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April 12 – 15, 2010 Edition Random House Merges Ballantine and Bantam Dell
NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/April 13/2010–Random House today merged the Ballantine and Bantam Dell imprints into a single new Ballantine Bantam Dell division, under the supervision of senior vice president Libby McGuire. Bantam Dell executive vice president and publisher Nita Taublib will leave the company.
Random House Publishing Group president Gina Centrello said in an employee memo: “I am saddened that with the organizational changes we are announcing this morning for Ballantine and Bantam Dell” Taublib will “step down.” Centrello said Taublib is a “one-of-a-kind editor and a team-building publisher. . .she is one of the rare publishing executives who combines a keen editorial appreciation for a diverse range of authors with the skillful execution of all the administrative details that go into bringing their books into the marketplace.”
Random House editorial director Jennifer Hershey will now serve as editor-in-chief of BBD, overseeing all Ballantine, Del Rey and Bantam editors. Ballantine editorial director Linda Marrow and Bantam editorial director Kate Miciak will report to Hershey. She will continue to edit her own list of authors as editor-at-large for the Random House imprint. Hershey’s little Random position has not been filled. The editorial department will continue under Susan Kamil.
Scott Shannon, Publisher of Del Rey/Spectra, adds responsibility as mass market publisher for BBD, and Kim Hovey is associate publisher for the new group. Both will continue to report to McGuire. Gina Wachtel has been elevated to mass market associate publisher. Trade paperbacks for all the BBD lines will continue to be published under the direction of senior vice president and publisher Jane von Mehren.
Since an earlier consolidation of Bantam Dell, some departments already had merged, including publicity and rights. Until now, however, Ballantine and Bantam Dell had retained separate editorial departments.
