The Board of Directors for World Book Night U.S., in alphabetical order:
- Molly Barton, V.P. Digital Publishing, Business Development & Strategy, Penguin
- Patricia Bostelman, V.P., Marketing, Barnes & Noble
- Dennis Eulau, Executive V.P., Operations, & C.F.O., Simon & Schuster
- Suzanne Herz, Senior VP Publishing, DoubledayDennis
- Carl Lennertz, Executive Director, World Book Night U.S.
- Josh Marwell, President, Sales, HarperCollins
- Phil Ollila, Chief Content Officer, Ingram Content Group
- Michael Pietsch, Publisher, Little, Brown, & Executive V.P., Hachette Book Group
- Elisabeth Schmitz, VP and Editorial Director of Grove Atlantic
- Jeff Seroy, Senior V.P., Marketing and Publicity, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- Oren Teicher, C.E.O., American Booksellers Association
Committees
The World Book Night U.S. Steering Committee, in alphabetical order:
- Molly Barton, Global Digital Director, Penguin Group
- Joan DeMayo, Senior Vice President, Director of Sales, Random House Children’s Books
- Mary Ghikas, Senior Associate Executive Director, American Library Association
- Jonathan Karp,Executive Vice President and Publisher, Simon & Schuster
- Cathy Langer, Lead Buyer, Tattered Cover Bookstores
- Jan Lindstrom Valerio, National Business Development Manager, Marketing and Events, Barnes & Noble
The World Book Night U.S. Media Strategy Committee:
- Suzanne Herz, Senior Vice President, Publishing, Doubleday
- Sophie Cottrell, Vice President, Communications Director, Hachette Book Group
- Erica Glass, Corporate Communications, Penguin Book Group
- Sandi Mendelson, CEO, Hilsinger-Mendelson East
- Jeff Seroy, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Publicity, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- Amy Cox Williams, Director, PR & Product Marketing, Ingram Content Group
Staff
World Book Night U.S. Staff:
Carl Lennertz, Executive Director
Carl Lennertz began his book career out of college, working in bookstores for 5 years, and then going to Random House as a Midwest sales rep. In 16 years at Random, Carl served mostly as the Marketing Director of Knopf, Vintage and Pantheon, before going to Little, Brown as Associate Publisher, and then HarperCollins as VP of Retail Marketing. He also edited 15 books for Harper, Perennial, and Poisoned Pen Press and wrote a book, Cursed by a Happy Childhood, published by Harmony Books. He also spent 4 years as Director of Book Sense, a national marketing campaign for the independent bookstores, and is now Executive Director of World Book Night in the U.S.. He also speaks regularly at the NYU Publishing Course and writers’ conferences around the country, and teaches the week of Marketing each summer at the Denver Publishing Institute.
Laura Peraza, Social Media Manager
Originally a member of the World Book Night U.S. social media committee, Laura now heads the social media marketing and outreach for WBN. She has a background in marketing, publicity, and advertising. Fully bilingual, Laura’s traditional and social media experience includes targeting US audiences in both Spanish and English. In the past, she created the social media strategy for Vintage Español (Random House). She has an M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from New York University, as well as a postgraduate degree in journalism from the London School of Journalism.
Erin Cox, Director of Development
Erin manages the development and fundraising program for World Book Night U.S. Before joining WBN, Erin worked in the marketing department at Simon & Schuster Children's, and she was a member of WBN's inaugural social media committee. Prior to Simon & Schuster, Erin spent more than six years working in nonprofit development, including fundraising, communications, and marketing and branding. She has an M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from New York University; her undergraduate degree is from the College of William & Mary.
