Megan Lynch will join Ecco as editorial director on May 28, reporting to Daniel Halpern, who says “I can’t imagine anyone more suited to taking over the fiction reins at Ecco.” Ryan Willard will report to Lynch, and Hillary Redmon will continue to report to Halpern. Lynch is currently senior editor at Riverhead, where she spent the previous 11 years.
Penguin Random House has created a companywide Consumer Marketing Development and Operations group. SVP, director Amanda Close — who has led the predecessor, Random House’s digital marketing and channel development team — will lead the new group, reporting to US president and coo Madeline McIntosh.
The group “will both support the dedicated title-, author- and category-marketing, and the marketing innovation within each of its US publishing groups, while at the same time taking a lead in the development of full-scale company-wide corporate digital programs, platforms, and partnerships.” (Those programs/partnerships include our Bookateria.)
The leadership team under Close comprises: vp, director, Consumer Acquisition and Engagement, Suzie Sisoler; vp, director, Content and Partnerships Christine McNamara; vp, director, Consumer Design and Development Jinny Kwon; and vp, director, Marketing Operations, Chelsea Vaughn.
After 25 years at Ed Victor Ltd., Sophie Hicks has set up her own literary agency. For more information, see the new site for the Sophie Hicks Agency.
At Random House Children’s Books, Sharon Burkle and Lora Grisafi have both been promoted to associate art director, while Krister Engstrom moves up to senior designer.
Lindsay Guzzardo has joined freelance author services firm The Editorial Department as lead editor, romance and women’s fiction. Previously she was an editor at Montlake Romance.
In awards, Rush Limbaugh was named author of the year at the Children’s Choice Book Awards, for his picture book Rush Revere and The Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans. NPR reports the news, noting that “four finalists for the award were chosen because of their places on bestseller lists, and the winner was chosen by children’s votes.” The same NPR round-up also notes our publication of Buzz Books 2014: Fall/Winter plus, for the first time, a YA-only edition, Buzz Books 2014: Young Adult (and we’re already seeing a terrific reaction among readers to that new volume). The timing of the latter matches perfectly with the 95th annual Children’s Book Week; the Children’s Choice awards are part of that celebration.
And in bookstore news, St. Mark’s Bookshop has signed a lease on its new location at 136 3rd Street (near Avenue A.) The new store will have half the square footage of its previous location.