PW Star Watch Names Top Honorees in Publishing Innovation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK—August 3, 2018—Publishers Weekly, in association with the Frankfurt Book Fair, is pleased to announce the Top Honorees of the fourth annual PW Star Watch program. Honorees were chosen for their innovative approach to the industry, enthusiastic problem-solving and leadership potential. The PW Star Watch jury assessed more than 200 nominations from publishing and bookselling industry in the U.S. and, for the first time, Canada.
Publicists, editors, designers and startup company founders were named in the group of Top Honorees. Also included were four booksellers, from Baker Bookstore (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Duende District Bookstore (Washington, D.C.), Seminary Co-Op Bookstore (Chicago) and Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria (New York City).
“The quality of this year’s PW Star Watch nominees was particularly high and represented a strong cross section of the publishing and bookselling communities: representatives from small presses and large, big name bookstores and smaller mobile stores,” said Judith Rosen, Publishers Weekly and PW Star Watch juror. “As in years past, the variety of people and their contributions to the book industry made jury selection all the harder. There is no question the Top Honorees deserve this high-level recognition from Publishers Weekly and the book world as a whole.”
Frankfurt:
“These nominees have elevated the industry as a whole by their achievements,” added Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly and PW Star Watch 2018 juror.
The Top Honorees will be narrowed to a Top 5 elite group, announced and profiled in the September 4, 2018 issue of Publishers Weekly magazine.
One “Superstar” will be named at the PW Star Watch celebratory event at the Marquee nightclub in New York City on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
The winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip, including an All-Access pass to the Business Club, to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which this year will be held from October 10 – 12, 2018.
Past winners of the “Superstar” include Gabriella Page-Fort, Editorial Director, AmazonCrossing; Andrew (Harwell) Eliopulos, Executive Editor, HarperCollins; and Helen Yentus, Art Director, Riverhead Books, the winner of the 2015 inaugural PW Star Watch.
PW Star Watch 2018 Top Honorees:
Patrice Caldwell, Associate Editor, Disney-Hyperion
Mieke Chew, Publicity Director, New Directions Publishing
Preeti Chhibber, Assistant Director, Scholastic
Rakia Clark, Senior Editor, Beacon Press
Paul Covello, Marketing Associate, Design, HarperCollins Canada
Jackie DeLeo, Senior Director, Product Management, Readerlink
Jeff Deutsch, Bookseller, Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
Melissa Edwards, Literary Agent, Stonesong
Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, Authors and Founders, Timbuktu Labs
Emily Feinberg, Editor, Macmillan/Roaring Brook
Saraciea Fennell, Publicist, Tor
Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief, Boom! Studios
John Glynn, Editor, Hanover Square Press
Kevin Gray, Publicity Director, Westchester Publishing Service
Amy Green, Fiction Publicist, Bethany House
Tara Grove, Senior Editor, The New Press
Emily Heddleson, Senior Manager, Scholastic
Carol Hinz, Editorial Director, Millbrook Press, Lerner Publishing Group
Danika Isdahl, Production Manager, Sarabande Books
Susie Jaramillo, Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder, Encantos
Jessica Jeffers, Marketing Manager, Magination Press, the Children’s Book Imprint of the American Psychological Association
Elizabeth Jordan, Bookseller, BookPeople Bookstore
Bea Koch and Leah Koch, Co-owners, The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Jennifer Abel Kovitz, Vice President & Associate Publisher, Catapult, Counterpoint and Soft Skull
Susannah Lawrence, Director of Publicity and Social Media, Akashic
Vivian Lee, Editor, Amazon/Little A
Veronica Santiago Liu, Bookseller, Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria
David Miles, Publishing Director, Familius
April Murphy, Publicity Editor, Greenleaf Book Group
Taylor Noel, Corporate Marketing Manager, Simon & Schuster
Glory Plata, Publicity Manager, Penguin Random House/Riverhead
Megan Quinn, Senior Director of Sales, Charlesbridge
Sam Raim, Associate Editor, Penguin Books, Penguin Random House/Penguin Books
Andie Reid, Associate Art Director, Quirk Books
Jasmin Rubero, Associate Art Director, Penguin Random House/Kokila
Darron Schroeder, Assistant Manager, Children’s Product Buyer, Baker Bookstore
Margo Shickmanter, Associate Editor, Penguin Random House/Doubleday
Angela Maria Spring, Bookseller, Duende District Bookstore
Shimul Tolia, CEO, Bonnier
Jennifer Ung, Editor, Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse
Elizabeth Ward, Associate Director, Digital Strategy, Penguin Random House
Sara Weiss, Senior Editor, Penguin Random House/Ballantine
Daniella Wexler, Publicity Editor, Simon & Schuster/Atria
Abbe Wright, Editorial Lead, Penguin Random House/Read It Forward
Julian Yap, Founder and CEO, Serial Box
About Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is the international news platform of the book publishing industry. Founded in 1872 and published weekly since then, the magazine boasts 1.25+ Twitter followers, Facebook “likes” and other social media followers; publishes nine e-newsletters, BookLife (a website and monthly supplement), two blogs, a mobile edition, digital editions and apps; and features a thriving website that reachws 1 million unique visitors each month.
About the Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair—with 7,100 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, around 270,000 visitors, over 4,000 events and around 9,300 accredited journalists in attendance. It also gathers key players from other media, including the film and games industries. Since 1976, the Book Fair has featured an annual Guest of Honour country, which showcases its book market, literature and culture to attendees in a variety of ways. The Frankfurt Book Fair organizes the participation of German publishers at around 20 international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. With its Business Club, the Frankfurt Book Fair offers essential services and an ideal setting for the activities of publishers, entrepreneurs, pioneers, experts and visionaries. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a subsidiary of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association.
Websites
www.publishersweekly.com/starwatch
For more information, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-505-986-1142 or +1-917-217-4269, or Erin Cox, erinlcox@gmail.com.
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