PW Star Watch and Frankfurt Book Fair Announce 2017’s Top Honorees

In News by Porter Anderson

From 45 honorees, five shortlisted contenders will be revealed on September 4, a PW Star Watch ‘Superstar’ to be named on September 6 in New York City.

Image: PW Star Watch

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
The ‘Superstar’ Wins a Trip to Frankfurt

In partnership with Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishers Weekly (PW) each year since 2015 has given out the PW Star Watch award on “gifted rising stars of the US publishing community.”

As Publishing Perspectives reported in March, the Frankfurt Book Fair and PW opened the award to nominations in the spring. The award has drawn close to 200 nominations this year, and a team of industry leaders has chosen to name 45 honorees from that group.

Five finalists will be selected from that group, and a single Superstar will be designated and given an all-expenses-paid trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair (which runs this year from October 11 to 15). The prize includes a full six-day all-access membership in the Business Club in Hall 4.

In a prepared statement, Publishers Weekly editorial director Jim Milliot is quoted, saying, “PW Star Watch has become a proven avenue for identifying and celebrating up-and-coming talent within the bookselling and publishing industries. The profession is thriving with creative newcomers who lend their voices to the future of books.”

For a third time, the Star Watch program will hold a celebratory party in New York, this year on September 6 at Chelsea’s TAO Downtown Nightclub on 9th Avenue at 16th Street in New York City. The event, scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., is open to the public, with a ticket price of US$29, available here.

The selection panel for the program’s honorees comprises PW editors, Buchmesse representatives, and other players in the industry.

Five of the honorees announced today (August 8) will be revealed on September 4 in PW as shortlisted contenders for the Superstar award. The Superstar will be named at the party on September 6.

2017 PW Star Watch T0p 45 Honorees
  • Kelley Allen, Director of E-Books, Humble Bundle
  • Sarah Billingsley, Senior Editor for Food and Drink, Chronicle Books
  • Leila Campoli, Literary Agent, Stonesong
  • Diane Capriola, Bookseller, Little Shop of Stories
  • Rebecca Carlisle, Director of Publicity, Adult Titles, Workman Publishing
  • Lynne Ciccaglione, Associate Publisher, Regan Arts
  • Alyssa Cordova, Director of Publicity, Regnery Publishing
  • Cindy Dach, Bookseller, Changing Hands, Tempe AZ
  • Chelsea Eberly, Editor, Random House Children’s Books
  • Candace Finn, Senior Manager, Subsidiary Rights, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Clelia Gore, Literary Agent, Martin Literary Management
  • Taylor Grant, Assistant Art Director, Penguin Random House
  • Jessica Greer, Publicity Director, Other Press
  • Suzanna Hermans, Bookseller, Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck
  • Christa Heschke, Literary Agent, McIntosh & Otis
  • Anne Ishii, Owner, Massive Goods
  • Jennifer Laughran, Senior Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
  • Kate Layte, Bookseller, Papercuts J.P., Boston
  • Daniel Loedel, Associate Editor, Scribner, Simon & Schuster
  • Caitlin McKenna, Editor, Random House
  • Andrea Montejo, President, Indent Agency
  • Alexandra Nicolajsen, Director of Social Media & Digital Sales, Kensington Publishing
  • Annie Nybo, Editor, Albert Whitman
  • Katy O’Donnell, Editor, Nation Books
  • Josh O’Neil, Founder, Beehive Books
  • Nicole Op Den Bosch, ‎Senior Manager, Editorial, Operations Audible
  • Ammi-Joan Pacquette, Senior Agent, Erin Murphy Literary Agency
  • Gabriella Page-Fort, Editorial Director, Amazon Crossings
  • Cassandra Pelham, Senior Editor, Scholastic
  • Janine Perez, Associate Digital Marketing Manager, Simon & Schuster
  • Andy Perham, Bookseller, Books Inc., San Francisco
  • Michael Petranek, Senior Editor and LEGO Publishing Manager, Scholastic
  • Andrew Rein, Sales Director, Mass Merchandise National Accounts, Penguin Random House
  • Lindsey Schwoeri, Senior Editor, Penguin Books
  • Erika Seyfried, Assistant Director, Digital Campaigns and Media Planning, Random House
  • Serena Sigona, Senior Product Manager, PRH/Crown/Ten Speed
  • Kwon Soonyoung, Senior Designer, Knopf
  • Phil Stamper-Halpin, Manager, Publishing Development and Author Platforms, Penguin Random House
  • Laura Stanfill, Publisher, Forest Avenue Press
  • Caroline Sun, Director of Publicity, Harper Collins Children’s Books, HarperCollins
  • Michael Szczerban, Executive Editor, Little, Brown
  • Blair Thornburgh, Editor, Quirk
  • Ashley Tucker, Associate Art Director, Penguin Publishing Group
  • Colleen AF Venebel, Art Director, Children’s Book Group, Workman Publishing

Previous PW Star Watch Superstars include Andrew Harwell, senior editor, HarperCollins Children’s Books, in 2016, and Helen Yentus, art director, Riverhead Books, in 2015.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.