People roundup August 2026. People. Jeff McLaughlin has been appointed to the newly created position of SVP, business development at Abrams, effective August 10. McLaughlin, most recently SVP at Insight Editions, will oversee the publisher's expansion of its customer proprietary programs, strategic partnerships, and new revenue channels beyond traditional publishing. Patricia Toussaint has joined as email lifecycle manager, Vickie Tu has joined as sales coordinator, and Stephanie Pando has joined as senior publicist. At Norton, editor Amy Cherry has retired from Norton after almost 42 years. Mollie Reid has joined as senior publicist. She was previously at Penguin Press. Columbia Global Reports names Angela Baggetta as their new publisher. At Penguin Random House, Erica Ferguson joins as production editor on the Zeitgeist team. Ferguson previously worked as a temporary production editor at Zeitgeist. Random House Children's has Irene Vandervoort joining as senior designer, art/design. She was previously a freelance art director at Aladdin. At Penguin Random House Christian, Erynn Peckham joins as marketing manager. She was previously at David C Cook. At Penguin Press, Liza Buell has joined as publicist. She was previously at Celadon, Atria, and New York Road Runners. At Harper Children's, Emilia Sowersby has joined as editor, KAZÉ. She was previously associate editor at Macmillan. Mikhail Fernandes has joined as assistant designer, Harper Alley and KAZÉ. At Ecco, Liese Mayer has joined as executive editor. Park Row Books has Rachel Smalter Hall joining as editor. Hall was previously at Audible Originals. Chronicle Books brings on Vanessa Lopez in the newly created role of senior director, licensed publishing. Sourcebooks has Serena Knudson joining as marketing associate, independent bookstores & events. At Berrett-Koehler Publishers, editorial director Neal Maillet retired on July 31 after 16 years with the company. Haven Iverson joins as senior editor. She previously served as editorial director at Sounds True. Macmillan has hired Stephanie Aynilian as senior manager, workplace experience. Gwyneth Bechunas has joined as HPLLC (trade sales), manager, operations, planning, & administration and Renee Coppola has joined as senior manager, Email Marketing, CIMA, reporting to Trish O'Neill. Emma Greydanus joined as manager, retail media advertising, CIMA. Ivan Rey comes on as senior accountant, royalties, accounting & finance. Elizabeth Rine has joined Macmillan as director, children's sales, trade sales. Kaitlin Zuelch joined as senior director, procurement, accounting & finance. Samantha Slavin transfers from the Fableistik team to the trade sales team as manager, national accounts. Within Macmillan Audio, Saige Gipson has joined as associate, multimedia content and Barbara Pizzella has joined as associate, backlist and trends. At Center for Fiction, Julia Alvarez will receive the NYC Center for Fiction's 2026 Lifetime of Excellence in Fiction Award. Zando brings on Rhoda Belleza as senior editor, original development. At Third Place Books, Milo Michels will become author events manager, succeeding Spencer Ruchti. In agency news... At Trellis Literary Management, Nataly Gruender has joined as operations manager. She was previously financial director at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. The Creative Media Agency has promoted Vicky Weber to associate literary agent and subrights manager. P.S. Literary Agency brings on Madison Potter as associate literary agent. She was previously at Olswanger Literary. Mark Ryan has launched a subsidiary rights agency, Backlist Literary Rights & Management, for self-published authors who want to license secondary rights while keeping their primary publishing rights. Rizzoli Libri has appointed Eccles Fisher Associates as their US scout. Promotions. Promotions at Norton include Meredith McGinnis to senior marketing director, while Rachel Salzman expands her role to senior publicity director, trade-academic campaign strategy. Erin Lovett expands her role to senior publicity director, creative and brand strategy. Alexa Pugh is promoted to director, backlist and academic marketing strategy. Steve Colca is promoted to marketing director, Mere Dowling is promoted to senior marketing manager, and Eliana Brown is promoted to associate publicist. Huneeya Siddiqui is promoted to associate editor, Norton Trade. Within Liveright, Nick Curley is promoted to associate director of marketing and Clio Hamilton is promoted to publicist. Naomi Duttweiler is promoted to senior marketing manager, Norton Young Readers. Molly Leahy is promoted to client services coordinator. Angeli Rafer is promoted to archive and digital assets manager, Leah Heath is promoted to assistant manager, prepress production & digital archive, and Nat Kent is promoted to assistant manager of digital production. Sofia Chartove is promoted to trade operations coordinator. Hana Nakamura is promoted to associate creative director and Ingsu Liu has been promoted to associate creative director, trade. Harper Children's promotes Sophie Schmidt to associate editor, Harper Alley, Shannah Harris to assistant editor, Greenwillow, and Monique Lowe to assistant editor, Clarion & Harper. Sourcebooks promotes Darren Orange to senior AI & automation engineer. Holly Ingraham has been promoted to assistant editorial director, romance. Gretchen Stelter has been promoted to senior developmental editor. Alessandra (Allie) Roche has been promoted to senior editor, romance and Cosmo Reads Lead. Madison Nankervis has been promoted to associate director, author brand development. Katie Stutz has been promoted to associate director of marketing. Random House Children's promotes Alice Moye-Honeyman, to designer, art/design and Ali Romig to editor, Delacorte. Crown promotes Ty Nowicki to senior director, ad/creative operations. Penguin Random House Christian promotes Hannah Little to associate, project management and editorial for She Reads Truth. Knopf promotes Juliane Pautrot to associate publicist. She is moving from Pantheon and will report to Emily Reardon. Penguin Publishing Group promotes Julie Coryell to senior publicist. Penguin Press promotes Kianna Ortiz to associate Publicist. Promotions at Macmillan include Kaitlyn Cullen to associate national account manager, Katie Layton to sales associate, Diego Molano Rodriguez director, trade sales, and Brad Wood to VP, online sales. Within Simon and Schuster, Vanessa Ioannidi has been promoted to sales manager, special markets. Kensington promotes Elizabeth May to executive editor. At Podium Entertainment, Taylor Bryon has been promoted to associate director of acquisitions. Duly noted. Pub Lunch reports that Amazon announced the recipients of its 2026 Literary Partnership, which provides $1 million in grants to 102 literary organizations across the country. Publishing houses receiving the grant include: Graywolf Press, Heyday, Hub City Press, Torrey House Press, Deep Vellum, Archipelago Books, and Zephyr Press. Literary magazines include: Electric Literature, The Drift, Sinister Wisdom, Foglifter Press, Alaska Quarterly Review, and 15 more. Organizations include: the National Book Foundation's Five Under 35 program; the Brooklyn Book Festival; the Miami Book Fair; the Center for Fiction's Emerging Fellowship program; and more. At Center for Fiction, Julia Alvarez will receive the NYC Center for Fiction's 2026 Lifetime of Excellence in Fiction Award. The Bertelsmann Printing Group's company Coral Graphic Services Inc., located on Long Island, is closing. The company will shut its doors this coming October, laying off 85 employees. Events. August 7th-9th, 2026. August 22nd, 2026. Washington, DC August 23rd, 2026. Los Angeles, CA August 29th, 2026. Harlem, NY

Sourcebooks announces launch of Kwame Alexander Books. By Sally Lodge | Jun 25, 2026 Kwame Alexander. Newbery Medalist and Newbery Honor recipient Kwame Alexander, author of more than 45 books, is embarking on a new chapter in his creative journey. Spring 2027 will mark the debut of his eponymous imprint at Sourcebooks, which will publish picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult books, encompassing projects by Alexander and works by emerging and established authors. Kwame Alexander Books will also serve as a platform for discovering and mentoring new voices, per the announcement. The imprint's early lists reflect the breadth of its offerings. Titles include a paranormal YA novel by Lola StVil; a middle grade horror novel from Marie Arnold; a YA thriller-in-verse by Carnegie Medalist Sarah Crossan; a picture book by Laura Mucha that presents a fractured fairy tale celebrating reading; a middle grade adventure by Laura Rocha inspired by Mexican folklore; and a keepsake edition of Alexander's own inspirational 2025 book for adults, Say Yes, originally published by Andrews McMeel. Due in fall 2027 is the cornerstone of the imprint, the as-yet-untitled fourth novel in Alexander's middle grade series that began with the 2015 Newbery Medal-winning The Crossover (Clarion) and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. In 2023, the author won a Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series for the Disney+ television adaptation of The Crossover (for which he served as writer, executive producer, and showrunner). Alexander recalled a propitious anecdote about being a guest on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert after receiving that award. "He asked me if winning an Emmy was a dream come true, and I said 'no,' because that was never a dream of mine," the author told PW. "I've started dreaming bigger these days, and starting Kwame Alexander Books is definitely the result of that new envisaging." A collaborative mission There are many hands on deck as Kwame Alexander Books sets sail. "We have a robust team for the imprint," said Jenne Abramowitz, editorial director of Sourcebooks Fire, Young Readers, and Jabberwocky, who worked closely with Alexander to develop the first lists. Also contributing to the imprint are editorial director Elise McMullen-Ciotti, who joined Sourcebooks this week from Lee & Low; and Margaret Raymo, editor-at-large, who is Alexander's longtime editor and was most recently an executive editor at Little, Brown. "The four of us, along with publishing director Jennifer Gonzalez, look at every potential project together to ensure each one speaks to the imprint's goal of publishing bold voices and fostering community," Abramowitz said. "We aim to publish across all age levels and genres. Anything goes, so long as it speaks to us and we see the audience that wants it. We view publishing as a team sport, so the work is very collaborative and open." Abramowitz estimated that Kwame Alexander Books will publish 12-18 books a year. She noted that Alexander, who is writing two of the 2027 releases, "will also be workshopping concepts for other authors via packaging and entertainment companies. So, I'd say that 10-15% of the list will come from Kwame in some form." This is not Alexander's first association with an imprint. In 2018, he curated the launch list for the Versify imprint at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, now under HarperCollins Children's Books, but the author currently has no involvement with Versify. Alexander is eager to introduce his eponymous imprint to readers - and thankful for the timing of its launch. "The world right now seems akin to a garden that has not been attended to so well, and it needs clearing and enrichment," he said. "I've always believed it is my calling to create a literature that builds and restores. I want this imprint to breathe new life, to help young and old readers bring this space we call home back to life. That sounds ambitious and audacious I'm sure, but I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to continue planting seeds of better change."