Entangled Publishing has had a record-breaking year thanks, in large part, to the success of Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean fantasy series. Much of the press’s dominance in the marketplace, its executives insist, can be credited to Patricia Doherty, a national accounts manager at Macmillan, which distributes Entangled Publishing. Doherty handled Target and Hudson accounts until January; she currently handles only Target. She also supervises all of Macmillan’s airport bookstore accounts.

“We’ve worked with Patricia for years,” says associate publisher Jessica Turner. “The laydown and support she’s been able to secure this year, especially with retailers like Target, has played a huge role in our growth and success. Whether it was a TikTok phenomenon that had to be rushed onto the schedule, or phenomenal frontlists, she placed them all. She became an integral part of our team, and we couldn’t be exactly where we are without her.”

Molly Majumder, editorial director for the Red Tower imprint, agrees. “She truly went above and beyond when it came to sales support for titles small and large,” she says, “even going so far as to find creative solutions to any problems that came up.”

“It was an incredible year for Entangled,” Doherty says. “I hadn’t been that excited about publishing since I was a children’s book buyer and Harry Potter was coming out.” Doherty launched her career as a bookseller during college at a Book & Game Company outlet in her hometown of Lewiston, Idaho. She subsequently spent several years as a children’s book buyer at University Book Store in Seattle before becoming a Macmillan rep in 2000, initially handling New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania indies, as well as Brodart and Koen.

Doherty’s bookselling experience, she says, remains an influence. “As a buyer, the sales reps come in and tell you what the marketing is, what the book is about,” she says. “At the same time, you have a gut feeling about whether or not a book is going to be successful; it’s based on everything you see about that book, and what’s going on in society at the same time. I try to figure out immediately what each buyer wants to know. Some buyers want to know the story behind the book, other buyers don’t; they just want to know about marketing.”