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People: Ruppel Appointed President of McGraw-Hill Education International; Perseus Closes Vanguard Press, Jones To Leave Running Press

June 26, 2012
By Sarah Weinman

 President of McGraw-Hill Professional since 2007 Philip Ruppel has been appointed to the additional position of president for McGraw-Hill Education International as part of a restructuring of the company’s international business. “Adapting to the world’s changing educational and content needs is critical to the success of our education and professional portfolio, said newly appointed McGraw-Hill Education ceo Buzz Waterhouse in a statement. “We must continually evaluate our structures and processes to ensure we are serving our customers most effectively. We will be enhancing collaboration between U.S. and international operations and identifying new ventures such as education services that can expand our education and professional footprint worldwide. This restructuring aligns with McGraw-Hill Education’s overall digital transformation strategy and strengthens our core capabilities.”

After more than five years in operation, Perseus’s low-advance, high-royalty/profit sharing imprint Vanguard Press will close, and publisher Roger Cooper will transition to an ongoing consulting arrangement and will work on strategic/special projects as a senior consultant to Perseus. Characterizing the move as a “difficult decision” in Tuesday morning’s announcement, Perseus president and ceo David Steinberg said that “given the alternative opportunities we have today to invest in new and emerging avenues for growth, we have decided not to continue to make the required investments in Vanguard. However, we will continue to use this model for individual titles when appropriate.” As Cooper moves to a consulting role he will continue to work on remaining Vanguard Press titles still under contract through publication.

Perseus also announced a number of changes and promotions at Running Press as publisher Chris Navratil will now oversee the entire division. Jennifer Kasius has been promoted to editorial director for the Running Press adult list, reporting to Navratil. Kasius replaces Greg Jones, who is leaving Running Press “to pursue other opportunities.” Reporting to Kasius are Kristen Wiewora, newly promoted to senior editor, and Jordana Tusman, moving up to editor, while Cindy de la Hoz was also recently promoted to editor.

In addition, Frances Soo Ping Chow moves up to of design director for all of Running Press, replacing Bill Jones, who is moving to a part-time role as a senior designer on special projects. Further, editorial director for Running Press Minis Jennifer Leczkowski and editor for Running Press Children’s Lisa Cheng both now report directly to Navratil, while Marlo Scrimizzi reports to Cheng.

In other personnel news, Chris Downham has been named managing director and cfo of UK publisher Head of Zeus, effective August 1. He was most recently financial director of Atlantic Books. In addition, Amélie Burchell has been appointed to the role of sales director, starting July 1, moving over from the same position at Murdoch Books UK; Clemence Jacquinet has been named managing editor and production controller; and Lisa Brännström joins as rights director at the end of July, having most recently been a senior agent with Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by EL James has now sold more than one million units for Kindle, the Bookseller reports, making the book  the “number one bestselling Kindle book of all time” in the UK. The Kindle edition is also outselling the trade paper edition by a factor of two to one. James’ novel is also apparently the fastest-selling million-copy seller in the UK.

Filed Under: Authors, Free, Personnel, Statistics

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