Hachette Book Group (HBG) is pleased to share the following promotions across its Union Square & Co. and digital operations teams:
Union Square & Co. Promotions
Emily Meehan is so pleased to share that Elke Villa has been promoted to Vice President, Associate Publisher, in addition to her role as Director of Marketing and Publicity.
Elke played a critical role in the transformation and rebranding of Union Square & Co., where she and her team created splashy and effective consumer campaigns that put the UNSQ list on the map and delivered 66 NY Times appearances and 94 starred reviews in two short years. This past year, Elke has displayed true leadership and invaluable partnership in guiding Union Square & Co. through the successful integration into HBG. She has led the marketing and publicity organization through structural, cultural, and operational change while expanding her role to include the duties of Associate Publisher in Union Square & Co.'s new organization. During this time, her team delivered marketing and publicity campaigns that landed 4 NY Times bestseller list slots for a combined 16 appearances.
Elke is a thoughtful leader who communicates transparently, supports team members, and makes changes with both the business and company culture in mind. She champions Union Square & Co.'s pillars in her day-to-day work and is a level-headed, practical thinker.
In her expanded role as Associate Publisher, Elke will continue to lead Marketing and Publicity while deepening her partnership with editorial, sales, production, and finance. She will play an increasingly central role in print strategy, budget planning, consumer insight integration, and ensuring publishing programs are aligned with Union Square & Co.'s mission and pillars.
From UNSQ Editorial:
Executive Editor Barbara Berger has been promoted to the newly created role of Executive Editor, Assistant Backlist Manager. Barbara joined Union Square & Co. in 2005, at least four iterations prior to the imprint as it is known today. In addition to her incredible front-list acquisitions, Barbara has become the singular go-to resource for information, files, contracts, and even lore for Union Square & Co.'s decades-long backlist. No matter the question, Barbara knows exactly where to find the answer, and her deep institutional knowledge has helped us pursue exciting opportunities across UNSQ Editorial's many categories. Barbara has personally spearheaded many of company repackages and revisions—such as the richly illustrated The Making of Middle-earth; the category-killing Edible Wild Plants; this fall's forthcoming Gilded Age; and perhaps most notably Wiccapedia, the revised edition of which has sold more than 300,000 copies—and has identified books that fit in with shorter-tailed trends for optimization, such as Gardening by Cuisine and The Art of Fishing Fly. Utilizing insights resources to Understand Consumers and her system-oriented Owner Mentality, Barbara has been an invaluable partner in the comprehension of UNSQ Editorial's imprints' history. UNSQ Editorial is thrilled to give a name to the wonderful work she has been doing, and they look forward to finding even more ways to build out this program further.
Michael Coulter has been promoted to Editor of Union Square & Co. Since Michael joined Union Square & Co. in July 2023, he has uplifted the Classics team with his extraordinary eye for detail, his irrepressible and committed advocacy for neglected classics by marginalized authors, and a cheerful dignity that enlivens and elevates every title he works on. He shepherds the entire Classics list with grace, works with multiple author estates with ease, and is now acquiring titles for the Herald Classics series. Michael embodies the imaginative, exemplary, and celebratory stories that UNSQ Editorial continues to publish.
Michael will continue to report to Mika Kasuga.
Stefanie Chin has been promoted to Editor of Union Square Kids. Stef has been with UNSQ for nearly four years. In that time, she has effortlessly juggled working across all Juvenile categories, taking the lead on the launch of a series, and sharpened her focus on Young Adult fiction. Stef has consistently distinguished herself with her meticulous editorial eye, her contagious and heartfelt enthusiasm, her can-do approach to everything from proactive trouble shooting to consistently stellar author care, and a thorough and thoughtful manner that demonstrates her commitment to excellence. UNSQ Editorial knows she will continue to bring breathtaking, insightful books to the Union Square Kids list and, in a new, exciting role, use those same stellar editorial sensibilities to acquire titles for the Adult Fiction team.
Stefanie will continue to report to Suzy Capozzi.
Mariana Seibold has been promoted to Assistant Editor at Union Square Kids. Mariana joined UNSQ Kids in 2024 as an editorial assistant working with Tracey Keevan and the Kids editorial team. In addition to coordinating meetings and conferences, supporting the launch of the Mo Willems Workshop program, and shepherding numerous projects through acquisition and contracts, Mariana has also taken the lead on key co-edition and import titles. In her new role, Mariana will continue to expand her editing role with Union Square & Co.'s publishing partners, as well as work on newly acquired titles.
Mariana will continue to report to Tracey Keevan.
Caitlin Cromley Linn has been promoted to Associate Editor of Union Square Gift. Caitlin joined Union Square & Co. in 2023 and has been consequential in growing the Gift & Specialty line within Knock Knock, Em & Friends, Knock Knock Kids, and Union Square Gift. She will be an integral member of the launch of Union Square & Co.'s line with SUNNIE, featuring journals, notepads, and more products. In this new role, Caitlin will continue acquiring thoughtful, design-driven gift products. Whether it’s a holiday cookie jigsaw puzzle or a beautifully illustrated Emily Dickinson journal, Caitlin is meticulous in her deadlines and communication and has been a wonderful asset to the team. Caitlin will continue to report to Camaren Subhiyah.
From UNSQ Design:
Julie Robine has been promoted to Associate Art Director of Union Square Kids. As all who are fortunate to work with Julie can attest, her can-do and calm energy make every project better. Her designs are inspired, unexpected, and always top-tier. Julie continually gives back to the creative community in her personal time, mentoring new and aspiring illustrators and designers. Julie is also an incredible book illustrator in her own right, and that experience only deepens her expertise in the work she does here at UNSQ. In her new role, Julie will oversee the design of the Mo Willems Early Reader series. She will also take on a larger role in the development of the picture book list at UNSQ.
Julie will continue to report to Amelia Mack.
Stacy Forte has been promoted to Associate Art Director for Union Square Gift. Stacy has been an integral part of the design team for several years now and came to UNSQ with extensive experience in book design and production. In her time at Union Square & Co., she has become a great asset to Union Square & Co.'s gift line through her love of 3-dimensional design and innovative thinking. Stacy has a knack for fusing all physical aspects of a project together to create incredibly impactful and user-friendly products. In her new role, Stacy will focus on building the gift line through a creative and process-driven lens while overseeing gift-related design for the department.
Stacy will now report to Lisa Forde.
Renée Bollier has been promoted to Senior Art Director, overseeing all 4C Adult titles for Union Square. Renée is a talented and innovative designer who is capable of reinventing her style from book to book to ensure she’s providing the most useful and beautiful books for her target consumer. She is gifted in the art of crafting impactful covers that complement and carry through her highly effective and clean interiors. Her thoughtful and strategic approach to design makes her an incredible asset to her team. In her new role, Renée will be overseeing the production of all 4C Adult titles through both Art Direction and her own design. Renée will continue to report to Lisa Forde. Kaylie Pendleton has been promoted to Studio Manager for Union Square Design. Kaylie is the backbone of the art department. She is a jack of all trades who is always there to support Union Square & Co.'s multi-faceted design group covering Adult, Children’s, and Gift. She is a curious and quick learner who is able to balance a demanding administrative and design workload. She is beloved across departments at UNSQ and likely soon across HBG if she isn’t already. UNSQ Design is overjoyed to see Kaylie growing with the team into a role that reflects her remarkable impact on the group. In her new role, Kaylie has taken on additional duties such as photo shoot production for culinary books, along with additional design-related duties.
Kaylie will continue to report to Lisa Forde.
Digital Operations Promotions
Carolyn Pittis is delighted to share several well-deserved promotions, along with a few organizational updates designed to better serve HBG's publishers and digital retail partners as HBG pursues its mission and Project Excellence goals.
Pittis is pleased to announce the promotion of Julie Rodriguez to Senior Director, Digital Operations. Julie is a consummate team player—calm, focused, and always the practical voice of what needs to be done next. She demonstrates thoughtful leadership and decisive problem‑solving in spades. She has the respect of so many for her consistency of message, action, and appreciation of others.
Over the past year, Julie has led the U.S. team on a complex global initiative to insource audio distribution from Ingram’s CoreSource. She has partnered closely with the Audio Publishing team, Digital Sales team, colleagues in France and the UK, CoreSource, IT, and HBG's third‑party technology vendor to expand the Digital Asset Distribution platform in support of HBG's fastest‑growing format. This service is scheduled to begin its rollout soon, in large part due to her efforts.
In parallel, Julie has continued to steward Aprimo—HBG's digital asset management platform—and HBG's Digital Printing and POD programs, another area the company is now leaning on for sales growth. She leads a team known for delivering high‑quality work with consistency, clarity, and low drama, and they are grateful for the impact that she and her team make every day.
As part of this transition, ebook creation will now sit within Julie’s group, uniting the digital product creation and distribution efforts within a single team. Jacqui Hudson and Slavica Walzl — HBG's ebook experts who joined via the Workman integration — will join Julie’s team.
Julie Rodriguez is excited to share that Bridget Vellturo has been promoted to Senior Digital Operations Manager, continuing to report to Rodriguez. Bridget has expertly managed HBG's Print‑on‑Demand programs across vendors, helping realize millions in annual sales. Her deep expertise in production specifications and digital printing, paired with strong analytical skills, has set a solid foundation that the company can now seek to scale and realize new growth opportunities.
In her new role, Bridget will oversee the enrollment of additional backlist titles across imprints and also help us build new dashboards to optimize work across Digital Ops. Emily Baker will now report to Bridget to help us deliver new and even more efficient operating capabilities.
Rodriguez is also delighted to announce the promotion of Kate Lopaze to Senior Digital Operations Manager. Over her 13 years with the team, Kate has been a cornerstone of HBG's ebook supply chain, client relationships, and piracy monitoring efforts. In 2025, she played a key role in migrating Amazon and Barnes & Noble ebook feeds to ONIX 3.0 and supporting the UNSQ ebook migration.
In her expanded role, Kate will take on greater responsibility across ebook and audio distribution, oversee catalog monitoring through Storecheck, and assume management of Sean Perry.
Melissa Mathlin is thrilled to share that Emily Baker has been promoted to Senior Production Associate. Over the past three years, Emily has coordinated the production of hundreds of titles while maintaining exceptional attention to detail. She has helped to streamline key processes, contributed to training initiatives, and helped increase the efficiency and output of the POD business. Her peer leadership and enthusiasm for making good change happen are infectious and appreciated by all she works with. In her spare time, she is studying Project Management, which is a critical capability for all to understand and develop in support of HBG's goals.
In her new role, Emily will report to Bridget Vellturo and focus on accelerating and scaling HBG's POD programs, designing and implementing workflow improvements across Digital Operations, while keeping her hand in on First Print production as needed.
