Looking to replace several editors who have recently left, Putnam editor-in-chief Neil Nyren has made two senior editorial hires.
First, he brought on Jennifer Hershey as v-p and editorial director. Hershey most recently served as v-p, associate publisher and executive editor at William Morrow/Avon, where she edited Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, Jacquelyn Mitchard and Joanne Harris. At Putnam, Hershey will acquire both fiction and nonfiction. Nyren then hired Warner's Rob McMahon as senior editor. McMahon, who edited authors such as Donald Westlake and Dale Earnhardt, will focus on commercial fiction and nonfiction.
Insiders described the hirings as necessary to help forge the future of Putnam. Since the departure of Phyllis Grann, they report, the PP imprints have been looking to develop more autonomous identities. The moves are also intended to replace several editors who've recently left—Jeremy Katz, who a few months ago became executive editor at Rodale, and Stacy Creamer, who moved to Random House.
