Publishers Weekly and the Frankfurter Book Fair have announced the "Top Honorees" of the fourth annual PW Star Watch program.

This year's honorees were selected from a pool of nearly 300 nominations from the publishing and bookselling industry in the U.S. and, for the first time, Canada. Those honored included publicists, editors, designers, startup company founders, and seven booksellers, from stores including BookPeople in Austin, Tex., the Ripped Bodice Bookstore in Los Angeles, the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore in Chicago, and others.

"The quality of this year’s PW Star Watch nominees was particularly high and represented a strong cross-section of the publishing and bookselling communities: representatives from small presses and large, big-name bookstores and smaller mobile stores," Judith Rosen, Publishers Weekly contributing editor and PW Star Watch juror, said in a statement. "As in years past, the variety of people and their contributions to the book industry made jury selection all the harder. There is no question the Top Honorees deserve this high-level recognition from Publishers Weekly and the book world as a whole."

The Top Honorees will be narrowed to a "Top 5," who will be announced and profiled in the September 3, 2018, issue of Publishers Weekly magazine. One "Superstar" will be named at the PW Star Watch celebratory event at the Marquee nightclub in New York City on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, which will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which will be held from October 10 to October 14. Past winners include Gabriella Page-Fort, editorial director at AmazonCrossing (2017); Andrew (Harwell) Eliopulos, executive editor at HarperCollins (2016); and Helen Yentus, art director at Riverhead Books, the winner of the 2015 inaugural PW Star Watch.

"Frankfurter Buchmesse is dedicated to the future of international publishing. We are amazed by the innovation, creativity, and ingenuity each honoree brings to their work and to the industry as a whole, and we are delighted to be a part of celebrating and supporting those efforts," Thomas Minkus, v-p of emerging media and English language markets at Frankfurter Buchmesse, said in a statement. Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly and PW Star Watch 2018 juror, added: "These nominees have elevated the industry as a whole by their achievements."

This year's PW Star Watch honorees are:

  • Patrice Caldwell, Associate Editor, Disney-Hyperion
  • Mieke Chew, Publicity Director, New Directions Publishing
  • Preeti Chhibber, Assistant Director, Scholastic
  • Rakia Clark, Senior Editor, Beacon Press
  • Paul Covello, Marketing Associate, Design, HarperCollins Canada
  • Jackie DeLeo, Senior Director, Product Management, Readerlink
  • Jeff Deutsch, Bookseller, Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
  • Melissa Edwards, Literary Agent, Stonesong
  • Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, Authors and Founders, Timbuktu Labs
  • Emily Feinberg, Editor, Macmillan/Roaring Brook
  • Saraciea Fennell, Publicist, Tor
  • Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief, Boom! Studios
  • John Glynn, Editor, Hanover Square Press
  • Kevin Gray, Publicity Director, Westchester Publishing Service
  • Amy Green, Fiction Publicist, Bethany House
  • Tara Grove, Senior Editor, The New Press
  • Emily Heddleson, Senior Manager, Scholastic
  • Carol Hinz, Editorial Director, Millbrook Press, Lerner Publishing Group
  • Danika Isdahl, Production Manager, Sarabande Books
  • Susie Jaramillo, Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder, Encantos
  • Jessica Jeffers, Marketing Manager, Magination Press, the Children’s Book Imprint of the American Psychological Association
  • Elizabeth Jordan, Bookseller, BookPeople Bookstore
  • Bea Koch and Leah Koch, Co-owners, The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
  • Jennifer Abel Kovitz, Vice President & Associate Publisher, Catapult, Counterpoint and Soft Skull
  • Susannah Lawrence, Director of Publicity and Social Media, Akashic
  • Vivian Lee, Editor, Amazon/Little A
  • Veronica Santiago Liu, Bookseller, Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria
  • David Miles, Publishing Director, Familius
  • Apriljo Murphy, Editor, Greenleaf Book Group
  • Taylor Noel, Corporate Marketing Manager, Simon & Schuster
  • Glory Plata, Publicity Manager, Penguin Random House/Riverhead
  • Megan Quinn, Senior Director of Sales, Charlesbridge
  • Sam Raim, Associate Editor, Penguin Books, Penguin Random House/Penguin Books
  • Andie Reid, Associate Art Director, Quirk Books
  • Jasmin Rubero, Associate Art Director, Penguin Random House/Kokila
  • Darron Schroeder, Assistant Manager, Children's Product Buyer, Baker Bookstore
  • Margo Shickmanter, Associate Editor, Penguin Random House/Doubleday
  • Angela Maria Spring, Bookseller, Duende District Bookstore
  • Shimul Tolia, CEO, Bonnier
  • Jennifer Ung, Editor, Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse
  • Elizabeth Ward, Associate Director, Digital Strategy, Penguin Random House
  • Sara Weiss, Senior Editor, Penguin Random House/Ballantine
  • Daniella Wexler, Editor, Simon & Schuster/Atria
  • Abbe Wright, Editorial Lead, Penguin Random House/Read It Forward
  • Julian Yap, Founder and CEO, Serial Box