Personnel

Cecily Kaiser will join Abrams on July 6 in the new role of publishing director for children’s books for kids five-years-old and younger. Kaiser will be responsible for “conceptualizing, launching, and managing all aspects of this new initiative.” She has been at Scholastic for the last 10 years, most recently as editorial director in the trade division for Cartwheel and Little Scholastic. Megan Wilson has been promoted to senior publicity manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She has worked in department for nine years. At Algonquin, Michael Taeckens will be promoted in October to director of online and paperback marketing. Kelly […]

Nancy Conescu will join Dutton Children’s as executive editor on July 6, reporting to president Lauri Hornik. Most recently she was senior editor at Little, Brown Children’s. Canada’s BookRiff Media has hired Rochelle Grayson as CEO. Most recently, she was president of digital media agency Work at Play. A spin-off developed by D&M Publishers, BookRiff “allows consumers to mix content from virtually any source–published books, websites, and their own files–to build custom compilations called Riffs.”

Canada’s McClelland & Stewart announced job cuts and changes in responsibilities, with president Doug Pepper writing that “our publishing program needs to be even more focused” so that the company is “prepared to meet the challenges of the future.” Executive editor Dinah Forbes, who led their mystery/crime program, is leaving after more than 20 years with the company, and an editorial assistant and office manager were also laid off. Pepper writes, “In our more than 100 years as publishers, M&S often has had to adjust to the changes in the industry and the market by staying ahead of them. This […]