New York, NY (April 9, 2008)–HarperCollins Publishers announced today that it has appointed Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray to the newly created position of Co-Publishers of the new imprint Balzer & Bray. They will join HarperCollins on May 5, 2008, reporting to Kate Morgan Jackson, Senior Vice President and Associate Publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books.
“We are so pleased and proud that Alessandra and Donna are coming to HarperCollins,” said Kate Jackson. “Between them there is nothing they can’t do–they have published award-winning and bestselling books for children of all ages, from babies through young adults. They are a dynamic and savvy team who knows what their readers want, and we welcome them with great excitement.”
“After working together for twelve years, Donna and I are thrilled to start this new venture,” said Balzer. Bray said. “We are particularly excited to launch this imprint at HarperCollins, which has such a prestigious publishing history.”
Alessandra Balzer began her career at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and was most recently an Executive Editor at Hyperion Books for Children. Alessandra is the editor of bestselling author and artist Mo Willems, who has won three Caldecott Honors, for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. Alessandra edited Sold by Patricia McCormick, a National Book Award Finalist and John, Paul, George, & Ben by Lane Smith, a New York Times best seller. She also works with Eoin Colfer, author of the internationally best-selling Artemis Fowl series, and Jonathan Stroud, who wrote the New York Times bestselling Bartimaeus Trilogy.
Donna Bray started her career at Henry Holt and Company, and was most recently the Editorial Director of Hyperion Books for Children. Among the books that Donna has edited are the Newbery Medal title Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi; National Book Award Finalist The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich; the New York Times bestsellers Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee; I’d Tell You I Love You But I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter; We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson; and Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio and LeUyen Pham. Donna also launched the blockbuster Baby Einstein book publishing program at Hyperion.
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world including the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children’s Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books, children’s books, cookbooks, mystery, romance, reference, religious and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history HarperCollins has published some of the world’s foremost authors and has won numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet consumer demand and generate additional business opportunities.