Rucci to Putnam
Marysue Rucci has been named v-p, editorial director for Penguin's G. P. Putnam's Sons imprint. Rucci was at Simon & Schuster, where she was most recently v-p and executive editor of the house's flagship imprint. At Putnam, her primary responsibilities will be to build her own roster of authors and to help the Putnam imprint acquire and develop new bestselling franchises both in fiction and nonfiction. Rucci, who's worked with such authors as Jeffery Deaver, Lauren Weisberger, A.J. Jacobs, and Sandra Brown—is starting at Putnam on March 15.
Leifer Joins PublicAffairs
Jaime Leifer has been named publicity director at PublicAffairs. She is replacing Whitney Peeling, who recently left the company to volunteer in India and Bangladesh. Leifer, who spent six years at PublicAffairs before decamping for the New Yorker as PR manager, will be returning to the company February 8.
Deneen to SMP
Brendan Deneen has been named editor at St. Martin's Press. Deneen, who was most recently an agent at Fineprint Literary, will be handling all fiction but is especially interested in thrillers, elevated genre, and main stream noir/crime.
Smith to HMH
Summer Smith has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as publicity manager. She was previously a senior publicist at Putnam/Riverhead.
