Penguin Imprint
Gnesis Villar, Editorial Assistant
Editorial Assistant Gnesis Villar joined Kokila in June 2021. Previously, she wrote reviews for the children’s department at Publisher’s Weekly, in addition to interning at Macmillan, Laura Dail Literary Agency, and Dial Books for Young Readers. She is a native New Yorker raised on cartoons, unlimited Internet access, and R-rated horror movies. She graduated from…
Read MoreGrace Layer, Associate Editor
Grace Layer joined Dutton in January 2021 and acquires both fiction and nonfiction. She’s looking for exploratory, human-driven nonfiction that immerses readers in surprising and undertold stories of our history, environment, or culture. She has a soft spot for investigative journalism, travel/food narratives, and stories that dive into a propulsive mystery. On the fiction side,…
Read MoreLauren Appleton, Executive Editor
Lauren Appleton has been at Tarcher since 2012, where she acquires a wide range of self-improvement titles, mainly for Millennials and Gen-Z. She is particularly interested in the areas of inspiration/motivation, pop-psychology, creativity, social justice, female empowerment, and anything that will improve your life or simply make you smile. A large portion of her list…
Read MoreGretchen Durning, Editor
Gretchen Durning is an editor at G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. While at Penguin, she’s worked on titles such as the instant New York Times bestsellers Hotel Magnifique and The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor, the internationally bestselling Threads That Bind duology by Kika Hatzopoulou, and the critically acclaimed novel The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary…
Read MoreJoJo Lee, Editorial Assistant
JoJo Lee (she/her) received her B.A. in English and Philosophy from Tufts University, where her long-held fascination with gender dynamics, women writers, and children’s literature culminated in her senior thesis “Reading Little Women and Anne of Green Gables Queerly.” Prior to joining Dial in 2024, she interned at Astra Books for Young Readers, W. W.…
Read MoreEllen Cormier, Senior Editor
Ellen Cormier (she/her) is an editor at Dial Books for Young Readers, acquiring picture books, novels, and graphic novels with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ stories and creators. She is always on the lookout for voicey, character-driven books, especially ones that explore universal themes through the lens of hyper-specific experiences. She has a soft spot…
Read MoreKate Harrison, Editorial Director of Picture Books and Graphic Novels
Kate Harrison (she/her) spent much of her childhood in a tiny town in Southern Missouri that is best known for its “Throwed Rolls” restaurant, where you actually have to catch your bread in order to eat it. It inspired a strong work ethic, a true love of carbohydrates, and maybe a weird sense of humor.…
Read MoreNick Amphlett, Senior Editor
Nick Amphlett joined Dutton as a Senior Editor in September 2024. He acquires nonfiction, with particular interest in history, politics and current events, popular science, narrative nonfiction, biography, and sports. Prior to Dutton, he spent ten years at William Morrow, where he edited a range of leading journalists, academics, and thought leaders, including recipients of…
Read MoreCassidy Sachs, Senior Editor
Cassidy Sachs joined Dutton in 2017 and acquires across a broad range of fiction and nonfiction. Drawn to novels that lead with heart and humor and play deftly between genres, she is seeking joyful book club fiction that features strong, clever women at its center, and also loves murder mysteries, thrillers with a playful wink,…
Read MorePilar Garcia-Brown, Senior Editor
Pilar Garcia-Brown joined Dutton as a Senior Editor in September 2021. Previously, she worked at Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She concentrates on fiction in multiple categories, as well as narrative nonfiction. She’s interested in voice and character-driven fiction that upends expectation or plays with genre, and is especially drawn to novels that tackle urgent, contemporary social and…
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