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Compiled by Harold Underdown from a number of sources:
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June 2009

Black Dog & Leventhal: Elizabeth Van Doren, who had joined the company in September as Editor-in-Chief, has left.
Brenda Bowen: Brenda Bowen will be joining Sanford J. Greenburger Associates as a literary agent at the beginning of July. See February, below, for information about the closing of her imprint at HarperCollins.
Delacorte Press: Claudia Gabel, editor, was laid off at the end of January.
Egmont USA: Laura Geringer, who left HarperCollins in September 2008 (see below) will be editing some titles for Egmont, on a "non-exclusive basis."
Gareth Stevens: Readers Digest has been trying to sell this library nonfiction imprint, and they have now managed to sell it to a new company owned by Michael Rosen of Rosen Publishing and one of the original founders of Gareth Stevens. It will operate independently.
HarperCollins: Associate Editor Gretchen Hirsch was one of those laid off by HC in February.
Holiday House: Associate Editor Leanna Petronella is leaving to go to graduate school.
Simon and Schuster/Aladdin: Ellen Krieger, vice-president and associate publisher for Aladdin, will be retiring at the end of the month. I see this as further fall-out from the changes at Simon and Schuster in May.
Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky: Rebecca Frazer, an experienced editor, is joining the growing Jabberwocky imprint.

May 2009

Abrams ComicsArts: Sheila Keenan has joined the staff as a senior editor. She worked previously at Scholastic, where she helped to launch Graphix.
Chronicle Books: Chronicle has hired Josalyn Moran, who had been Barnes and Nobles' children's books head, to be their new children's publishing director.
Little, Brown: Erin Stein has moved over from HarperFestival to become the senior executive editor in charge of franchises, movie and media tie-ins, and licensed product.
Scholastic: There have been more layoffs at Scholastic, at both the trade division and at Klutz. Long-time Scholastic editor Grace Maccarone is the only name I have so far.
Simon and Schuster children's division: In a major reduction of senior staff that leaves the division with one publisher for the hardcover imprints and a deputy publisher for the paperback and product imprints, Emma Dryden, publisher for Atheneum and McElderry, and Frank Totaro, deputy publisher for Little Simon and Simon Spotlight, are leaving the company. Kevin Lewis, editorial director of Simon and Schuster's BRYR hardcover imprint, has also been pushed out. Justin Chanda, publisher for S&S BFYR, will become publisher for Athenuem and McElderry also; Mara Anastas, deputy publisher for Aladdin and Simon Pulse, will take over Little Simon and Simon Spotlight as well. Both report to Jon Anderson, who recently joined S&S as the president of the children's division (see January and December below). Emma Dryden will continue to work with such authors as Ellen Hopkins, Karma Wilson, and Alan Katz. PW article.

March 2009

Abrams Books for Young Readers: Abrams has hired Erica Perl as an editor at large. She will focus on preschool readers.
Gareth Stevens: According to PW Daily, Reader's Digest "is getting out of the library market with plans to close its World Almanac Education Library Services, based in Strongsville, Ohio, and sell Gareth Stevens Publishing," a children's nonfiction imprint.
Highlights for Children: I received an announcement that they have hired "Mary-Alice Moore as Executive Editor, New Product Development. In this newly created position, Moore will manage the New Products production and staff at Highlights’ editorial offices in Honesdale, PA, developing new book products and programs for continuity book clubs, retail and other trade channels." She had been Vice President for New Product Development at Scholastic.
Penguin BFYR: PW reports a new executive position: "Jennifer Haller, v-p and associate publisher of the children's book group at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is moving to Penguin Books for Young Readers Group as v-p and associate publisher, effective March 26. She will report to Don Weisberg, president of the division. In the newly created position, Haller will oversee the publishing programs for all Penguin Young Readers Group imprints."
Scholastic: I missed Kara LaReau being laid off by Scholastic in November, but I'm happy to report that she is now in business as an editorial consultant, and has called her company Bluebird Works.
Simon and Schuster/Aladdin: Editorial director Mark McVeigh has left and is starting his own literary agency, the McVeigh Agency.
Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky: Daniel Ehrenhaft will be acquiring MG and YA for Jabberwocky. He leaves Alloy Entertainment.
Sterling: Kelly Smith has returned to Sterling. See October 2008 below.
Tricycle Press: Ten Speed Press, the company of which Tricycle is the children's imprint, has been acquired by Random House. More information in this Publishers Weekly article. Current staff will be retained, and work from the company's base in Berkeley, CA.

February 2009

Disney-Hyperion: Abby Ranger has joined the staff as an editor. She had been at Scholastic Press, where she was an associate editor.
HarperCollins: In response to declining sales and earnings in 2008, HarperCollins announced changes throughout the company. In the children's division, the new imprint The Bowen Press was closed down, and Brenda Bowen left the company. A few other staff have been laid off as well. Details
Little, Brown BFYR: Joe Monti, director of paperbacks, has left the company, and has joined the Barry Goldblatt Agency.
namelos: Steven Roxburgh (who left Front Street in the fall--see below) has launched this new venture, which he describes as an "independent editorial imprint." For more information, see this Publishers Weekly article.
New imprints: Read this Publishers Weekly article about imprints opening, not closing.

January 2009

Simon and Schuster: In what Publishers Weekly described as "somewhat of a surprise choice," S&S has quickly named a new head of the children's division. He is Jon Anderson, who has been president of Running Press for the past few years. He starts on January 21 with the title of executive v-p and publisher.

December 2008

Clarion: Part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Clarion has announced its own layoffs: editor Marcia Leonard, managing editor Jim Armstrong, and creative director Joann Hill.
Dial and Dutton Books: Kathy Dawson will have the new position of associate publisher. She reports to Lauri Hornik and moves over from Harcourt.
Disney-Hyperion: Abby Ranger moves over from Scholastic.
Macmillan: More than 60 people have been laid off across the company, with 2/3 or more in the formerly separate production departments, now one production group. Executive editor Jill Davis at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Kat Kopit, associate editor at Roaring Brook, have been laid off. Melanie Kroupa's personal imprint has been closed down and she has been let go.The previously separate children's imprints, , will now be part of a true children's book group, headed by Dan Farley, with Jean Feiwel (Feiwel and Friends, Square Fish, Priddy Books, and Holt) and Simon Boughton (FSG, Roaring Brook Press, and First Second) both promoted to senior VP, each over seeing a few imprints, and reporting to him. Changes in marketing, subsidiary rights, and other departments will all consolidate resources.
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing: President Rick Richter has left the company amicably, and Rubin Pfeffer, senior vice-president and publisher, has also left and will not be replaced. S&S has also announced layoffs that do not seem to have affected the children's division.

November 2008

Atheneum BFYR: Namrata Tripathi joins the staff as executive editor. She had been at Hyperion. Lisa Cheng will report to her, transferring over from McElderry Books.
Dutton Children's Books: Lauri Hornik, president and publisher of Dial Children's Books, has been named president and publisher of Dutton Children's Books to replace Stephanie Owens Lurie. She will continue to be in charge of Dial, meaning her responsibilities have increased: Penguin is not hiring new staff to replace Lurie, a possible economy move. Julie Strauss-Gabel, associate editorial director for Dutton Children's Books, was named associate publisher.
Dutton Children's Books: Sarah Shumway has left Dutton for Katherine Tegen Books at HarperCollins, where she will be a senior editor, mostly acquiring MG and YA fiction.
Egmont USA: Greg Ferguson has joined the staff as an editor. He moved from HarperCollins.
Scholastic: The company announced that about 110 employees have accepted their buyout offer. Scholastic also has a hiring freeze in place.

October 2008

Disney-Hyperion Books: Stephanie Owens Lurie is leaving Dutton Children's Books, where she had been president and publisher for nine years, to become editorial director of Disney-Hyperion and the Disney-Jump at the Sun imprint, starting October 22 (note that Disney recently added "Disney-" to the imprint's official name). See April 2008 for previous news.
Ginee Seo Books/Atheneum BFYR: Ginee Seo has resigned from her position as vice-president and editorial director, but will work on a freelance basis to see through books in the pipeline for 2009 aFnd 2010. More information
HarperCollins Children's Books: Kelly Smith, formerly of Sterling, has been hired as senior editor. According to PW's "Children's Bookshelf," she "will handle the Emily Post program and the Let's Read and Find Out series, among other titles."
HarperCollins/Walden Pond Press: Jordan Brown has been hired as editor, reporting to Brenda Bowen. He leaves Ginee Seo Books/Atheneum BFYR, where he had been an assistant editor.
Holiday House: Eleni Beja has left Scholastic to join the Holiday House staff as an editor.
Little Brown/Poppy: Elizabeth Bewley has joined the staff. She had been freelancing.
Scholastic: In a move that may soon be emulated by other publishers, Scholastic has announced a hiring freeze and other economy measures.

September 2008

Beach Lane Books: This will be the name of Allyn Johnston's new personal imprint at Simon & Schuster. Andrea Welch has joined the imprint as an editor; she had worked at Harcourt with Johnston. See March 2008, below.
Black Dog & Leventhal: Elizabeth Van Doren, formerly the Editorial Director of Harcourt Children's Books, is the new Editor-in-Chief. The company's list is small, and includes some children's titles, mostly nonfiction.
Bloomsbury Children's Books: I received this news from Margaret Miller: "I have left my job as Editor at HarperCollins Children's for Bloomsbury Children's, where I'm replacing Liz Schonhorst."
Boyds Mills Press: Steven Roxburgh has resigned from his position as publisher. The Asheville offices of Front Street Books are also being closed. The imprint is not being closed; stay tuned for news of the staff, including editor Joy Neaves. Roxburgh is continuing to work with the organization, and will be teaching workshops through the Highlights Foundation in 2009.
Carolrhoda: Lerner has filled the vacancy at editorial director at the Carolrhoda imprint by hiring Andrew Karre. He will be working out of the Minneapolis office, and moves over from Flux. Carol Burrell has been promoted to editorial director of Graphic Universe, which had previously been overseen by the Carolrhoda head. PW article
Charlesbridge: Judy O'Malley has recovered but will not be continuing to work in her former role, nearly full-time as an editor. For details of what she is doing, see this interview with her conducted by Cynthia Leitich Smith.
Handprint Books: Christopher Franceschelli has sold his company to Chronicle Books, their distributor. He will continue at Handprint, which will be a Chronicle imprint.
HarperCollins Children's Books: Melanie Donovan, senior editor, is reported to have left HC. I've been told about other possible layoffs but will confirm them before reporting them here.
Laura Geringer (HarperCollins Children's Books): Laura Geringer is leaving her personal imprint and HarperCollins, after nearly 30 years at the company. She will be moving into "a business venture involving multi-platform story content." Details at PW
Mathew Price: This UK company is not just opening a US office--they are moving the company, to Texas. Details at PW
Minx: DC Comics is closing this imprint specializing in graphic novels for girls. See my earlier comment in November 2006 below.
WestSide Books: This new company will publish YA fiction. Evelyn Fazio will be the publisher. It is owned by Marco Book Company, known for its Everbind editions for libraries.

August 2008

Aladdin (Simon & Schuster): I'm late with this news, but in February Molly McGuire left Aladdin for family reasons.

July 2008

Fourth Story Media: Former Scholastic Trade president Lisa Holton has announced her new venture. Fourth Story Media will develop children's book properties, and extend them into the Web and digital media. More details are available in this story in Publishers Weekly.
HarperCollins/Rayo: From PW Daily I have learned that Adriana Dominguez has been laid off. She had been the head of Rayo. An HC spokesperson told PW that the company is "totally committed" to Rayo.
Lerner/USA Today: Interesting news of a deal between Lerner and USA Today, in which Lerner's Twenty-First Century Book imprint will publish a number of nonfiction series connected to USA Today content.    

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

May 2008

Carolrhoda/Graphic Universe: Editorial director Shannon Barefield is leaving to work freelance.
Handprint Books: Christopher Franceschelli has sold Handprint to Chronicle. He will continue to run it as an imprint within Chronicle, and Chronicle had already been acting as Handprint's distributor, so this may not be a big change.
Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins: Joanna Cotler, who had been running her imprint as publisher and senior vice president for 13 years, is moving into a position as editor-at-large. The imprint will continue, possibly with fewer titles. Associate editor Alyson Day is staying with HC, but moving elsewhere in the department. Senior editor Karen Nagel is leaving.
Penguin Young Readers Group : Barbara Marcus will be working as strategic advisor for the group after some executive moves. Doug Whiteman has been promoted from his position as head of the group to be executive v-p of business operations. He will be succeeded by Don Weisberg, most recently at Random House.
Scholastic Trade: Debra Dorfman will move to a newly created administrative position, vice-president and publisher for paperbacks, Cartwheel, and licensed publishing, from Grosset & Dunlap.

   April 2008

Aladdin: Emily Lawrence has joined Simon & Schuster's Aladdin imprint as an associate editor. She was formerly with the Katherine Tegen Books imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Executive editor Beverly Reingold has left the company.
Flash Point: This will be the name of the new nonfiction imprint at Roaring Brook Press. See January 2007 for earlier news.
Harcourt: I am told that Harcourt's children's imprint will be maintained as a separate imprint, and will be moving into the same office building as Clarion. Jeannette Larson has been promoted to Editorial Director, Picture Books, and Kathy Dawson has been promoted to Editorial Director, Fiction. I may have said this before, but Betsy Groban is now the Senior Vice President and Publisher.
HarperCollins Children’s Books: Gretchen Hirsch has joined the staff of HC as Associate Editor; she is another of the people leaving Harcourt in the wake of the merger.
Hyperion: Donna Bray and Alessandra Balzer, who had been editorial director and executive editor at Hyperion Books for Children, are moving to HarperCollins, where they will run an imprint called Balzer & Bray.

March 2008

Harcourt: As a a result of the Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin merger, the Harcourt San Diego office is being closed. A few have been offered the opportunity to relocate to New York; which children's book staff are affected is not clear. The SD office will be closed on June 30. More details from PW
HarperCollins Children's Books: Michael Stearns is leaving to become an agent. He will be working with Firebrand Literary.
Julie Andrews Collection: This small imprint, which publishes works by other authors as well as Julie Andrews, has moved from HarperCollins to Little, Brown.
Roaring Book Press/David Macaulay Studio: David Macaulay is moving to Roaring Brook Press. It's not entirely unexpected that he would leave Houghton Mifflin after Walter Lorraine retired, but he's not just publishing with RBP. He'll head his own imprint, as creative director, and publish his own books as well as books by others. More details from PW
Simon and Schuster: Harcourt's loss is S&S's gain, as former Harcourt children's editor-in-chief Allyn Johnston is starting an imprint at Simon and Schuster, as yet unnamed. She will remain in San Diego and report to Rubin Pfeffer.

February 2008

Bloomsbury: Jill Davis, Executive Editor at Bloomsbury for the past 2 1/2 years, has been laid off, as of January 31. She previously worked at Viking.
Egmont: Egmont USA's Elizabeth Law has announced that she has hired Regina Griffin, who had left Holiday House just last fall, as Executive Editor.
Henry Holt : I'm told that Nina Ignatowicz has left Holt, where she had been Editor at Large. She will be working freelance.
Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt: On top of last month's news, more staff have been laid off, as fallout from the merger continues. I don't know who has been affected and will post names of any children's book editors as soon as I hear more. The new company is being called "Houghton Mifflin Harcourt."
Kingfisher: This imprint has been acquired by Macmillan (see October for an explanation of this name) and will be overseen by Simon Boughton, who is also publisher for Roaring Brook Press.
Simon and Schuster's Children's division: The head of the division, Rick Richter, has announced a reorganization. There are now three groups in the division, and editors Susan Burke of Atheneum and Dee Anne Grande of Little Simon Inspirations have been laid off. Full details can be found in this Publishers Weekly article.
Westside Books: This is a new imprint, publishing edgy, "issue-oriented" YA fiction. Their website, at www.westside-books.com, was still "under construction" when last I checked.
Whitman: Rumor control--Albert Whitman has been sold, to a long-time staffer with a business partner. The current owners want to retire and will be handing over in an orderly way. Everything will be continuing as before. As one insider said, "This sort of thing happens every 40 years or so at Albert Whitman."

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

January 2008

Charlesbridge: Editor Judy O'Malley has been away from work since late October, due to an extended illness. The company expects that she will be returning to work: existing staff are covering her projects, so expect delays with submissions and other non-urgent business.
Christy Ottaviano Books: This will be a new personal imprint at Henry Holt, where Christy Ottaviano has been an editor for 15 years. The new imprint has a tighter submissions policy than the general Henry Holt one, so be sure to check the guidelines. More info at Publishers Weekly
Dial: Kate Harrison has moved to Dial from Harcourt Children's. She will have the title of senior editor.
Henry Holt: Sally Doherty joins the staff as executive editor. She had most recently been freelancing, and previously worked for Bantam, HarperCollins, and Scholastic.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing: The purchase of Harcourt by HM is now final, and HM has now announced that the San Diego offices of Harcourt are to be closed on June 30. Some of the 65 people working there will be invited to move to New York or Boston, so the full impact is not yet clear. Earlier, HM's Betsy Groban was named as senior vice-president and publisher for the children's book group, and Harcourt's Lori Benton will leave the company at the end of the month.
Little, Brown BFYR: Joseph Monti has arrived from Houghton Mifflin, where he had been national accounts manager; previously he was a a buyer at Barnes and Noble. He will work in the new position of director of paperbacks, and will be editing and acquiring as well as overseeing paperback reissues of MG and YA fiction.
Scholastic Trade: In an additional change in the aftermath of the departure of Lisa Holton (see October below), Suzanne Murphy has been named vice-president and publisher, trade publishing and marketing, essentially moving into the position that Ellie Berger had held.

November 2007

Egmont USA: Update on November 27: Egmont has announced that Elizabeth Law, formerly at Simon and Schuster (see January 2007 below), will be the Vice President and Publisher for the new imprint.
Egmont, one of the largest publishers in Europe, is launching a US children's book imprint. Egmont USA will publish YA, middle grade, and a limited number of picture books, with Fall 2009 planned as the first list. Douglas Pocock, who is currently the group sales director of Egmont UK, will be moving to the US in January to set up the US office in New York. He will be executive VP, and will be hiring several staff. As Candlewick, the US subsidiary of Walker Books UK, has done, Egmont intends to bring in some of their UK titles, but will also originate titles in the US and be better positioned to acquire world rights. Publishers Weekly article.

October 2007

Bowen Press: Correction to a previous note. This will be the name of Brenda Bowen's new imprint at HarperCollins (see May), not Bowen Publishing. The imprint will publish 15 titles per year, of a variety of types, but is not open to unsolicited submissions.
Chronicle: Julie Romeis is joining the staff of Chronicle as editor, and will focus on middle grade and YA novels. She leaves Bloomsbury.
Houghton Mifflin: Walter Lorraine will be retiring at the end of the year. He worked at HM for over 50 years, running their children's book division for many of them. Most recently, he started a personal imprint.
Macmillan: Holtzbrinck's US division, which includes Farrar, Straus, Henry Holt, Roaring Brook, and Feiwel and Friends, is being renamed as Macmillan. If you've followed the children's book industry for some time, this may seem odd--Macmillan as a company ceased to exist in the US some time ago, when it was bought out by Simon and Schuster. But Macmillan as a company had separated some years before that into US and UK companies. And Holtzbrinck owns Macmillan UK, and wants to give its English-language companies in the US and UK the same name. Makes sense, right?
Marimba Books: This new imprint has been launched by Cheryl and Wade Hudson, as part of The Hudson Publishing Group, a partnership with Kensington Publishing. The new imprint will be mass market, with a multicultural focus, and will publish for children 2 to 12.
Random House: Editor Lisa Findlay has left, to pursue a career in teaching.
Scholastic: Lisa Holton, president of both the trade and book fairs divisions since May 2005 (when she replaced Jean Feiwel), is leaving Scholastic to "launch a new media venture." She will be replaced by Ellie Berger, a Scholastic veteran, as president of the trade group; Berger had been publisher for the trade division. Alan Boyko, president of book fairs, will report directly to Dick Robinson.
Roaring Brook Press: Nancy Mercado is leaving Dial BFYR to become an executive editor at Roaring Brook Press, starting at the beginning of December.
Tricycle Press: Joanne Taylor joined the staff a few months ago, with the title of Project Editor. As far as I can tell, she fills the vacancy created by the departure of Summer Dawn Laurie, who recently sent me this update (see also May below): "I am now happily working as a freelance children's book editor, contracting with authors to critique and develop manuscripts written for kids 12 and under. I can now be reached by email at sdledits(at)comcast.net."

September 2007

Holiday House: Editor-in-Chief Regina Griffin is leaving, and is being replaced by Mary Cash, an experienced Holiday House editor.
Poppy (Little, Brown): Poppy will be the name of a new teen paperback imprint at LB, overseen by editorial director Cindy Eagan. The new imprint takes over existing teen series and will be adding others.

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

August 2007

HarperFestival: HC's mass market appears to be shifting strategy. I've heard that they are canceling yet-to-be-published novelty books and will be concentrating on licensed product. No word on staff changes.
Rising Moon/Northland: Northland Publishing, which includes the children's imprint Rising Moon, has been acquired by an investment group. All of the staff have been laid off, though there seems to be a possibility that some will be rehired.
For more information, see the Publishers Weekly article.
Otherwise, no news to report. Check back after Labor Day, when staff will be back in the office. . . .

July 2007

HarperCollins Children's Books: Rachel Orr is leaving and will be working at the Prospect Agency.
Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt: Industry news--HM Riverdeep, the company created by the acquisition of Houghton Mifflin by Ireland's Riverdeep (see Dec. 2006) has agreed to acquire Harcourt. Though the deal was made primarily for Harcourt's educational publishing division, the combined HM/Harcourt trade operation will be a substantial company too. The finances of the company as a whole seem shaky to me, as more money was spent to acquire HM and Harcourt than they seem to be worth, but we'll have to wait to see how that plays out. Read more in the Financial Times.
North-South Books: Mary Chris Bradley is stepping down from her position as publisher, effective October 8.
Simon Pulse/Simon and Schuster: Anica Mrose Rissi left Scholastic to join the staff at Simon Pulse as an editor, specializing in commercial teen fiction and nonfiction. At Scholastic, she had developed the Candy Apple "tween" line.
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House: Caroline Meckler recently joined the staff, moving over from Henry Holt. She has the title of assistant editor.

June 2007

Aladdin: Mark McVeigh is joining Aladdin as editorial director, reporting to Ellen Kreiger. He was at Dutton Children's. Kate Angelella has joined Aladdin as assistant editor.
Simon Scribbles: Siobhan Ciminera is joining as senior editor, moving over from Grosset & Dunlap.

May 2007

Aladdin Mix PW Daily reports that Simon and Schuster has launched this imprint, the first to target "tweens." Titles will be a mix of paperback originals and reprints. Ellen Krieger, v-p and associate publisher of Aladdin, will be in charge of the imprint. PW article.
Disney Publishing: Non-news of a sort--though Disney Pub. is moving its office to White Plains, Hyperion Books for Children will stay in Manhattan, though at a new location.
HarperCollins Children's Books: Brenda Bowen will come to HC on June 18 to start a new children's imprint. The imprint has yet to be named and staff have yet to be hired. Full details at PW
Hyperion Books for Children: Margaret Cardillo, Assistant Editor, is leaving to do an MFA in Creative Writing.
Magic Wagon: This is a new company in the ABDO Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis, and selling to the library market. According to PW, it "will focus on library-bound picture and graphic books for preK to eighth-grade readers." There will be two imprints to start with: Graphic Planet, publishing graphic format fiction and nonfiction; and the Looking Glass Library imprint, fiction and nonfiction, preK to fourth grade. Another imprint is planned for 2008. Visit the Red Wagon web site to learn more about their books.
Scholastic Reference: I've heard that Kate Waters has been let go and that Scholastic is closing down the imprint. No other details at this point.
Smith & Kraus: Here is news of a new children's book imprint from PW Children's Bookshelf: "Smith & Kraus Publishers, long known for its line of theater books, is expanding its reach this fall with a middle-grade fiction imprint called Smith & Sons." They are starting with a fantasy trilogy, at the instigation of the owners' teenaged son. See this article for full details.
Tricycle Press: Senior Editor Summer Dawn Laurie has left the company.

April 2007

Bloomsbury: Michelle Nagler will fill the position of editorial director. She reports to Melanie Cecka, who is publishing director for the Bloomsbury and Walker children's imprints. She leaves Simon Pulse, where she was senior editor. See Sept. 2006 below for related news.
Chronicle: Bill Boedeker will become the children’s publishing director for Chronicle Books. His most recent experience was as VP of marketing at Little, Brown BFYR. This new position seems to complete the realignment of Chronicle's children's division that started when Victoria Rock stepped aside to become editor-at-large (see November 2006 below).
Disney: It's been confirmed that Brenda Bowen has left the Disney Book Group, apparently not entirely of her own volition. She is being replaced by Jonathan Yaged, with the titles of v-p and U.S. publisher, in a redefined position, as her titles had been v-p, editor-in-chief, and associate publisher, Global Books." That makes sense, as Yaged's previous postion, also in the DBG, had been in business development and strategic planning. Bowen will be working with Curious Pictures and the Library of America.
Little, Brown: Little, Brown has moved their office. I assume that mail will be forwarded for some time, but here's the new info.:
Little, Brown and Company BFYR
Hachette Book Group USA, 237 Park Ave, New York NY 10017. (212)364-1100.
Fax: (212)364-0925. Web sites: www.lb-kids.com; www.lb-teens.com
Credit for this information goes to Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, which I'm sure will have this new address in their 2008 edition.
Roaring Brook Press: Deborah Brodie, executive editor, is leaving Roaring Brook. PW Daily quotes her as saying "I'm looking forward to new opportunities to do what I love most—editing a wide range of books for children and teens." Simon Boughton, publisher for Roaring Brook, describes the decision to leave as mutual, says that she will be replaced, and that there will be other new hires in the coming months.
Robin Corey Books: The first list for the new personal imprint at Random House will appear in the fall. PW Daily notes: "Corey plans to do 12 titles annually in a mix of pop-up, novelty and other commercial titles." She had most recently been at Little Simon: see February 2006 below for more info.
Running Press Kids: Old news from the fall: Kelli Chipponeri is the new senior editor (effectively head of imprint?). Elizabeth Encarnacion and Andra Serlin have left.
Walker BFYR: Mary Gruetzke will be leaving her position as Senior Editor in April. She has no plans to move to another company at present.

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

March 2007

Scholastic: Lynn Smith is the new director of licensed publishing, reporting to publisher Ellie Berger. She was director of licensing and brand management in Simon & Schuster's children's book division.
Simon & Schuster BFYR: Justin Chanda is moving within the company from his position as executive editor at the Atheneum impint to fill the associate publisher vacancy at S&S. (Note that the S&S associate publisher is the head of the imprint.)

February 2007

Candlewick Press: Amy Ehrlich, who was the first staff at Candlewick when it was started up by Walker Books UK fifteen years ago, is retiring. She has been working as editor-at-large and before that was editor-in-chief.
Dial BFYR: Alisha Niehaus moves to Dial with the title of editor, from DK Publishing.
Grosset and Dunlap: Jenny Bak is moving to G&D from HarperFestival.
Harcourt: The Harcourt children's division is being reorganized, and Liz Van Doren, editorial director, is leaving. She started at Harcourt in 1988. All children's editorial will now be under Allyn Johnston, editor-in-chief, who reports to publisher Lori Benton. Four people in other departments were also let go.

January 2007

Atheneum: Susan Burke has been promoted to editor. She has been there since 2000.
HarperTeen: HarperColins further commits itself to the teen market with this new imprint. I don't know if new staff are being hired (I suspect not). More about it at the HarperTeen web site.
Hyperion: Editor Tamson Weston is leaving Harcourt for Hyperion, where she will start on February 5.
Putnam's Children's Books: Susan Kochan has been promoted to associate editorial director. She reports to Nancy Paulsen.
Roaring Brook Press: Roaring Brook is starting a nonfiction program, launching in 2008. Deirdre Langeland will be acquiring and developing titles for it, starting March 6, with the title of senior editor. She worked at Kingfisher Books.
Scholastic: Eleni Beja is moving from Houghton Mifflin to Scholastic as an associate editor, reporting to Andrea Pinkney
Simon & Schuster BFYR: Associate Publisher Elizabeth Law will leave the company at the end of March "to pursue other opportunities in publishing." She will continue to work on some of her books as a consultant. Rubin Pfeffer will run the imprint until a successor is named.

December 2006

Cartwheel Books/Scholastic: Rotem Moscovich joins the staff as associate editor from Houghton Mifflin.
Houghton Mifflin: Industry news: HM is being bought by software publisher Riverdeep from the equity groups that had acquired HM from Vivendi. Riverdeep is based in Ireland and publishes "electronic courseware," so there is something of a match with HM's strong educational division. The combined company will also be carrying a lot of debt. The HM trade/reference division ends up as more of an anomaly than ever, but management says they have no plans to sell.
Houghton Mifflin: HM has hired Julia Richardson away from Aladdin Paperbacks, where she had been the editorial director, to be paperback director of the children's book group.
Little Simon Inspirations: Simon & Schuster is combining LSI with the recently-acquired Howard Books' children's books. The new imprint will be called Howard Kids/LSI, and be overseen by publisher Valerie Garfield. Dee Ann Grand joins Howard Kids/LSI as editor at large.
Putnam Books for Young Readers: Stacey Barney is joining Putnam as an editor. Most recently, she was at Dafina/Kensington, where she launched a YA African American imprint.

November 2006

Chronicle: Victoria Rock is stepping aside from her position as associate publisher of the children's books division to become editor-at-large and founding publisher. I expect that other changes will follow. More from PW's Children's Bookshelf.
Minx (DC Comics): DC Comics have jumped simultaneously onto both the graphic novel and chick lit bandwagons with Minx, which will release its first list in May 2007. The imprint will publish original graphic novels for teenage girls. Staff include Vertigo executive editor Karen Berger and Vertigo group editor Shelly Bond. I'm curious to see how long it takes them to change that unfortunate name.
Scholastic: Graphix editor-at-large Janna Morishima has been hired by Diamond Book Distributors to start a new children's comics and books division called Diamond Kids Group. According to a short write-up in PW, she will help comic book publishers reformat their materials for the book market and with trade publishers to move in the other direction.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: Editor Alyssa Eisner Henkin is leaving to become a literary agent at Trident Media Group. At Trident, where she starts on December 11th, she will represent picture book, middle grade, and young adult authors as well as illustrators.
Yen Press: The Hachette Book Group is jumping onto the graphic novel bandwagon with this new imprint. Co-directors Rich Johnson, formerly a VP at DC Comics, and Ken Hassler, Borders Group graphic novel buyer, report to Megan Tingley, VP and Publisher of Little, Brown BFYR. Yen Press will publish both for adults and young readers.

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

Last update May 26, 2009

Maintained by Harold D. Underdown

About this page: It's difficult to keep track of who is where at the major publishers, with editors coming and going every month of the year. Books get out of date and magazines and newsletters may be a few months behind in reporting.

Here I maintain a chronological list of these moves, both incomplete and infrequently updated, along with occasional nuggets of relevant industry news. Please do not take it as the final word, and do not assume that it is accurate: it is not all based on first-hand information. I base it on information I've obtained from messages I get from folks on the Internet, articles in various sources, and my contacts in the industry. The latest information is added at the top. Companies losing or laying off staff are coded in red, while those adding staff or filling vacancies are in green; unless I state otherwise, this should not be taken as an indication of growth or shrinkage in their publishing program. Please send additions and corrections by email to me. Thanks.

Additional resources: For context, read The Current Climate for Children's Books. For addresses of children's publishers, you should have a copy of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, which is a massively useful book. It's published annually, so my notes here will help you stay current. Online, you can find some publisher's addresses in the CBC Member's list from the Children's Book Council WWW site. That is not a list of all children's publishers, however. Publishers Weekly has been maintaining a list of contact information, Comings and Goings, for laid-off publishing people. Discussion about editors, agents, and publishers, and how long they take to respond, can best be found at the Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Chat Board at Verla Kay's site. News can be found on the Publishers Weekly web site, and on Alice's CWIM Blog, the blog of Alice Pope, the CWIM editor.

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

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