HONOREES
14 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
SARA MEGIBOW
Literary agent
KT Literary, Highlands Ranch, Colo.F
rom coast to coast, editors, agents, and colleagues sing
Megibow’s praises. Kate Testerman, her boss, says that
though the agency is located outside of Denver, “Sara has
conquered the New York publishing scene and regularly
receives author referrals from editorial colleagues, which I always
feel is a fantastic sign of a great agent.” On the other coast, Megibow
has closed deals with several “major players” in Los Angeles,
Testerman adds. From her corporate background, Megibow brings
a marketing sensibility to the agent arena with particular success
in commercial women’s fiction,
sci-fi/fantasy, and children’s
books. Among her clients are
bestselling authors Tiffany Reisz,
Jason Hough, Margaret
Rogerson, and Jaleigh Johnson,
as well as newcomers Rebecca
Roanhorse and Casey McQuiston,
whose debut novels “have
exploded onto award lists and
social media like shooting stars,”
Testerman says.BETHANY MARSHALL
Publishing director
Morgan James, New York CityA
self-proclaimed “entrepreneur by heart,” Marshall
walked into the doors of independent publisher
Morgan James while she was still a student and
immediately felt at home at a company that was
“created by an entrepreneurial author for entrepreneurial
authors,” according to its website. Marshall joined the company
in 2008 and has been an integral factor in the company’s growth
from six titles per year to an average
of 195 titles annually, with a back-
list of 2,700 titles. At first, Marshall
did everything. “She not only
excelled at whatever we needed her
to do, she tasked herself to learn all
she could about publishing and
quickly rose through the ranks,”
founder David L. Hancock says.
About six years ago, Marshall tran-
sitioned from the marketing side to the position of assistant
publishing director, where she tamed the company’s Wild West
approach of crashing books into the marketplace and mapped
out a more strategic launch plan that has spurred rapid growth.LAUREN MATURO
Senior publicist
Blackstone, Ashland, Ore.D
on’t be deceived by
Maturo’s title—
she’s far more than a
publicist. When
Maturo joined Blackstone four
years ago, the previously all-audiobook company was just
launching its first print endeavors. Indeed, that’s one of the rea-
sons it brought Maturo on board—it wanted her hardcover exper-
tise from the four years she spent at Norton. Accordingly, Maturo
attends acquisition meetings and weighs in with her opinions—
and her colleagues listen. At Norton, having been part of the
campaign for the critically and commercially successful novel
Dragonfish, a noir from Vietnamese-American writer Vu Tran,
she saw “the viability of diverse voices in a specific genre.” At
Blackstone, she championed Cadwell Turnbell’s recently pub-
lished The Lesson, a sci-fi novel told from the perspective of a
writer from the Virgin Islands. “It offers a unique take on a genre
trope—an alien invasion—and turns it into something com-
pletely new,” Maturo says. The book, optioned by AMC for film,
a B&N “best book of 2019 so far,” and the subject of a Boston
Globe behind-the-book feature, continues its momentum.©^
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ar
liepappasHEATHER LUCIANO
Publisher
Elsevier, New York CityA
s publisher of Elsevier’s portfolio of cardiology
and ophthalmology journals, Luciano’s name is
not likely to be seen in gossip columns dotted
with publishing
glitterati. Luciano has made
her mark laboring in the staid
arena of educational publishing
throughout her 11-year career,
which she began as an assistant
at Pearson Education, where
she helped launch student and
teacher resource centers that
continue to be an integral part
of the company’s offering.
Luciano’s list of volunteer and philanthropic contributions is
dizzying. At NYU, where she earned an MBA, she was the
recipient of the NYU President’s Service Award; she has
served in various roles for the AAP; and she is the corporate
social-responsibility champion for Elsevier’s New York office
and sits on Elsevier’s Women Connected and Pride
Committees.