In a memo to employees, Simon & Schuster senior v-p of sales Gary Urda has outlined a new structure for the sales division that he said “will add a number of new positions to our selling efforts and leave us better positioned to accomplish our ambitious goals.”
In a change in S&S’s national accounts channel, Paula Amendolara has been promoted to v-p, director of national accounts. In addition to Barnes & Noble and AWBC/Books-A-Million, she will now assume responsibility for sales to S&S’s mass market and airport accounts, as well as the key distributors that service them—Readerlink, Baker & Taylor and Ingram. Urda said the reconfiguration of the national accounts channel “recognizes the still-substantial importance of brick-and-mortar retail.”
To head the independent retail sales unit, Urda has named Wendy Sheanin v-p, independent retail sales. In this newly created position, Sheanin will be responsible for managing S&S’s field sales, telemarketing and telesales organizations that service the independent bookstore channel. Sheanin had been v-p and director of marketing for S&S.
Urda has also hired Nicole Vines Verlin as v-p, special sales. Verlin had been at Sterling Publishing, where she was director, special sales, mass market and export sales.
In other changes, Eileen Gentillo has been promoted to v-p, director of sales operations, responsible for sales communications as well as managing and streamlining all of the company’s going-to-market efforts for both its wholly owned and distribution client publishers.
Reporting to Gentillo are Jisoo Leones, who has been promoted to manager, sales operations and client publisher services; Andrés Feliciano, promoted to coordinator, client publisher services; and Lis Kingren-Hawkins, moves over from children’s sales to sales operations coordinator.
Finally, Urda said the children’s sales group will add a new national account manager who will service AWBC/Books-A-Million. This person will, with Victor Iannone, call on Barnes & Noble.
