Brenda Marsh has joined Abrams in the newly created position of vp, business development. The position will focus on both new and existing business opportunities, market analysis and company growth initiatives. Most recently, Marsh was vp, author relations at Barnes & Noble.
Last week, Barnes & Noble added retired Vice Admiral John R. Ryan to the board. They note in their filing that he “has substantial experience serving on public company boards undergoing strategic transactions such as separations, including serving as a director of Cablevision Systems Corporation during its 2010 spinoff of Madison Square Garden, its 2011 spinoff of AMC Networks, Inc., and its 2013 sales of Clearview Cinemas and Optimum West to Bow Tie Cinemas and Charter Communications, respectively.” He is also lead director of financing company CIT Group. They say he brings “leadership and expertise in managing large complex organizations, and in particular the environment in which Barnes & Noble College Booksellers operates.”
Gwyneth Stansfield has been promoted to senior publicist, while Kyle Radler moves up to associate publicist.
At Crown, Linnea Knollmueller has been promoted to vp, director of production. In addition, Serena Sigona moves up to senior production manager, while Neil Spitkovsky has been promoted to prepress manager.
Courtney Blanchard has joined the University of Alabama Press as marketing coordinator. She was previously Librarian and Archivist at St. Timothy’s School in Stevenson, MD. In addition, Julie Beckwith has been named sales manager. Previously, she was marketing manager at the University of Notre Dame Press.
HarperCollins ceo Brian Murray will be the sole speaker at the Frankfurt Book Fair’s ceo talk, interviewed by several publishing trade organizations in a similar fashion to Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle last year.
Alloy Entertainment’s partnership with Amazon through its Powered by Amazon program, which we were the first to report on last May, has been officially announced and launched as a digital-first imprint also called Alloy Entertainment. The imprint will focus on young adult, new adult, and commercial fiction and released its first three titles — Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand, Every Ugly Word by Aimee Salter, and Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart — Tuesday.