Lerner Publishing Group announced on Wednesday that the venerable 57-year-old Minneapolis-based children’s book publisher has hired Andy Cummings as v-p and editor-in-chief of its 14 fiction and nonfiction imprints and divisions, which target both the school/library and trade markets with approximately 400 releases each year.
Cummings will lead LPG's content team of 50 people, which includes its editorial, photo research, and integrated creative services departments. Cummings, who is relocating from Indianapolis to Minneapolis, will assume his responsibilities at LPG on January 20 and will report to Adam Lerner, LPG publisher and CEO. He replaces Patricia Stockland, who served as LPG's editor-in-chief from 2013-2016.
Cummings previously worked for more than 20 years at Wiley where, most recently, he served for five years as v-p of strategic business development for the Dummies brand of reference guides with the iconic yellow covers. He earlier served as publisher and publishing director of Wiley’s Dummies Technology series for 15 years.
“With his extensive management, workflow, and content development expertise, Andy brings to us a proven track record in educational products,” Lerner stated in a release. “With his wealth of experience and leadership skills, Andy will excel in his new role, and as our publishing program continues to grow he will be focused on building a list of quality titles that exceed the expectations of children, educators, and librarians.”
