Personnel

Todd McGarity has joined Hachette Book Group as vp, distribution sales & services, responsible for overseeing all relationships with existing distribution services clients. He will report to COO Ken Michaels. McGarity was most recently the director of client development at Random House. Alisha Sevigny has been promoted to associate agent at The Rights Factory.

Des Higgins, who has been head of Bonnier Publishing since 2005, will leave for “a fresh challenge.” Chief finance officer Richard Johnson will serve as interim CEO. He says, “Bonnier has been been on a considerable growth path in English speaking markets – the brief is just to continue with that growth strategy.”Bookseller

EVP and chief publishing officer Tami Heim is leaving Thomas Nelson after four years, as part of an executive organization. Designed to “more tightly align sales, marketing, and publishing, while placing product development directly under [the] oversight” of ceo Michael Hyatt, chief sales officer Mark Schoenwald moves up to president a chief operating officer. Schoenwald’s focus on day-to-day operations will allow Hyatt “to concentrate on the publishing products” and “be more intimately involved with author acquisitions, author relations, and product development.” Hyatt explains further on his blog. Separately, Boston Globe books reporter Dave Mehegan discussed with The Phoenix his decision […]

Jan Girando, Vice President of Andrews McMeel’s Product Development Group, will retire as of April 30. She had been with the company since 1988. Book critic Gail Caldwell and books & publishing reporter David Mehegan are among 24 Boston Globe staffers who took a buyout from the paper this week. Boston Herald “The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais,” by Philip M. Parker won the Diagram Prize, awarded Friday by The Bookseller.

Caroline Sutton has been named Editor-in-Chief of Hudson Street Press, effective May 4. Previously she was an Executive Editor with Collins. At Wiley, svp international development Stephen Smith has been promoted to chief operating officer, effective May 1. He will be “responsible for the overall direction and leadership of the Wiley’s global publishing business,” reporting to CEO William Pesce, and will relocate to the company’s Hoboken headquarters. Guy Raphael, senior non-fiction buyer at Borders UK, is leaving the company just weeks after being promoted to his current position. At Inner Traditions, Bear & Co., John Hays has been appointed Director […]

Stacia Decker and Danielle Chiotti have joined Firebrand Literary as agents. Decker was previously an editor at Harcourt; Chiotti was formerly a senior editor at Kensington. Faber & Faber have appointed Mary Cannam and Jason Cooper have been appointed to the executive board At Crown, Courtney Greenhalgh has been promoted to Publicity Manager and Emily Lavelle has been promoted to Associate Publicist. Houston Chronicle books editor Fritz Lanham was among those laid off from the newspaper earlier this week. Marcus Lutrell and Dexter Filkins have both won the 2009 Colby Award, recognizing a first work of fiction or non-fiction “that […]