Please send additions and corrections by email to me. Thanks.
Additional resources: For context, read The Current Climate for Children's Books. For addresses of children's publishers, you should have a copy of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, which is a massively useful book. It's published annually, so my notes here will help you stay current. Online, you can find some publisher's addresses in the CBC Member's list from the Children's Book Council WWW site. That is not a list of all children's publishers, however. Discussion about editors, agents, and publishers, and how long they take to respond, can best be found at the Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Chat Board at Verla Kay's site. News can be found on the Publishers Weekly web site, and on Alice's CWIM Blog, the blog of Alice Pope, the CWIM editor.
I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.
