Penguin’s Young Readers Group has hired Jennifer Besser to be their new vice president and publisher of G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. She’ll start on 12 April. She was most recently an executive editor at the Disney Book Group’s Hyperion.
Penguin Young Readers Group President Don Weisberg said “I am delighted to welcome Ms. Besser to the Putnam Books for Young Readers family. She is respected in the industry for her strong editorial vision and keen understanding of what attracts today’s young readers. She has the rare ability to find books that balance literary merit and commercial appeal, a quality that make her the ideal person to helm Putnam.”
Besser has previously edited such titles as Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan, the Blue Blood novels by Melissa de la Cruz, and Heist Society by Ally Carter.
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
New author Rachel Hawkins sells paranormal YA trilogy to Hyperion (People/Book & Novel Sales, 4 September 2008)
Inara Scott sells children’s fantasy novel to Hyperion (People/Book & Novel Sales, 31 October 2007)