Job Moves: January 5, 2011

Gretchen Young has been promoted to vice president, executive editor of Hyperion, and editorial director of ABC Synergy, reporting to editor in chief Elisabeth Dyssegaard. Young will expand her role as chief editorial liaison with the ABC Television Group, while also continuing to acquire and edit nonfiction and fiction titles for Hyperion.

Job Moves: January 4, 2010

A number of staffers moved up at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Alvina Ling, former senior editor, has been promoted to executive editor. Audrey Sclater has been promoted from art director to marketing creative director. And Victoria Stapleton, former associate director, has been promoted to director, school and library marketing.

Comings and Goings: December 22, 2010

If you've been laid off recently, or left your job, and would like to pass along your contact information to others in the business, send details to pwletters@publishersweekly.com. Please include your full name and former title/company.

Lori Ames, former executive v-p at Jane Wesman Public Relations, can be reached at theprfreelancer@yahoo.com.

Job Moves: December 22, 2010

Ginny Miller will be leaving New Society Publishers, where she is marketing coordinator, on December 23 to travel and return to freelance writing. Sara Reeves, who was with NSP for 10 years, is returning in the New Year to take Miller's place.

JIST Publishing Founder James Michael Farr Dies

James Michael Farr, founder of JIST Publishing and author of more than 20 career books, died on Sunday at age 64. Farr founded JIST in 1981, and over the next 20-plus years served as the primary author of the Best Jobs series and Top Careers series, as well as Same-Day Resume and The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book. His books have sold more than two million copies.

Ron Shank, Former Group Publisher of 'LJ,' 'SLJ,' and 'PW,' Dies

Ron Shank, the longtime publisher of Library Journal and School Library Journal who later became v-p and group publisher for LJ, SLJ, and Publishers Weekly, died on Saturday. Shank had non-Hodgkins lymphoma and had taken a leave of absence this fall from his position at LJ and SLJ, which are now owned by Media Source.

Job Moves: December 20, 2010

Agent Deborah Grosvenor is re-establishing the Grosvenor Literary Agency, which she ran for 10 years prior to joining Kneerim & Williams.

Job Moves: December 17, 2010

Lani Kaneta has been promoted to manager, academic marketing at Random House. She has been with the department since 2006, and in 2008 took over responsibility for RHPG's and the academic marketing department's outreach to the high school market.

Job Moves: December 16, 2010

St. Martin’s Press has hired Paul Hochman as director of social media. In this newly created position, he will oversee social media marketing and community building. Hochman was most recently at B&N.com as manager of acquisition marketing, content, and social media. Hochman will report to SMP publishers Sally Richardson and Matthew Shear.

Job Moves: December 15, 2010

The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) has appointed Bill McCoy executive director, effective January 9. McCoy, who replaced Michael Smith, most recently served as general manager, Digital Publishing at Adobe Systems and had served two terms on the IDPF board. As a result of his appointment, the IDPF office will move from Toronto to the Seattle area.

Ten Speed's Phil Wood Dies

Phil Wood, founder of Ten Speed Press and long a leader in the independent publishing market, died Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer. Wood founded Ten Speed Press in Berkeley in 1971, and built a reputation for publishing editorially distinctive, critically acclaimed and perennially popular books in the business and career, cookbook, and mind, body, and spirit categories. Wood was responsible for one of the industry’s all-time backlist bestsellers, Richard Bolles's What Color Is Your Parachute?, which has sold more than 10 million copies.

Comings and Goings: December 14, 2010

Pete Bohan, former marketing manager at Chronicle Books, is relocating to New York City. He can be reached at petebohan@gmail.com.

Job Moves: December 14, 2010

Matthew Inman has joined Hyperion as an editor. Inman was most recently an associate editor at HarperCollins. The move to Hyperion marks something of a homecoming for Inman, who previously worked for Hyperion's parent company, ABC, as a researcher for ABC Sports/ESPN. At Hyperion Inman will acquire a nonfiction list that includes business, politics, narrative, investigative journalism, and popular culture.

Job Moves: December 13, 2010

Trish Todd has been named v-p and executive editor at Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint. Todd, who was editor-in-chief of Touchstone, is best known for her role in making Philippa Gregory a bestselling franchise. She has acquired and edited books by, among others, Julia Gregson, Kathleen Grissom, Kathleen McGowan, Al Roker, and Paris Hilton.

People: Week of 12/13/10

Crown Diversifies Digital Oversight; Patrick Steps Down

After deciding to give oversight of digital product development to individual publishers, Crown Publishing Group announced that Philip Patrick is stepping down from his dual role as v-p of digital and marketing strategy and publisher of Crown digital group.

Comings and Goings: December 9, 2010

If you've been laid off recently, or left your job, and would like to pass along your contact information to others in the business, send details to pwletters@publishersweekly.com. Please include your full name and former title/company.

Paul Bjornsen, former research manager at Langenscheidt Publishing Group, American Map Corporation & ADC The Map People, can now be reached at bjornsenhome@gmail.com.

Ayrey Named Executive Director of MPiBA

Meghan Goel, president of the board of the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association and the children's book buyer at Bookpeople in Austin, Texas, announced Wednesday that the organization has hired Laura Ayrey, 33, to be their new executive director. She is replacing Lisa Knudsen who is retiring after 23 years at the helm. Ayrey has been with publisher Gibbs Smith.

Job Moves: December 8, 2010

Sarah Hochman has been named senior editor at David Rosenthal's yet-to-be-named new imprint at Penguin. Hochman, who was most recently a senior editor at Simon & Schuster, will be joining Rosenthal on January 10. Hochman has acquired such titles as I.O.U. by John Lanchester and Savages by Don Winslow, both New York Times bestsellers. Prior to her time at S&S, Hochman worked at W magazine, The New York Observer, and Esquire.

Announcing the Relaunched PW JobZone

Today PW unveils the relaunched PW JobZone, the leading job listings site for members of the publishing community to post and apply for employment opportunities. Our readership is your talent pool. Located at www.publishersweekly.com/jobzone, PW JobZone is a self-serve job posting site, where prospective employers can post job listings for 30 days for $250. Anyone can view active job listings. Opportunities are also available to post job listings from JobZone in PW Daily for an additional fee.