PALA Publishing Program's Advisory Board

Ellie Berger is the Executive Vice President at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, and President of Trade Publishing. She joined Scholastic in 1985. Among her many accomplishments, Ellie has been instrumental in negotiating strategic relationships to publish books based on popular properties and expanding the licensed publishing business. She has also been responsible for directing Klutz® and Chicken House Publishing.

Ellie is responsible for the acquisition and publication of new and existing authors and properties for Scholastic, whose roster of bestselling authors, illustrators, and series includes J. K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Raina Telgemeier, Brian Selznick, Mark Teague, Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, Dear America, and others. Ellie graduated cum laude from the University of Rochester with degrees in English and Anthropology.

Cevin Bryerman is the Chief Executive Officer and Publisher at Publishers Weekly, the international news platform of the book publishing industry. He has been in the publishing business for more than 35 years, working at the helm of both trade and consumer magazines in strategic planning, business development, and strategic partnerships. Over the span of his career, he has worked on many publications, including Boating Industry and Waterway Guides, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Variety, Modern Bride, American Baby, and others.

Cevin is in high demand as a speaker and gives lectures and seminars at universities and institutions, including the University of Michigan and Northwestern School of Journalism. He has given presentations and sat on panels at conferences and workshops, including Book Expo America and others. Cevin serves on industry committees, most notably the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). He earned his BS in Accounting and Finance at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Ellen Chodosh was named Director of NYU Press in September 2014, where she oversees the editorial, marketing, and business activities of this 100-year-old academic press. Prior to joining NYU Press, she held several positions at Oxford University Press, including Vice President and Publisher of the Trade Division. From 2006 to 2014, Ellen ran a consultancy specializing in strategic and sustainability planning for non-profit and commercial publishers. She graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Psychology and an English minor.

Judith Curr is the President and Publisher of the HarperOne Group at HarperCollins Publishers, where she oversees all the editorial, publishing, and marketing activities of HarperOne, Amistad, HarperCollins Español, Rayo, and HarperVia. Prior to joining HarperCollins, she was President and Publisher of the Atria Publishing Group, whose eponymous imprint she founded at Simon & Schuster in 2002. Atria became the publishing home of many beloved, bestselling authors including Colleen Hoover, Vince Flynn, Abbi Glines, T.D. Jakes, Thomas Keneally, John Lescroart, Shirley MacLaine, Jamie McGuire, Kate Morton, and Rachael Ray and has since published more than 240 New York Times bestsellers. A native Australian, Judith has been an executive in American publishing since 1996 and currently sits on the Goddard Riverside Community Center publishing committee and on the Board of Girls Write Now.

Allison Dobson was appointed President of Penguin Publishing Group in April 2018. She oversees Penguin’s adult publishing business in the U.S., which includes Avery, Berkeley, Dutton, Penguin, Penguin Press, Plume, Portfolio, Putnam, Riverhead, Sentinel, TarcherPerigee, and Viking. Allison joined the company in 2008, first as a member of the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program, and then in a variety of corporate and divisional roles at Random House and eventually Penguin Random House, most recently as Senior Vice President, Director of Strategy and Finance at Penguin. Allison has a BA in Economics and Government from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jonathan Karp was named President and CEO of Simon & Schuster in May 2020. In this role, he is responsible for all the publishing and operations of Simon & Schuster’s numerous publishing groups as well as its international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Jonathan joined Simon & Schuster in June 2010 as publisher of the company’s flagship imprint. During his tenure, he oversaw the publication of bestselling authors such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Irving, Walter Isaacson, David McCullough, Susan Orlean, and Bob Woodward, while launching acclaimed books by other notable authors and cultural figures brought to the imprint’s list during his tenure. During Jonathan’s tenure, the adult group launched a successful new imprint, Avid Reader Press, and established the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau.

Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Jonathan was Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005. Prior to founding Twelve, he was Editor-in-Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career in 1989 as an editorial assistant and worked for 16 years. Jonathan earned his BA from Brown University and his MA from New York University.

Lucy Kaylin is Editorial Director at Hearst Magazines. Lucy started her magazine career at Vogue before joining the staff of GQ, where she spent nearly two decades. She joined Hearst in 2007 when she was named executive editor of Marie Claire. Kaylin also served as deputy editor of O, The Oprah Magazine before being named editor-in-chief of the brand, which has since evolved into the multi-platform lifestyle destination and membership community Oprah Daily.

In her new role as Editorial Director, Lucy will collaborate with both the editorial and business leads to uphold Hearst’s commitment to excellence, while helping drive content innovation and audience engagement across new and emerging platforms.

Will Lee was recently appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Adweek. Prior to this position, Will was the Chief Operating Officer at NPR, and before that he worked as the Senior Vice President and Head of Digital for the Entertainment Group at Meredith Corporation. There, Will was responsible for driving digital audience and business growth for brands including PEOPLE, Sports Illustrated, and InStyle, and led content strategy for all mobile, video, audio, and emerging platforms. He recently served as Vice President, Digital Content and Programming at The Hollywood Reporter, where he led the brand to numerous traffic records and played a key role in integrating print and digital newsrooms. Will also held senior roles at Penske Media Corp. and TMZ. He earned an Bachelor’s degree in Classics from Brown University, and has studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, Eton College, and NYU Stern School of Business.

Mary McAveney is President and Chief Executive Officer at ABRAMS. Prior to this position, she was the Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road Integrated Media, where she developed and executed organic and inorganic growth strategies for the company, identifying acquisition targets and pursuing them to completion, culminating with the sale of the company in 2021. Mary was previously Senior Vice President of Marketing and later Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road, and has also held positions at MSM Book Marketing, Smilebox, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. She earned her degree from the College of New Jersey.

Stephanie Mehta is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Content Officer of Mansueto Ventures, the parent company of Inc. and Fast Company. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company, where she oversaw digital, print, and live journalism. Under Stephanie’s leadership, Fast Company was a National Magazine Award finalist in design for three years in a row. She has worked as a writer and editor at Vanity Fair, Bloomberg Media, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal.

Stephanie sits on the boards of the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Women’s Forum of New York, and Airbel Impact Lab, the research and innovation arm of the International Rescue Commission. She began her career as a business reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia and received a BA in English and an MS in journalism from Northwestern University.

Bob Miller is the President and Publisher of Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan USA. He founded Hyperion for Disney in 1990 and was its publisher until 2008. Key titles Bob has acquired for Flatiron to date include What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey, The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost, Promise Me, Dad by President Joe Biden, and The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. He has held positions at Delacorte Press, HarperCollins, and Workman, and he began his career at St. Martin’s Press.

Wendy Naugle is the Editor-in-Chief of PEOPLE, a brand that reaches over 118 million people. She joined PEOPLE as Deputy Editor in July 2019, where she helped oversee some of the brand’s largest franchises including Sexiest Man Alive, the Beautiful Issue, 100 Reasons to Love America, and PEOPLE of the Year. Wendy was appointed Editor-in-Chief in September 2022. She oversees the core magazine, and is responsible for everything from editorial content, to strategy, to brand extensions. Since her appointment, Wendy has expanded coverage in the mental health space with a new campaign titled Let's Talk About It, a year-long initiative to encourage readers to have vital conversations about their mental health. Along with highlighting stories of ordinary people and celebrities who have dealt with mental illness, the campaign provides information on where to get help and how to offer support to others.

Prior to joining PEOPLE, Wendy was Executive Editor at Glamour, leading editorial content and its Women of the Year Awards and Women of the Year Summit. Her stories on subjects ranging from breast implants, to health insurance, to reproductive rights won two National Magazine Awards for Personal Service and a National Press Club Consumer Journalism Award, among other honors. Wendy earned her BA from Drake University. 

Bruce Nichols is Senior Vice President and Publisher at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Prior to joining HMH, he worked at Little, Brown, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, as Senior Vice President and Publisher. There, Bruce oversaw the acquisition and publication of approximately 200 titles per year. Notable and bestselling authors he has worked with in his career include Douglas Brinkley, Francis Collins, Tim Ferriss, Adam Hochschild, Eric Lichtblau, Tim O’Brien, Cynthia Ozick, James Risen, Paul Theroux, and Esther Wojcicki. Bruce has held publishing and editorial roles at HarperCollins and Free Press, and serves on the board of Bellevue Literary Press.

Simone Oliver is the SVP, Digital Content at BET, where she leads the Editorial, Video, Social, Branded Content and Creative teams. She joined BET with almost 20 years of experience as a digital pioneer and change-maker. Simone has a proven track record leading and reimagining media brands, as well as transforming organizations to inspire creative revitalization. Most recently, she was the Global Editor-in-Chief at Refinery29, where she oversaw the multidisciplinary content teams across the U.S, Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Australia, and New Zealand. R29 saw historical growth in views across social and vertical video, and loyalty and engagement in newsletters under Simone’s leadership. She has held positions at Facebook and Instagram, Allure, and The New York Times, where she started The Times’s first ever Instagram account (@nytfashion, now exists as @nytstyle). Simone has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching Social Platforms, Processes, & Perspectives for students in the Newhouse NYC program at Syracuse University for four and a half years.

Puja Patel is the Editor-in-Chief of Pitchfork and co-host of The Pitchfork Review podcast. Puja has previously served as the editor of SPIN, the culture editor of Deadspin, and a columnist for the Village Voice and MTV. Her writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Washington Post, VICE, and FADER. Puja serves on the advisory board of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute and is a founding board member of Building Beats, a non-profit organization that provides music education and developmental skills to underserved youth across New York City.

Keith Riegert is the Publisher of the Brooklyn-based independent publishing companies, Ulysses Press and VeloPress Books. He is also a co-founder of the book publicity and digital marketing firm Pacific & Court and the printing marketplace Perfect Bound, as well as Little, Brown Lab and Kingfisher Press. Prior to his current role at Ulysses Press, Keith was Associate Director of Analytics for Hachette Book Group. He holds a BA in English literature from the University of California Santa Barbara and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Lorraine Shanley is President of Market Partners International. She began her career at Barnes & Noble and Book of the Month Club, where she was Executive Vice President in charge of clubs and merchandise. Lorraine moved to HarperCollins as Editorial Director, but left to co-found Market Partners International, which remains the only firm focused on consulting and recruiting for publishers. She serves on the Advisory Board of New York University’s Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, and for five years chaired the Launch Kids Media conference at Digital Book World. A member (and past president) of Women’s Media Group, Lorraine is on the board of The Hudson River Museum and is a livery member of the Stationers Company Communications & Content Guild in London. She graduated from the University of Rochester and received her MA from the University of Virginia.

Liate Stehlik is President and Publisher of the Morrow Group, overseeing the publishing operations for William Morrow, Mariner, Harvest, Avon, Dey Street, and Harper Voyager as well as HarperCollins Children’s Books. She joined HarperCollins in 2005 as publisher of Avon Books. Prior to joining HarperCollins, Liate was Associate Publisher at Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. She is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and has an MA from New York University’s Gallatin Division.

Pam Wasserstein has been the President of Vox Media, LLC since 2019. Prior to joining Vox, she was the CEO of New York Media, leading the premium content company on an ambitious expansion in several areas, including video, branded content, live events, and e-commerce, while growing audience and revenue at core brands New York Magazine, nymag.com, Vulture, The Cut, Daily Intelligencer, Grub Street, Science of Us, Select All, and The Strategist.

Prior to joining New York Media, Pam worked at Tribeca Enterprises, most recently spearheading new business initiatives as the Vice President of Corporate Development. Before that, she worked at Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm, where she evaluated potential investments and managed existing portfolio companies. Pam also worked for several years as a corporate lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Kate Murphy Zeman is Head of News Product Business Development at Google. She has been at Google for more than 10 years. Prior to her current position, Kate was the Global Head of News and Publishing Partnerships, where she led business development for Google's News and Books product portfolio. Before joining Google, her previous roles included content marketing, merchandising, and product management at Barnes & Noble.com, Scholastic, and digital media startup iAmplify. Kate earned her BA in English Literature and Biology from Brown University.