Karen Cooper joined Simon & Schuster in November of 2016, simultaneous with Simon & Schuster’s acquisition of Adams Media from F + W Publishing. In her position, she has responsibility for overseeing the publishing activities of more than 150 titles annually.

Adams Media is best known for publishing audience-driven, highly targeted, practical content for everyday life. Adams Media is home to several bestselling titles including Dude, You’re Gonna Be a Dad, Bushcraft 101, The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, and The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book.

Prior to her time at Adams Media, which she initially joined in 2004, Ms. Cooper led the marketing efforts for Pearson’s online fundraising site, Schoolcash.com, a subsidiary of Family Education Network.

Before joining Pearson, Ms. Cooper helped launch the children’s division of Element Books in the United States, serving as Managing Director. While at Element Books, Ms. Cooper also published multiple non-fiction middle grade titles.

Ms. Cooper began her career in the marketing department at Putnam & Grosset in New York, working with such bestselling authors as Tomie dePaola, Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, and her childhood favorite, Paula Daniziger.

Ms. Cooper studied at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst as well as The University of Seville in Spain. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband and their two children.

Stephanie McKenna started her career with Adams Media in 2003. She has been a sales manager for both the mass market and international account bases. Ms. McKenna has represented Adams Media throughout the world in the translation market while selling subsidiary rights. In her current role, she acts as liaison between editorial, marketing, design, and the Simon & Schuster sales force. She continues to oversee international and domestic subsidiary rights licensing for Adams Media. A graduate of Dickinson College, she lives in central Massachusetts with her husband.

Brendan O’Neill is a graduate of Boston College and began his career with Adams Media in 2006. As an acquisitions editor, he signed and edited a number of the imprint’s top-selling titles, including Dude, You’re Gonna Be a Dad and the WTF? series. He now leads the acquisitions team and continues to work with authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Dave Canterbury and Dinah Bucholz as well as award-winning comic book artist Yumi Sakugawa. He lives in Boston.

Meredith O’Hayre joined Adams Media in 2004. After working as a Publicity Assistant and Development Editor, she became the Director of Managing Editorial in 2015. In addition to keeping more than 150 books a year on schedule, Ms. O’Hayre’s role allows her to enjoy the challenge of supporting editors with project and budget management as well as writing back cover copy for many of Adams Media’s nonfiction titles. A graduate of The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Meredith lives south of Boston with her husband and daughter.

Lisa Laing joined Adams Media in 2005 as an associate editor for the Everything® series. To date, she has acquired more than three hundred titles for the series, which, at its peak of popularity, published more than ninety titles per year. She manages the Everything® team and acquires titles in several categories, including cooking, puzzles and games, diet and health, and children’s activity books. She also oversees Adams Media’s content management program. A graduate of Boston College, Lisa previously worked as an editor at Wheeler Publishing and associate director of public relations at the American Red Cross in Boston.

Natalie McGregor (she/her) joined Adams Media in July 2023. Prior to joining the Adams Editorial team, she served as the Acquisitions Editor at Artech House Books. In 2013, Natalie received her BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College and went on to receive her MA in Children’s Literature and MS in Library and Information Science in 2018 from Simmons University. Natalie has experience in academic, trade, and technical publishing, having previously interned with Wiley and later worked as the Editorial Assistant for Tumblehome Books. She has a passion for travel, tabletop gaming, junk journaling, cosplay, and expanding her collection of antiquarian children’s books.

Colby Yokell (she/her) joined Adams Media in March 2023. Prior to joining Adams, she graduated from Endicott College with a BA in English. During her time at Endicott, she completed several publishing internships in the editorial and marketing departments at Woodhall Press, The Quarto Group, and Spinner Publications. Colby also served on the editorial board of The Endicott Review and worked as a freelance editor for Woodhall Press. In 2022, she completed New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute and received a post-graduate certificate in publishing. Colby supports Meredith O’Hayre and the editorial team.

Casey Ebert joined Simon & Schuster upon its acquisition of Adams Media in 2016. Her work at Adams allows her to manage the production editor; provide clear and detailed house style guidelines for freelancers and editors to follow; contract all freelance copyeditors, proofreaders, and indexers; set freelancer due dates; ensure the production schedule is up to date; proofread and route all covers; keep track of all books and make sure they are ready for press on time; and sign off on final reviews for 100+ books per year.

She began her publishing career as national accounts assistant at F+W Publications in 2000. She became associate marketing manager at F+W, then transferred to Adams in 2005 as production editor after F+W acquired Adams. She subsequently took on the role of copy chief.

She earned her BA in English literature from Denison University. She studied in Bath, England, as a member of Advanced Studies in England, and especially loved her courses on Thomas Hardy and T.S. Eliot. After graduating from Denison, she attended the Denver Publishing Institute. She lives in Massachusetts.

Jo-Anne Duhamel joined Adams Media in 2015, her first foray into book publishing. Prior to that, she lived in North Carolina, where she worked for five years as a page designer and copyeditor for several newspapers under World Media Enterprises. Jo-Anne’s unique position at Adams allows her to have a hand in perfecting every one of the team’s books. She looks at the nitty-gritty details of the text, and greatly enjoys scouring each page for missing periods, misplaced commas, and misspelled words. Reprint corrections are like daggers to her heart.

Jo-Anne graduated from Boston University with a degree in print journalism. Her all-time favorite books are any by J.R.R. Tolkien. It might be an unpopular opinion, but some of her least favorite books are On the Road and Catcher in the Rye. The next book on her reading list is Ka by John Crowley. Jo-Anne supports Casey Ebert.

Julia Belkas is an editor at Adams Media. She joined the Adams team in 2016 after graduating from Simmons College (now University) with an MS in children’s literature. She started her publishing career as an editorial intern at The Horn Book Magazine, and was a two-time intern at Candlewick Press in the school and library marketing and publicity departments.

Julia is looking to acquire new titles in the lifestyle, New Age/wellness, and parenting categories. She especially loves to see a unique take on a well-loved topic. Titles she has acquired include Ashley Craft’s The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook, Jessica Misener’s JOMO, and Aliza Kelly’s The Mixology of Astrology.

Jacqueline Musser began her publishing career at F+W Media, where she helped launch the Betterway Home and Living Ready imprints and relaunch Family Tree Books. She joined Adams Media in 2014. Jacqueline is responsible for many of Adams Media’s top-selling titles and series, including USA TODAY bestseller The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO® Cookbook by Stephanie Laska and William Laska; the Stress Less ColoringTM series; the For Health series; and The “I Love My” series of appliance-based cookbooks. Jacqueline is looking for trend-based health, diet, cooking, self-help, and self-improvement books.

Eileen Mullan began her career at Adams Media in 2012. After working as a development editor for the Everything® series, she joined the single-title team as an acquisitions editor in 2015. She focuses on acquiring titles in the New Age, humor, and reference categories, such as The Green Witch; I Am Definitely, Probably Enough (I Think); and Introvert Doodles. She has anMFA in creative writing from Emerson College and lives in Connecticut.

Rebecca Thomas’s favorite projects are with authors who are passionate about their subject matter, whether they are pop culture bloggers, yoga teachers, RPG podcasters, or manifestation gurus. Rebecca has acquired books on a range of topics, including a book of RPG-themed cocktails, Düngeonmeister by Jef Aldrich and JonTaylor; a stargazing guide with comprehensive star charts, 100 Things to See in the Night Sky by Dean Regas; and a guide to mindfulness for people who fall asleep during yoga, Mindful As F*ck by Emily Horn. She is currently looking to acquire topics including New Age and witchcraft, reference/trivia, and science.  

Rebecca joined the Adams Media team in May 2015 after graduating from UMass Amherst with a BA in English and specializations in nonfiction writing, professional writing, and technical communication. She spends her time reading romance novels and playingD&D, and lives near Boston with her husband, young son, dog, and two cats.

Katie Corcoran Lytle joined Adams Media in 2009. As the associate director of development, her main responsibility is to ensure that the book that goes to the printer is the same book that was approved at the beginning of the acquisitions process. To ensure the continuity of this vision, Katie manages a team of development editors, and also works closely with acquisitions editors and designers. Prior to joining Adams Media, Katie worked as an adjunct English professor at a variety of colleges and universities. She holds a BA from Fairfield University and an MA from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and enjoys traveling, creating art, spending time at the beach, and, of course, reading. Katie loves cookbooks (even though she doesn’t cook) and stories based in magical realism, but her favorite books are the children’s stories she reads every night to her two young boys.

Laura MacLaughlin Daly joined Adams Media in 2000 after graduating from Mount Holyoke College and attending the Radcliffe Publishing Course (now the Columbia Publishing Course). She began as an assistant copy chief, progressing over her many years at Adams Media to managing editor and editorial director before having children and realigning herself as a senior development editor. In that role, she does both big-picture structural editing and smaller-scale line editing to ensure each book is the best it can possibly be.

She edits titles in a wide variety of subjects, such as parenting, reference, cooking, and mind/body/spirit. When she’s not editing books, she is reading them aloud with her husband and three kids.

Jen Kristal (she/her) joined Adams Media in March 2022 as an associate editor. She graduated from Denison University with a degree in English (Writing) and Communication, and a minor in Studio Art. Recently, she graduated from Emerson College with an MA in Publishing and Writing. She started her career in publishing at Simon & Schuster, UK as a marketing and publicity intern and has since bounced around in editorial roles at a literary magazine, The Virginial Quarterly Review, and K-12 publishing at Aptara Corporation. She is very excited to work with the company that got her interested in publishing in the first place! Jen lives in Boston and enjoys creative endeavors such as drawing, singing, and writing, as well as spending time playing board games, RPGs, and trading card games with friends.

Colleen Mulhern is an associate editor at Adams Media. She joined Adams in September 2022 and is looking to acquire titles across a wide variety of lifestyle categories. Prior to her current role, Colleen was a publicity and marketing campaign manager at Storey Publishing. Her favorite part of the publishing process is learning new skills through collaboration with passionate authors. Colleen is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross with a BA in English and a concentration in creative writing. She lives in Boston where she enjoys attending concerts, swimming, doing pub trivia with friends, and (obviously) reading.

Brett Shanahan is a senior development editor who joined Adams Media in 2005. Prior to Adams, she worked in textbook publishing at Thomson Higher Education, and in several book production companies. She graduated from Rhode Island College with a master’s degree in English literature, and from Stonehill College in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in English.

As a development editor, Brett shapes, rewrites, and elevates the content of manuscripts so they fit the team’s vision of the book. Brett has an affinity for cookbooks and books about food, but enjoys the depth and breadth of the Adams titles she gets to edit. When she is not working, you can find her hanging with her kids and getting into grammar fights with total strangers.

Aspiring to be a book editor since grade school, Sarah Doughty started her publishing career with internships at Just Write Books and Cider Mill Press while getting her bachelor’s degree in English at Saint Michael’s College. Originally from Maine, Sarah moved to Boston following graduation to pursue publishing, working as an editorial assistant at Hollan Publishing, Inc., before landing her current role as associate development editor at Adams Media in 2017.

Sarah loves helping writers shape their words from a first draft to a finished work they are proud to show off. She is particularly interested in the unique challenges and learning experiences each book offers, and enjoys deepening her knowledge of the many topics she encounters while editing.

Her list includes the bestseller The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook; The Mixology of Astrology; and Yes, I’m Hot in This. Her upcoming titles include The Unofficial Simpsons Cookbook; The Unofficial TikTok Cookbook; and Witchcraft Therapy.

Chris Duffy has been with Adams Media for more than twenty years. Initially hired when Adams Media Corporation was an independent company to work in the Accounting Department, Chris transitioned to the role of Contracts and Royalties Manager upon its acquisition by F+W Publications in 2003. Since that time, Chris has continued to expand his role within the company to include all office management duties for the facility in Avon, Massachusetts. Chris enjoys negotiating with authors and agents during the acquisition process and working to mediate and resolve pre- and post-acquisition contractual issues. He has also developed an ongoing interest in the intricacies of intellectual property law.

Beth Gissinger returned to Simon & Schuster in November of 2016, as Marketing and Publicity Director at Adams Media. Beth was previously a publicist for Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books and Pocket Books imprints, working with such bestselling authors as Whitley Strieber, Linda Howard, and Karen Robards.

Beth began her publicity career at Ryder Communications, a Manhattan-based marketing firm catering to literary clients. Highlights included event management for the 50th Anniversary of The National Book Awards with host Steve Martin and special medal recipient Oprah Winfrey, as well as the 150th Anniversary Gala of Harper’s Magazine. Additionally, Beth has worked on the publicity team at St. Martin’s Press, collaborating with numerous bestselling authors including Jennifer Donnelly, Joyce Maynard, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez.

A graduate of Emerson College, she lives on coastal Massachusetts with her husband and their two boys.

Maria Orlandi joined Adams Media in March 2022 as a publicity and marketing associate. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in English before pursuing a career in digital marketing. Prior to joining Adams Media, she was an editorial intern at Coffee House Press, as well as the nonfiction and poetry editor for the Santa Clara Review. Maria lives in Boston, where she enjoys illustration and exploring the city in her spare time.

Frank Rivera joined Adams Media in 2000. During his 25-year career, Frank has worked on a vast array of design projects including EGD for Texas Instruments, First Night Boston, and corporate and product branding for several national brands. Frank has also served as an adjunct professor at Clark University and Quincy College. He lives with his wife and daughters outside of Boston, where he enjoys using salvaged wood as the canvas for unique works of art. His personal motto comes from Neue Sammlung Munich: “Design is art that makes itself useful.”

Colleen Cunningham joined Adams Media in 2000. During her twenty-five-year publishing career, Colleen has designed book covers and interiors for a wide variety of genres, as well as contributed to the building of the ebook and content management system workflows. She has also enjoyed teaching as an adjunct professor at Emerson College and speaking at the HOW Design Conference, Digital Book World Conference, Boston InDesign User Group, PePcon, and the Bookbuilders of Boston. She lives with her husband and two cats south of Boston, where she enjoys getting creative with bullet journaling, baking, and gardening.

Sylvia is a senior designer at Adams Media. Originally from Leipzig, Germany, she moved overseas to the Boston area after graduating from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences with a degree in publishing. Prior to joining Adams Media in 2010, she was a designer at the Quayside Publishing Group for almost six years. Sylvia has designed a variety of books from a wide range of genres; among them are bestsellers like The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook and The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook. Whenever she is not designing books, you can find her outside with her husband and their two children hiking, biking, golfing, or snowboarding.

After graduating in 2014 with a BFA in graphic design from UMass Dartmouth, Julia worked for several years at a stationery company, creating greeting cards and calendar products. While working there, she found a passion for all things paper, along with a great joy in attending the National Stationery Show and LOUIE Awards in New York City each year. She also took on a variety of marketing roles during that time, managing the layout of many product catalogs. At the beginning of 2019, she joined the Adams Media team, and found the ability to combine her two favorite things: books and design.

Erin Alexander has been with Adams Media since 2002. Shortly after graduating from Keene State College, where she earned her BFA in graphic design with a minor in fine arts, she joined Adams as an interior book designer. In 2006, she switched roles to a cover designer. Erin is currently the associate art director, designing both covers and interiors for single and series titles, along with managing photo shoots. Being able to use her longtime love of creativity at work is a dream. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and black Lab in Rhode Island, where she enjoys family time at the beach, listening to music around the fire, and quiet nights at home watching movies.

Priscilla joined Adams Media as a designer in February 2019 after graduating with honors from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. Prior to that, she was a visualizer at Young & Rubicam Malaysia, and a lecturer at The One Academy of Communication Design. Through professional employment and a variety of freelance projects, she has produced work in diverse artistic venues—from portraiture to web design. Her illustrations have received recognition in the 3×3 International Illustration Show, and were exhibited at the Society of Illustrators student NY exhibits in 2017 and 2018.

Priscilla is dedicated to bringing these creative efforts to Adams Media, unifying her two passions—art and books—into a purposeful endeavor. Other than designing, she enjoys hand lettering and experimenting with various ways to create art, including with paints, inks, textiles, clay, and digital media.

Victor joined Adams Media in 2016. He has an associate’s degree in graphic design, and has worked in the publishing field for well over twenty years. Victor’s work has included cover design, marketing, and video. Massachusetts has been his home all his life. He enjoys sci-fi and animation, sometimes admired and scorned in his household.

Kellie Emery is a graphic designer originally from Portsmouth, Virginia. After graduating with a BFA in graphic design from the Art Institute of Virginia Beach, Kellie worked for 8 years at a small indie publishing company where she quickly fell in love with designing books. Making art has always been her driving force in life. Creating something from nothing and being able to tell a story or convey a message is a literal form of magic; she is excited to be harnessing those magic powers at Adams Media.

Michelle Kelly joined Adams Media in 1995. In her position she has responsibility for overseeing the production process for over 150 titles yearly. Additionally, Ms. Kelly provides support to the design team by working on interior and cover layouts.

Ms. Kelly began her career at Adams Media as an intern for the editorial department. Upon graduating, she became a full-time staff member and served as Managing Editor of the reference department for several years. In 2000, Ms. Kelly transitioned over to management of the production department.

Ms. Kelly studied at Stonehill College. She lives in southeastern Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters.

Bryan Davidson has been working in print production since 2000. He was hired as production manufacturing lead at Adams Media in 2012. Previous employers include the Appalachian Mountain Club and sports magazine start-up Maple Street Press. He holds degrees in English and French from Syracuse University, as well as an MA in interdisciplinary humanities from Arizona State University. Bryan lives in Whitman, Massachusetts, where he enjoys reading, writing, gaming, and occasional freelance work in between being a dad.

Erick DaCosta began his career at Adams Media in 2005, and has been working in the prepress/print production field for over twenty years. Erick maintains the role of being a main liaison to all teams within the company to help and provide support in the production of interior and cover layouts. Previous employers include Hub Folding Box Company, Inc., and Unisys, where he worked as an IT field service technician. He lives in Attleboro, Massachusetts.