Women in Leadership Series: Women in Publishing

Thursday, March 7, 2019

8:45am-5:00pm

Marymount Manhattan College
221 East 71st Street
Regina Peruggi Room

During this one-day workshop, you will hear from women leaders across the publishing industry.  They will share their experiences in this fast-paced and rapidly changing field.  In addition to presentations and panel discussions, the day will provide numerous opportunities for informal conversation and networking. Whether you are currently working in publishing and are looking for advice on how to advance your career, or you are a student preparing to launch your career in the publishing industry, this workshop is the perfect occasion to meet accomplished female leaders in the field and to learn from their experiences and expertise.

Convener

Jennifer Romanello began her career in book publishing as a publicity assistant at Macmillan and its imprints, Scribner and Atheneum. She then moved on to Dutton, where she rose to Associate Director of Publicity and worked with a roster of critically acclaimed authors including Julia Alvarez, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jamaica Kincaid.   In 1995 she joined Warner Books, now Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette. She was VP, Executive Director of Publicity there for many years and worked with a wide range of bestselling authors including Nicholas Sparks, David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille and Brad Meltzer, among others. She was most recently VP, Director of Publicity at Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing and oversaw the publicity for the following imprints: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, Atheneum, Margaret K. McElderry, Aladdin, Simon Pulse, Paula Wiseman, Beach Lane Books, Little Simon and Simon Spotlight. Some of the authors she worked with at S&S include Cassandra Clare, Mike Lupica, Jennifer Weiner, and Derek Jeter. Jennifer completed her MFA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Hofstra University and her poems have been published in Ovunque Siamo and VIA: Voices in Italiana-Americana (forthcoming).  Her poems “Omphalos” (2018) and “I terri” (2015) received first place in the Concorso Internationale di Poesia held in Messina, Sicily. Jennifer is currently a Lecturer in the MS Program in Publishing at Pace University.     

As space in the workshop is limited, all participants must register in advance.

The registration fee for this workshop is $15 (including coffee, lunch, and closing reception).  This program is free for Marymount Manhattan College and Pace University students with ID.

Seats are guaranteed to early registrants. The Early Registration Deadline is Friday, March 1, 2019.

 Carol Fitzgerald is the Founder and President of The Book Report Network (TBRN) — a group of Internet sites about books and authors that have become the gathering places for a large and devoted community of booklovers since 1996. Programming is organized by demographic at Bookreporter.com, 20SomethingReads.com, Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com and by special interest at ReadingGroupGuides.com. In addition, the company’s Authors on the Web division provides Website Design and Development and Consulting Services for authors and publishers. Carol is a graduate of Fordham University.

Previously, she was a Marketing Services Director at Conde Nast.

Gayley Avery is currently Vice President, Marketing and Publicity at DK, a division of Penguin Random House. She began her career in publishing right after graduating from college, and found her calling at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, first as a sales assistant and soon after (thanks to an encouraging supervisor) as an associate in the marketing department. She worked on marketing campaigns, some of her most formative, for books such as New York Times bestsellers Olivia by Ian Falconer and The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Gayley’s role in publishing has evolved during her time in the industry taking her from trade marketing at Random House Children’s Books to Marketing Director at DC Comics to Director of Licensed Publishing at Scholastic. Prior to her current role, she had the unique and exciting experience of heading up the Marketing and Publicity department at Little Bee Books, a small and vibrant young publishing company. Gayley is a graduate of Skidmore College.

Susannah Greenberg is President of Susannah Greenberg Public Relations, a book publicity firm, representing children’s and adult trade books, as well as book industry organizations and awards.  Recent and notable clients in children’s book publishing she has represented include: Author and Illustrator Roxie Munro; Author Pat Mora; Author Dennis Abrams; Albert Whitman & Company; What on Earth? Books; KidLitTV; Hoopla Digital; and the WNBA Pannell Awards for Bookstores.  She has organized and presented numerous panels on children’s book publishing for Bookexpo, a leading book trade show. She is also the U.S. Press Contact for the Jerusalem International Book Forum, a General Board Member of the Women’s Media Group, and a Past President of the Women’s National Book Association of New York City.  

Dominique Cimina is Vice President, Executive Director, Publicity & Corporate Communications for Random House Children’s Books, the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. RHCB publishes many of the bestselling and most highly acclaimed authors for young people today—including R.J. Palacio, Nicola Yoon, Philip Pullman, Emily Winfield Martin, Carl Hiaasen, Dr. Seuss, Christopher Paolini, Louis Sachar, and Richard Scarry—and is home to some of the most recognizable licenses and characters in the world, such as Disney, Little Golden Books, Nickelodeon, Babar, the Berenstain Bears, Pat the Bunny, Sesame Workshop, and Magic Tree House. Dominique’s team oversees publicity campaigns for both trade and brand publishing programs. Dominique spearheaded the campaign for Dr. Seuss’s What Pet Should I Get? (2015) which included the first-ever placement for a picture book on the front page of the New York Times Book Review, and the book went on to become the fastest selling picture book in Random House Children’s history. Dominique started at RHCB after graduating from Brown University in 2006. She is currently pursuing her MBA degree at Columbia University Business School.

Karen Torres is the VP, Director of the Field Sales and Account Marketing at Hachette Book Group which includes the imprints: Avalon, Basic Books, Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown & Co., Hachette Books, Hachette Nashville, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, PublicAffairs, and Running Press. 

Karen has been with HBG for 30+ and has worked on the publications of many bestselling authors, including: James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, Min Jin Lee, Michael Connelly, Emma Donoghue, Sally Field, David Baldacci, Elin Hilderbrand, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Kate Atkinson, Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Steves, Holly Black, and many more.

Karen’s responsibilities include overseeing the U.S. field force which sells into the indie bookstore channel.  Karen has served on the New England Independent Booksellers Association Board of Directors and currently is a member of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Board of Directors.  Karen also serves as a member of BINC - Book Industry Charitable Foundation: Help for Booksellers organization.

Karen’s passion for great books is evident in her service to booksellers, librarians and book club leaders involving them at the earliest stages of the publication process and partnering with them in seeding the market with excitement for upcoming books.  This passion is evidenced in Karen’s Hachette Book Club Brunch event.  2019 marks the 8^th year for this marquis author and book club enthusiast event. 

Karen is a graduate of NYU School of Journalism and has a Publishing Certificate from Cooper Union.

Ann Dye is a New York-based publishing professional with 13+ years of experience, including positions at Disney Publishing Worldwide, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She is currently Director, Marketing at HarperCollins Children’s Books, overseeing a team and leading marketing efforts for the HarperCollins’ middle grade publishing program. She most recently launched Shelf Stuff, a new tween platform for HarperCollins Children’s books. She received her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, and currently serves on the President’s Council of Cornell Women (PCCW).

T racy van Straaten is Vice President of Communications, Publicity & Educational Marketing, Children’s Book Publishing, Scholastic Inc. Tracy has more than 25 years of publicity and marketing experience and has created hundreds of campaigns for bestselling, award-winning, and debut authors, as well as beloved characters, celebrities, and brands. Over the course of her career, she and her teams have launched more than 200 New York Times bestsellers, including Suzanne Collins’s bestselling The Hunger Games trilogy; He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo; Olivia by Ian Falconer; and the re-launch of the Eloise series by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight, for which van Straaten received a Literary Marketplace (LMP) Award for publicity campaign. Van Straaten has held executive positions at Scholastic and Simon & Schuster, and is on the board of the Children’s Book Council. She holds a B.A. in English and Art History from Hamilton College and earned a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature from Simmons University in Boston.  

This is a ticketed event. This program is free for Marymount Manhattan College and Pace University students with ID. 

Get Tickets Here