Scholastic Combines Its Trade, Fairs, and Clubs Businesses

One day after announcing that Ellie Berger will step down as president of Scholastic Trade Publishing, the publisher has announced plans to integrate its trade publishing, book fairs, and book clubs businesses into the Scholastic Children’s Book Group. Sasha Quinton, most recently president of the Reading Events Group, which includes the fairs and clubs, has been named to lead the combined group as EVP and president.

As part of the restructuring, Jackie De Leo has been named publisher and chief merchant for the newly christened Children’s Book Group. De Leo, most recently chief merchandising officer at Barnes & Noble, will join Scholastic on June 2 and report to Quinton. (De Leo, who left B&N earlier this year, and Quinton have a shared work history at B&N and Readerlink.) In the newly created role, Scholastic said De Leo will be responsible for overseeing Scholastic’s publishing operations while also looking for ways expand the reach for all of the company’s intellectual property.

Elaborating on the appointments, Scholastic said the new structure will bolster the company’s “360-degree” IP creation strategy to deliver its content in as many formats and platforms as possible by improving communication between editorial, distribution, and merchandising.

“Scholastic’s ability to work seamlessly across media, publishing and distribution has never been more important to maximizing the value of our IP and ensuring that the work of our authors and illustrators connects to readers,” Scholastic president and CEO Peter Warwick in a statement. Quinton will continue to report to Warwick, and will also work closely with Iole Lucchese, chief strategy officer and president of Scholastic Entertainment.

Quinton joined Scholastic from Barnes & Noble at the beginning of 2020 as president of its book fairs business, and was put in charge of the School Reading Events group in April 2023. Scholastic credits her with improving profitability across its clubs and fairs by putting a “focus on kid-first marketing and merchandising.” In prepared comments, Quinton said she believes the new structure will allow Scholastic “to meet kids where they are—whether through book retailers, school-based fairs and clubs or on screens with our media peers.”