Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief of Del Rey for the last decade, has chosen to take early retirement and will leave the Random House science fiction and fantasy imprint in December. With her pending departure, Tricia Pasternak has been promoted to editorial director of Del Rey Spectra, “overseeing both the editorial department in Del Rey’s traditional sf and fantasy publishing as well as the editorial content we are generating for our IP [intellectual property] business," according to a memo from Ballantine Bantam Dell heads Scott Shannon and Jennifer Hershey.
Other promotions include Keith Clayton who adds the additional responsibility of associate publisher for Del Rey Spectra to his existing role of director of creative development for BBD’s IP group; Anne Groell, editor of the bestselling author George R.R. Martin, has been named executive editor for Del Rey Spectra, editing bestselling house authors Terry Brooks and Harry Turtledove; and Frank Parisi joins BBD as the in-house coordinator for the Star Wars titles, working with Shelly Shapiro, Erich Schoeneweiss, and the rest of the LucasBooks team on all aspects of the Star Wars publishing program. Parisi will also be the editorial lead for Del Rey’s continuing list of licensed tie-ins, as well as contribute to its growing IP development initiative.
Mitchell's retirement from Random ends a long career in the science fiction and fantasy field. Before joining Del Rey, Mitchell held top editorial spots at Bantam Spectra, Baen Books, and Warner Aspect. As noted by Random, the number of award-winning and bestselling authors she has edited is almost too long to list, but include: William Gibson, Michael Chabon, Terry Brooks, Octavia Butler, Naomi Novik, Timothy Zahn, Dan Simmons, Peter F. Hamilton, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. She also edited bestselling graphic novels by Dean Koontz, Diana Gabaldon and Kim Harrison.
