New Hires, Direction for Lerner

By Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 9/11/2008

Lerner Publishing Group has announced a new hire and a promotion in two of the company’s imprints, both effective October 1. Andrew Karre will become editorial director of Carolrhoda, and Carol Burrell was promoted from senior editor to editorial director of Graphic Universe. While Karre will work out of Lerner’s Minneapolis’s headquarters, Burrell will continue to work out of the company’s New York City office.

Karre, the acquiring editor since 2005 for Flux, the YA imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide, and previously at Creative Publishing, is charged with developing, acquiring, and editing fiction and nonfiction titles, as well as picture books for the trade market.

For president Adam Lerner, Karre’s hiring marks a shift for the company, which publishes primarily for the educational market. Not only does Lerner expect to expand its fiction offerings, including YA fiction, while continuing to publish picture books and nonfiction titles, but the company also hopes to use Karre’s expertise to pump up its online presence.

“Andrew understands about blogging and relating to teen readers,” Lerner said. While at Flux, Karre developed a popular blog, a combination of news about Flux and Karre’s musings both on the YA genre and the industry.