Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has hired Leigh Zarelli as svp of consumer brands, driving the strategic direction and expansion of direct-to-consumer product offerings. They have also hired Caroline Fraser as vp of program development and acquisition, spearheading new content development for the consumer market and identifying new media channels for HMH’s stable of iconic brands and characters. Zarelli was at AOL; Fraser was at Scholastic Media — and both will report to evp and chief of consumer brands and strategy, CJ Kettler.
In the Random House publicity department, Jennifer Garza has been promoted to assistant director; Michelle Jasmine moves up to publicity manager; and Jenna Friedman has been hired for new position of publicity manager, special events & partnerships.
Jon Colman will join the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader as executive director on March 9. He most recently served as president of the Down Syndrome Society.
Book Council and Every Child a Reader as Executive Director, effective March 9,
At Open Road, Emma Pulitzer has been promoted to associate editor, managing the children’s and young adult department. She will also continue working with Betsy Mitchell on science fiction and fantasy titles.
At Sourcebooks, Kate Prosswimmer has been promoted to assistant editor.
James Schneider will join Princeton University Press as senior publicist on April 1. Previously he was a writer and television producer at Fox News, working on Fox & Friends and Special Report with Brit Baier.
In the UK, Joel Richardson has been appointed publisher of Twenty7, Bonnier new, adult fiction imprint. Previously he was audiobook publisher at Quercus.
Longtime Association of Canadian Publishers executive director Carolyn Wood has announced her retirement, effective June 30, though she will continue to consult with ACP on a part-time basis. Succeeding Wood as of July 1 is Kate Edwards, previously associate director.
The Postal Service has unveiled their design for a Maya Angelou stamp, based on a portrait by artist Ross Rossin. The stamp will be issued on April 7.
Awards
Poets & Writers’ 2015 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Awards will honor Margaret Atwood for cofounding the Writers’ Trust of Canada; poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor for founding Calypso Muse and her other efforts to strengthen the community of Caribbean-American poets in New York; and novelist Christopher Castellani will be honored for his service to Boston’s GrubStreet creative writing center.
President and publisher of New Directions Barbara Epler will receive this year’s Editor’s Award.
The Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize, given to a new voice, goes to Atticus Lish for an excerpt from his novel Preparation for the Next Life. Their Terry Southern Prize, honoring “humor, wit, and sprezzatura,” is going to Mark Leyner for “Gone with the Mind,” a story in the spring issue.
Obituary
Mal Peet, 67, author of the Carnegie Medal winning children’s book TAMAR and other novels, died March 2 a few months after being diagnosed with cancer.
Distribution
New Society Publishers and Douglas & McIntyre will also be distributed by the University of Toronto Press as of May 1.