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People: Schnittman to Leave HBG

December 2, 2014
By Michael Cader

Hachette Book Group evp, chief marketing and sales officer Evan Schnittman is leaving the company as of December 12, after two and a half years at the company. Schnittman’s position, which was created for him, is being eliminated. Instead, Chris Murphy is being promoted to svp, group sales director and will also join the company’s executive board.

CEO Michael Pietsch calls Schnittman “a powerful agent of change and [he] has improved HBG’s sales processes and organization greatly. Evan brought the sales group into closer collaboration with our publishing groups than ever before. He combined digital and physical book sales, created the Sales Strategy and Operations group, and modernized our approach to sales conferences, coop, and catalogs. He worked with HBG’s publishers to remake our approach to advertising, and partnered with Hachette UK on a combined and expanded international sales team. In a time of rapid technological change, he has kept Hachette’s sales group in the vanguard.”

Dan Ruffino has been named managing director of Simon & Schuster Australia, reporting to Ian Chapman, taking over the position that Lou Johnson is leaving. Ruffino, who starts in his new position on January 5, was most recently creative director of the government funded industry-assisting Get Reading! Programme (since rebranded as Better Reading) and prior to that, global digital director for Penguin Group USA. Of Ruffino’s hire, Chapman said in a statement: “Dan’s many accomplishments and wealth of experience in both traditional and digital publishing will help build on the well-established strengths of Simon & Schuster Australia. He is admired and respected throughout the Australian industry and in the UK and the US, and his expertise and drive will be pivotal to the company’s ambitions for even greater success in this key market.”

In other personnel news, Kensington director of sub rights Meryl Earl is retiring on December 12 after 14 years with the company. She started her publishing career at Prentice-Hall in 1965. Jackie Dinas is being promoted to fill Earl’s position.

Rex Ogle will join Little, Brown Children’s on December 8 senior editor, brand, licensed, and media tie-in publishing. He was previously senior editor at Scholastic.

Andrew Stoddard joins WaterBrook Multnomah on December 8 as editor.

Christopher Cosgrove has joined Simon & Schuster as a national account manager selling adult and audio. He was previously at Penguin Random House as assistant manager, online sales & marketing.

Katie Shea Boutillier will be promoted to rights director of the Donald Maass Literary Agency on January 1.

Filed Under: Agency News, Free, Personnel

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