After a rocky run trying to nail down someone to lead Twelve, the boutique Hachette imprint that Jonathan Karp founded in 2006 and left in 2010, Crown's Sean Desmond has been tapped as editorial director.
Desmond, currently an executive editor at Crown, will be taking the editorial reins at an imprint that has seen a flurry of leaders in the last few years. Deb Futter, former Grand Central Publishing v-p and editor-in-chief, was named publisher last month, replacing Cary Goldstein. Goldstein, who had held the top publicity job at Twelve before becoming publisher, replaced Susan Lehman, in early 2011.
Desmond, who started his career at Norton and also worked at ICM and Thomas Dunne, has edited a number of notable nonfiction titles, including George W. Bush's Decision Points. Other titles he's worked on include Richard Wolffe's Renegade: The Making of a President and Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House; Joe Scarborough's The Last Best Hope; and David Sanger's Confront and Conceal.
Speaking to her new hire, Futter said she chose Desmond intending to "define the next era at Twelve." She said that, in him, "I could not have found a more perfect fit in terms of acquisitions and vision."
Desmond will start at Twelve on May 28.
