DBW Community Advisors
Ryan Chapman
Online Marketing Manager, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ryan Chapman has recently transitioned to Farrar, Straus and Giroux as Online Marketing Manager after a few years in Macmillan’s Online Marketing department. He’s privileged to have collaborated on digital campaigns for Thomas L. Friedman, Alex Ross and Naomi Klein. Before publishing, he created online education content for a dotcom in Seattle and DJed in Prague. He speaks often at conferences and programs the infrequent 7×20x21 event with a few of his most respected and contentious colleagues. (DBW Profile)
FSG’s Work In Progress | Chapman/Chapman | @chapmanchapman
Laura Dawson
Publishing Industry Consultant, LJNDawson
Laura Dawson is a 20+ year veteran of the book industry, specializing in its technology issues. She has worked at Doubleday, Muze, Barnes & Noble.com, SirsiDynix, and as an independent consultant whose clients have included R. R. Bowker, Chuckwalla, McGraw-Hill, the Book Industry Study Group, Ingram Library Services, Audible, IBS/Bookmaster North America, Harvard University Press, Yale University Press, Lexis-Nexis, Cosimo Books, and Dial-A-Book. (DBW Profile)
Pablo Defendini
Interactive Producer, Open Road Integrated Media
Pablo Defendini is the Interactive Producer for Open Road Integrated Media, former producer/showrunner for Tor.com, and a general rabble-rouser. He was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico (one of the most SFnal places on Earth). He worked in advertising and media production before becoming Mass Market Designer for Tor Books, from which he made the jump to his current position. He is secretly a Cylon. (DBW Profile)
Tor.com | thenewsleekness.com | @pablod
Jane Friedman
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, E-Media Division, College-Conservatory of Music
Jane Friedman is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, and teaches full-time in the e-media department of CCM. A frequent speaker at writing and publishing events, Jane helps writers understand the transformation underway in the media and publishing industries, and how writers can be successful and in control of their careers. Before joining CCM, Jane worked at F+W Media in Cincinnati for 12 years, and served as the publisher of Writer’s Digest, the No. 1 resource for working writers. (DBW Profile)
There Are No Rules | janefriedman.com | @janefriedman
Ami Greko
Senior Manager, Vendor Relations, Books (NYC)
Ami Greko is the Senior Manager, Vendor Relations, Books (NYC) for Kobo. Most recently Director of Business Development for GetGlue, she also managed digital marketing for Macmillan, was Marketing Director for Folio Literary Management, and held positions with Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Viking Penguin.
kobobooks.com | ami with an i | @ami_with_an_I
Don Linn
Principal, Linn & Company, LLC
Don Linn has a sordid past as a mergers and acquisitions investment banker; cotton and catfish farmer in deepest Mississippi; book distributor (as owner/CEO of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution); publisher (The Taunton Press); serial entrepreneur and general ne’er-do-well. He was a founder of the late Quartet Press and is currently an investor in OR Books, while consulting with and advising other publishing entities. He’s a graduate of Harvard Business School and Vanderbilt University, and is endlessly fascinated with the convergence of technologies with media and the opportunities and business models arising from their collision. (DBW Profile)
Dominique Raccah
Publisher, Sourcebooks Inc.
Dominique Raccah is the publisher of Sourcebooks, the company she founded in 1987. From that small start, Raccah has directed a continuously growing entrepreneurial creative organization that morphed into a general trade house which happily produces everything from bestsellers in fiction, children’s books and poetry, to number one titles in both baby names and college guides, eleven New York Times Bestsellers and more than twenty national bestsellers. Sourcebooks today has over 70 employees, publishes over 300 new titles each year and is proud to be the largest woman-owned trade book publisher in the country. Dominique currently serves as co-chair of BISG.
sourcebooks.com | poetryspeaks.com | @draccah
Kate Rados
Marketing Director, F+W Media
Kate Rados is the Marketing Director for F+W Media. Before this position, she was the Director of Digital Initiatives for Chelsea Green Publishing and Director of Digital Markets for Sterling. Kate never takes off her consumer hat, attributes her theater training as the best resource for dealing with any situation and is a self-proclaimed gadget geek. In her spare time, Kate is a vocalist and can frequently be seen rocking out in karaoke bars across Manhattan. (DBW Profile)
chelseagreen.com | katerados.com | @katerados
Debbie Stier
Director of Digital Marketing, HarperCollins
Debbie Stier is the Director of Digital Marketing for HarperCollins, where she is responsible for educating and evangelizing digital trends throughout the company. The trends encompass how people communicate, what technologies they are using, how other industries are using technology, and how this all applies to book publishing. (DBW Profile)
harpercollins.com | debbiestier.com | @debbiestier
Bridget Warren
Former Co-Owner — Vertigo Books, College Park, MD
Bridget Warren is an experienced literary programmer and marketer. She co-owned Vertigo Books for almost 18 years. Vertigo Books opened November 1991 at Dupont Circle in DC with a specialty in international politics, world literature and African American studies. In April 2000, Vertigo Books moved to College Park, MD and was known for its excellent selection, knowledgeable staff and sense of community. Warren now serves as head of public relations and programming for a Washington, DC-area library system.
