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Becky Saletan, publisher of the trade division of Harcourt, has been named publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Adult Trade Books, a combined unit that resulted from Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep's recent $4bn takeover of Harcourt, reports the New York Times.
Saletan, who has been publisher of Harcourt since 2006, edges out Janet Silver, Houghton Mifflin's adult trade publisher, who has been at the company for 24 years, the last six as publisher. Silver is leaving the company. She declined to comment on the announcement.
Saletan will oversee field guides, cookbooks and adult trade books, which include novels and nonfiction titles.
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin is owned by Riverdeep, an Irish educational software developer. It acquired Harcourt from the publishing giant Reed Elsevier last July. Since then, the company has been integrating all its units, including its educational publishing arms.
According to the New York Times, other recent personnel announcements have favoured Houghton executives. In December, Gary Gentel, acting president of Houghton's trade and reference division, was named president of the unit. This month, Betsy Groban, previously publisher of Houghton's children’s book division, was named publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt children's book group.
In a statement about Saletan's appointment, Gentel said: "Highly regarded in the industry, Becky brings an innovative sensibility to publishing that will be important to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as we continue what we do well, and look for ways to expand our programs in bold new directions."