Penguin Merges Gotham and Avery

By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 9/30/2008 9:49:00 AM

In a move to bring two nonfiction imprints under the same roof, Penguin is putting Gotham Books and Avery Books under a single management team. Through the move, which will seek to keep the two brands distinctive, Gotham Books president William Shinker will oversee both imprints as president and publisher. Also, Lisa Johnson will now be head of publicity and marketing for both imprints as v-p and associate publisher of Gotham Books and Avery Books.

The move is an attempt to create a better working structure and, as a result of it, one Avery staffer was laid off. Shinker said the move made sense because, up until now, Gotham had been working alongside Dutton, which does fiction. With the Gotham/Avery pairing, the staff can focus solely on nonficion. Shinker said that Gotham and Avery editors will now acquire for both lists and this will "allow us to have more firepower editorially." As part of the move, Lauren Marino was named v-p and editorial director of Gotham Books and Megan Newman was named v-p and editorial director of Avery Books. As part of a small reorganization of the publicity function Christine Aronson has been brought on as director of publicity and marketing at Dutton. Aronson was at Crown.

Shinker said he intends to cut the list, but is still working on the details.