Personnel

SVP and editor in chief at Random House Robin Desser “has decided to leave…to pursue her dreams,” effective April 1, publisher Andy Ward announced. “This news is bittersweet, but after talking to Robin, I fully appreciate and support her choice.” He notes, “she’ll continue to work with some of her, and our, cherished authors.” Desser moved to Random House in early 2020, after a long tenure at Knopf. She said: “I am profoundly grateful to my authors, and to my treasured colleagues both here and around the world for the privilege, pleasures, and joys I have been lucky to experience […]

In the latest in a series of internal realignments, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group will change its paperback publication workflow beginning at the end of January. Editorial, marketing, and publicity staff of the originating imprint will continue to work on their paperback reprints, rather than turn over publication oversight to the Vintage/Anchor team. Paperbacks will still be published under the Vintage name. As a result, some Vintage Anchor staff will move over to Knopf: associate editor Michael Tizzano, reporting to Peter Gethers and Erroll McDonald; editorial assistant Zuleima Ugalde, reporting to Deb Garrison and Diana Miller; and publicity staff Sarah Nisbet […]

Mitzi Angel will be promoted to president of FSG, effective January 1, 2022, only the third president in the house’s 75-year history. She rejoined FSG from Faber & Faber as publisher in 2018. Jonathan Galassi will step down as president, taking on the newly created role of chairman and executive editor. Angel will report to Macmillan president Jonathan Yaged, and Galassi will report to both Angel and Yaged. Angel told the NYT, “The thing about publishing is that it’s a business, and yet it’s also more than a business. FSG is an institution, it’s a cultural institution, so as well […]

While official communications on the integration of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt into Harper Collins made only modest mention of the layoffs “as a result of the changes,” multiple sources tells us that they expect over 50 people from HMH will lose their jobs by the end of this year, including most of the sales force and multiple senior staff members. Another source had put the number at “more than 40 people.” Harper has declined to comment beyond their press release. The HMH jobs are being eliminated in stages: A group of staff members from editorial, marketing and publicity departed on October […]