Rio Cortez will join Harper Collins in the new role of sales and retail marketing manager, starting September 28, reporting to Christine Edwards, with a dotted line to Andrea Pappenheimer. Her focus will be to “continue to grow the overall sales of books by BIPOC authors across all channels, developing and executing a business plan to achieve growth for our BIPOC authors and titles across the marketplace.” Most recently, Cortez was the buyer and creative coordinator at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Joining Peter McGuigan at his recently-launched Ultra Literary are Kirsten Neuhaus and Alicka Pistek, who will handle foreign rights.
Sam Mitchell has been promoted to publicity manager at Penguin Press.
At Watkins Media, Fizza Nayyer has been promoted to publicity & marketing associate, and Michael Watson was promoted to senior publicist (global) at Repeater. Rachel Gladman joined the company as marketing executive in August, under recently-hired marketing & publicity manager Laura Whitaker-Jones.
Sheri Sussman, 63, longtime editor at Springer Publishing, died on September 11. Sussman worked at Springer for 20 years. Her publisher writes, “Sheri rolled up her sleeves, jangled her myriad bracelets, and took on whatever was needed during her long history with the company. She started in marketing, did copyediting, proofreading, development, and served as managing editor for several encyclopedias before assuming her position as Executive Editor…She was a dear and special person who will be missed by all who knew her.”
Namwali Serpell won the Arthur C. Clarke award for The Old Drift.