Dana Canedy will become senior vice president and publisher of the Simon & Schuster trade imprint, starting July 27. She has been the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes since 2017, and previously worked at the New York Times for 20 years. She was a lead writer and editor on the 2001 Pulitzer-winning series “How Race Is Lived in America,” and her roles at the paper including serving as special advisor to the ceo and executive editor on strategic planning, change management, and diversity and inclusion practices. Canedy tells the NYT, “The ultimate goal of the job is to champion the work of our amazing authors, to bring in new authors, and to commission books that I and my team think are important. And basically, when you boil all that down, that means applying news judgment.”
She reports that S&S president and ceo Jonathan Karp started recruiting her two years ago: “Jon should get credit for the fact that in an era of racial reckoning, when suddenly everybody is looking for people of color and women to add to their boards and to bring in to their companies — he started talking to me two years ago. That’s the way you want to go into a company. I wouldn’t be taking this job if I thought he just wanted a Black publisher.” Karp says in the announcement, “I am confident that as our new publisher, Dana can deepen our strengths while expanding our field of vision, combining broad editorial expertise with hands-on management skill and the proven ability to effect strategic change.”
Nelson Books executive editor Jessica Wong has been promoted to associate publisher.
Danny Vazquez has joined Astra House as associate editor. He was previously assistant editor at MCD/FSG.
In the UK, Katie Bond joins Aurum as publisher. She was previously publisher of National Trust.
Distribution
Simon & Schuster is now selling and distributing Z2 Comics worldwide.
Printing
Ingram Content Group’s print-on-demand service Lightning Source is adding capacity at their Allentown, PA, Jackson, TN and La Vergne, TN manufacturing plants. “New printing, binding, trimming and shipping/sortation equipment will be installed now through October and will increase US capacity by double-digit percentages,” they write in the release. The company “expects to hire hundreds of new associates in these facilities.”
They are building a new 50,000-square-foot plant in Melbourne, Australia, due to come online in the fall, which will double their print and shipping capabilities in Australia.
