BenBella

Glenn Yeffeth is Publisher of BenBella Books. For fifteen years Glenn was a corporate strategist and marketer who ran companies in Chicago, London and Dallas. In 2001 Glenn formed BenBella Books (named after Glenn’s children Benjamin and Isabella) to combine his love for books with his passion for marketing. Glenn has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago and a BA in History from Oberlin College. His favorite book is The DaVinci Mole, a little-known work by the eminent philosopher Dr. Ian Browne. More about Glenn can be found at LinkedIn.

Heather Butterfield is a Publishing Associate at BenBella Books’ Smart Pop imprint, and is responsible for marketing and editorial projects. She graduated from Emerson College’s Publishing and Writing MA program in 2011 and was delighted to actually put her degree to use after graduation. She has a soft spot for YA fiction and vampire drama, and one of her favorite books is Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman.

Leigh Camp is the Production Manager at BenBella Books. She coordinates between authors, editors, proofreaders, and interior book designers to ensure that titles release on time and are error-free. A week after earning her BA in English from Southern Methodist University, Leigh was on a plane to New York City in pursuit of a career in book publishing. Leigh lived in Manhattan for over two years and worked with John Wiley & Sons, first as a Production Assistant and later as a Production Editor. After hours, she earned a Professional Certificate in Book Publishing from NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Leigh is thrilled to have miraculously landed a position in the tiny niche that is book production with BenBella Books here in Dallas, Texas. The queso in New York was pretty terrible, and here no one looks twice if she says “ya’ll.” A week ago, she would have told you without hesitation that her favorite book of all time was The Count of Monte Cristo—but she recently finished Anna Karenina, and now she has a difficult decision to make.

Jennifer Canzoneri is Marketing Manager at BenBella Books. She oversees all traditional, online, and social media marketing for the general nonfiction titles and authors. Jennifer graduated from Texas A&M University with a BA in both History and English. She lives with her husband and son in a Fort Worth suburb. Her favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Sarah Dombrowsky is a Design Associate at BenBella Books. Her work involves strategic positioning, online book vendor sites, and in-house graphic design. Sarah graduated summa cum laude from TCU in 2010 with a BA in Writing and a Studio Art minor. As for books, her childhood favorite Ella Enchanted will always hold top billing.

Debbie Harmsen is the Editor-in-Chief, General Non-Fiction, at BenBella Books. A publishing veteran, Debbie has worked for magazines, newspapers, and books, including editing travel guidebooks for Random House. While an editor at Random House, Debbie won an award for her work on the first edition of Fodor’s The Complete Guide to National Parks of the West. She has a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University.

Debbie has taught college classes, including magazine editing, news reporting and writing, and creative writing. She loves all things Jane Austen, can never get enough of Paris, and thinks Chicago-style pizza is, hands-down, the best. A native Midwesterner turned seasoned New Yorker, Debbie is happy to be back in Texas, home of her alma mater, Baylor University. She is currently back at Baylor part-time, working on an Executive MBA at the business school’s Dallas location.

Aida Herrera is Administrative Director of BenBella Books and handles the special sales, financial and HR issues. She has more than 15 years of experience in managing principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources, logistics and international trade. She has a BA in Business from the University of Mexico and a Certificate in Accounting from San Diego State University.

Erin Kelley is an editorial associate at BenBella Books, working mostly in the general non-fiction line. She is also responsible for all of the backlist titles. She hails from Indiana University and feels like she’s pulled one over on the universe by landing a job that allows her to read books all day.

When she’s not reading or writing, Erin indulges in various forms of geekiness, including online gaming, making jewelry, crocheting, embracing a steampunk lifestyle, and playing with her cats. Her favorite book is Ulysses, and she can’t wait to go back to Dublin.

Adrienne Lang manages Strategic Positioning and Packaging. Among many things, she oversees cover development, vendor site listings, and co-op and advertising opportunities. A proud native and fan of all things Kansas City, she somehow found herself in Fort Worth, where she graduated from Texas Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism and political science, a jaded view of the BCS’ inner workings, and a devotion to Horned Frog football. She is hard-pressed to name a favorite book, however, if forced, Adrienne would have to say The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Lindsay Marshall is the Marketing Associate at BenBella Books and supports the marketing efforts for all of BenBella’s general nonfiction titles. Born and raised in a college town north of Dallas, Lindsay graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in public relations and worked in Austin as a book publicist before returning to DFW and joining BenBella. Lindsay’s favorite book is the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice.

Clarissa Phillips is the Bookkeeper/Administrative Associate at BenBella Books and is responsible for accounting, customer support, billing, shipping and overall office support. She has over 10 years of accounting experience and she received a Certificate in Bookkeeping from Richland Community College. Clarissa has lived in Dallas for over 20 years and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. She enjoys playing basketball, listening to live jazz, date nights with her husband and reading of course!

Cortney Strube is Associate Publisher at BenBella Books. Her responsibilities include assisting the Publisher in managing and organizing the book acquisition process, conducting publishing industry research, and supporting BenBella’s staff in various projects. Prior to joining BenBella, Cortney worked as an editor in the news and magazine publishing industries both in the U.S. and abroad. She graduated from Texas Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism.

Leah Wilson is Editor-in-Chief of BenBella Books’ Smart Pop imprint. Her responsibilities overseeing Smart Pop include the acquisition of pop culture titles, working directly with authors editorially, and coordinating cover content and design. Leah has a BA in Culture and Modern Fiction from Duke University and her favorite book is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

Allison Bard is a freelance graphic designer for Benbella Books. Allison studied Communication Design at Texas Tech University and specializes in the publishing and leisure industries. These days you will find her in London, drinking tea, riding the tube, and pursuing a Masters Degree in Visual Culture at the University of Westminster. See her work at www.allisonbard.com.

Jodee Blanco advises BenBella on acquisitions, marketing and promotion. She is a seasoned publishing executive with 15 New York Times bestsellers to her credit, five of which reached number one. Jodee has worked with Academy Award winning actors, Emmy Award winning producers and Hall of Fame professional athletes. She is on the faculties of New York University and The University of Chicago. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Book Publicity and The Evolving Woman.For more information, please visit The Blanco Group

Lloyd J. Jassin serves as Counsel for BenBella Books. Lloyd is a well-known publishing attorney with significant expertise in book publishing, television, theater, new media, arts and entertainment clients on contract, licensing, copyright, trademark, unfair competition, libel, right of privacy and general corporate law matters. Besides individual and corporate clients, he also represents trade and industry groups such as the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). Lloyd has achieved national prominence with his book,The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook, coauthored with Steven C. Schechter.

John Reinhardt has been designing books for BenBella since 2002. After several years as senior book designer at Irving Perkins Associates, John started John Reinhardt Book Design in 1992. He has been involved in book design/publishing since 1975 with nearly 1,700 books designed. John lives in Brookline, Vermont with his wife, Lynn. Find out more at www.bookdesign.com

Susan Schulman is BenBella Books audio rights agent, and markets our books to audio book publishers through her agency. Susan Schulman, A Literary Agency, is a boutique agency that represents fiction and nonfiction, playwrights and subsidiary film and translation rights for other agencies and publishers. The agency was founded in 1980 by Susan Schulman who, prior to establishing her own agency, was an agent at International Creative Management in the Literary Department. Prior to working at ICM, Susan taught History of the English Language and Linguistics as well as Renaissance Drama and American Literature courses on the college level. Additionally Susan served as Associate Publisher of Ohio University Press and acquired over 100 titles for the Press.

Stacia Seaman has more than fifteen years of experience in editing and proofreading nonfiction, including scholarly works, textbooks and popular nonfiction, and fiction, specializing in romance, mystery/suspense, science fiction/fantasy and contemporary fiction. Her background is in Slavic Languages and Literatures (M.A. University of Texas).

Ralph Voltz’s illustrations have appeared on more than 250 novel and book covers, and he has worked with a variety of agencies, companies and publishers including BenBella Books, National Geographic Publishing, GE, Coca Cola, Borders Books, Mac-Graw Hill, Oxford University Press, Saatchi & Saatchi, Campbell’s Soup, Department of Defense, BIC and BlueCross BlueShield. He earned both BFA and MFA degrees in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, and lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife Laura and daughters Josephine and Carly. He is represented by Deborah Wolfe. See his work at www.ralphvoltz.com.