Children’s Publishing Industry Update

Traci Van Wagoner is a writer and illustrator with a passion for children’s books. She owns her own design company with my husband, Imagine That! Design, where they design toys, games and giftware for kids of all ages. She also is the only illustrator who sent in anything for January and what she sent in is so much fun – Love it!  Thank you Traci.  You can visit her website: www.tracivanwagoner.com

Random House Children’s Books:

Dana Carey has been promoted to assistant editor at Wendy Lamb Books.
Jim Thomas stepped down from his managerial position as editorial director of Middle Grade and YA to focus exclusively on his editorial projects and authors as an editor-at-large.
Jennifer Arena took over that managerial role and was promoted to editorial director of Chapter Books (Stepping Stones, Middle Grade, Young Adult).
Kristen Depken has been promoted to associate editor (she has been working on their Golden Books line).
Chelsea Eberly was promoted to associate editor.

Celeste Fine will join Sterling Lord Literistic on January 30 as an agent, focusing on health, science, food, business, and lifestyle topics. She will also manage foreign rights for the agency’s children’s and young adult list. Previously, Fine was svp, subsidiary rights director for Folio Literary Management.

Molly Jaffa at Folio Literary Management has been promoted to director of international rights, and will continue to develop her client list.

Lee & Low Books has acquired Children’s Book Press, founded in 1975 as one of the first specialty publishers devoted to multicultural children’s books. Children’s Book Press will continue to operate as a separate imprint, and the deal increases the number of Lee& Low titles in print to approximately 650. “This is a tremendous honor for us to keep the prestigious collection of Children’s Book Press alive, and have the opportunity to build on its 36-year history,” said Lee & Low Books publisher Jason Low.

At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Lucy Cummins has been promoted to art director; Chloe Foglia has been promoted to senior designer; Ana Benaroya has joined the Simon Spotlight/Little Simon team as junior designer.

The Bent Agency is opening a UK branch, run by Molly Ker Hawn, who will be representing authors of YA and middle grade fiction exclusively for both the UK and US markets.  She has had editorial roles at Chronicle and Dial and was national programs director for the Children’s Book Council.

At Egmont USA, Greg Ferguson has been promoted to senior editor.

Tim Ditlow, who has overseen children’s and YA acquisitions for Amazon-owned Brilliance Audio since 2008, is taking the new position of associate publisher for the Marshall Cavendish Children’s list that Amazon purchased. Ditlow will report to Larry Kirshbaum and “work closely” with current MCCB publisher Margery Cuyler.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy