Marunas Named Publisher at Quercus U.S.; Shelley to CEO at Little, Brown U.K.

Nathaniel Marunas has been named publisher of the U.S. division of British publisher Quercus. Quercus, which established a U.S. division in 2013, was acquired last year by Hodder & Stoughton, a division of Hachette U.K. Additionally, David Shelley has been named as the successor to Ursula Mackenzie at Little, Brown U.K., with MacKenzie set to retire at the end of 2016.

Marunas has been tasked with growing the house's U.S. list; in a release the publisher said Marunas would be "taking on exceptional talent from across the Hachette UK lists, and also bringing in the high calibre Teach Yourself list which has previously been handled by McGraw Hill."

Jason Bartholemew, currently rights director at Hodder, Headline, John Murray Press and Quercus, will also be taking on the role of director of Quercus U.S. Marunas, based in New York City, will be reporting to Reagan Arthur, publisher of LB in the States.

In another appointment announcement from Hachette U.K., David Shelley has been named deputy CEO of Little, Brown U.K. Shelley, who is currently publisher of Little, Brown U.K. will be succeeding Ursula Mackenzie in the position.

Shelley will become CEO of the division on July 1, 2015, at which point Mackenzie will become chairman. Mackenzie will remain with the publishers, working on special projects, until her retirement at the end of 2016.

In a letter about the move, Tim Hely Hutchinson, CEO of Hachette U.K., said that Shelley has "nurtured the careers of some of the brightest publishing talent in the Hachette group, ensuring, with Ursula, that not only is Little, Brown a byword for great publishing and great publishing talent, but it is also a very happy place to work and to be published. Ursula and I have long felt that David was her natural successor and I look forward to working with him as he develops the company that Ursula has led so brilliantly for the last nine years.”

Shelley, who has worked with authors such as Mitch Albom, J.K. Rowling and Dennis Lehane, joined LB U.K. as editorial director in 2005 and was named publisher in 2011. MacKenzie came on in 2000, and was named CEO in 2006.