Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly since 2014, will retire at the end of 2023. Milliot joined PW in 1993 as business and news editor and, after serving in several different capacities, was named co-editorial director with Michael Coffey in 2010, following the sale of the company to George Slowik Jr. After Coffey’s retirement, Milliot was appointed sole editorial director.
Milliot was executive editor at Simba Information before joining PW. He served on the statistics committee of the Book Industry Study Group and was named the winner of the organization’s Sally Dedecker Lifetime Achievement Award this spring. He also served as a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association board for four years, and is a regular contributor to various industry publications.
“It has been exciting to be a position to document the many changes that have occurred in the industry over the last 45 years,” Milliot said. “From the consolidation of book publishers, the rise and fall of the bookstore chains, the arrival of the internet, Amazon, and e-books, and the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, there has been no shortage of important issues to report on over the years. Starting in 2024, I will still be keeping an eye on the industry, but from a new different vantage point as editor-at-large.”
With Milliot’s pending retirement, Jonathan Segura has been appointed co-editorial director, and will become editorial director in January. Segura joined PW in 2005 as a reviews editor and was subsequently deputy reviews editor, senior editor for digital, and executive editor, in which capacity he oversaw the reviews, features, and bestsellers departments.
Taking over direct responsibility for the adult book reviews section is David Adams, who has been appointed reviews director. Adams joined PW as a reviews editor in August 2019. Prior to that, he was an acquiring editor at Open Road Integrated Media and a literary scout at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
In another change, Andrew Albanese, until now senior writer, has been promoted to executive editor, overseeing various aspects of the news department. After serving in editorial roles at NAL/Dutton and Oxford University Press, Albanese joined Library Journal in 1999, covering academic libraries and scholarly publishing. He moved to PW—which was then LJ’s sister publication—at the end of 2008, where he has specialized in covering policy, legal and legislative affairs, libraries, and information technology.
Rachel Deahl, currently director for columns and special projects and PW’s longtime Deals columnist, has been named director of branded content, effective September 4. In that new role, Deahl will expand PW’s sponsored content business and also work on the company’s events programming. Deahl joined PW in 2005 as a member of the news department. She will now report to Cevin Bryerman, PW publisher and CEO.
With Deahl’s move, Adam Boretz, currently director of special editorial projects, will become senior editor overseeing a variety of features as well as author profiles and the Soapbox column. Boretz has been with PW for more than 11 years, during which time he has overseen coverage of audiobooks and self-publishing and launched a variety of editorial products, including BookLife, which covers self-publishing. Most recently, he has spearheaded PW’s sponsored content business.
"Jim Milliot has made a great mark on Publishers Weekly and book publishing itself, for which we are eternally grateful," George Slowik, Jr., president and owner of PWxyz, LLC, the company that owns PW, said. "His retirement gives us the opportunity to bring forward a new generation of talent within the organization to build on Jim's legacy with an eye towards the many developments shaping the publishing world."
