Madeline McIntosh has been named chief operating officer for Random House, effective immediately, reporting to ceo Markus Dohle. She also continues with her duties and responsibilities held in her previous position as president, sales, operations and digital. McIntosh first joined the company in 1994 and, after a brief stint at Amazon, rejoined in 2009. In a statement Dohle said McIntosh “has been, and continues to be, a vital part of the transformation of our organization as we redefine the way our sales and corporate operations support and collaborate with our publishing divisions.”
Dohle added: “I believe that the strong position we hold in the ever-changing marketplace is a testament to the special bridge we’ve established between our creative and corporate teams. This important ingredient of our success is a direct result of cultural and entrepreneurial changes that are taking place in every corner of our company. Together with the publishing groups, Madeline has been instrumental in helping me make those changes. The excellent work that Madeline and her teams are doing to support our publishing programs has ensured that we have become even more content- and author-centric as well as reader- and market-focused.”
Dohle pointed to McIntosh as “a transparent and clear communicator…dedicated to teamwork and collaboration; and she combines a passion for books and publishing with pragmatic business expertise and the highest integrity. I know that I am among many who benefit daily from Madeline’s insights and ideas, and I am personally grateful to have her as a member of the Random House family and our worldwide senior management team.”
In other personnel news, Maureen Cole is joining the Simon & Schuster publicity department as a senior publicist. She was most recently a publicist at Portfolio/Sentinel.
Alexandra Woodworth has joined Amazon Publishing as a publicist, working on the New Harvest print imprint. Previously she was a publicist at Henry Holt.
Leah Thaxton will join Faber & Faber as children’s publisher. She is currently publishing director at Egmont.
Stephanie Bowen has joined Sourcebooks as editor. She was most recently an assistant editor at Doubleday.
Jennifer Benka has been named executive director of the Academy of American Poets, Shelf Awareness reports, effective July 16. She was most recently national director of development and marketing for 826 National.
Liz Gately has begun scouting for Grasset in France. She continues to scout for Bragelonne as well.
Emily Pullen has been named manager of WORD Bookstore, effective next month. She was most recently an assistant manager at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.
Penguin has launched a new global Licensing and Consumer Products division, focusing on literary brands including Madlibs, Spot, Vampire Academy, and others. Lori Burke will serve as director for the division’s North American side, while Troy Lewis has been named general manager, brands & licensing in Australia & New Zealand.
Caroline Mickler Limited has been appointed master licensing agent for EL James and the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Mickler has already appointed CopCorp Licensing as the North American agent for the property.
Zagat has expanded its existing distribution agreement with Perseus Distribution. Starting back on May 1, Perseus took over sales for Zagat in the US for field, mass merchandise, specialty and gift accounts and will handle sales to all accounts in Canada.