Brian McLendon has been named associate publisher of Twelve. McLendon, who will start at the Hachette imprint on March 7, is currently v-p and deputy director of publicity at Ballantine Bantam Dell, and an agent director of the Random House Speakers Bureau. He has spent the last 16 years at Random House and has recently worked on campaigns for Stephen Hawking and Len Mlodinow (The Grand Design); Justin Cronin (The Passage); and Kathy Griffin (Official Book Club Selection).
Karen Pennington and Len Wilson have both joined the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH). Pennington was named director of the Vacation Bible School, and Wilson was named senior leadership editor for the UMPH imprint, Abingdon Press. Pennington was most recently Christian education director at New Life United Methodist Church in Richmond, Va. Wilson launched the digital media firms Midnight Oil Productions and Lumicon Digital Productions.
At HarperCollins Children's Books, Caroline Sun was named publicity manager. Sun was most recently a senior publicist at Penguin Young Readers Group. Sun has, among other projects, worked with the Roald Dahl estate on the U.S. launch of the never-before-published book, The Missing Golden Ticket, and on the 50th anniversary of James and the Giant Peach.
At the literary public relations firm, Hilsinger-Mendelson East, David Kass has been promoted from publicity manager to associate director of publicity. And Iris Blasi has joined the firm as coordinator of digital media, overseeing online interface and strategies.
