I’m Ben Sevier, the Senior Vice President and Publisher of Grand Central Publishing, responsible for all aspects of our publishing activities for Grand Central and its imprints, including Twelve, Forever, and Forever Yours. In my two decades in publishing, I have been an editorial assistant, an editor, an editor-in-chief, and a publisher, working closely at each level with creative art directors and designers, tireless publicists, innovative marketers, and brilliant editorial colleagues. The holistic view of the publishing process that I have been privileged to develop over the course of my years in the book business informs the Grand Central publishing process every day, and the excitement and enthusiasm that I witness over and over again within our group is the secret to Grand Central’s many successes. Prior to Grand Central, I was the Vice President and Publisher at Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, which followed editorial roles at Simon & Schuster, St. Martin's Press, and HarperCollins Children's Books. I have worked with the New York Times-bestselling novelists David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner, Nicholas Sparks, Jonathan Tropper, and Scott Turow, and directed the acquisition and publication of bestsellers by Sally Field, Jennifer Palmieri, Nick Offerman, Drew Barrymore, Brooke Shields, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, and theoretical physicist Sean Carroll. I grew up in California, and I now live in Manhattan with my wife and our children.

Let me come clean: I am a cliché.  I’ve always been a bookworm.  My favorites when I was growing up were The Arabian Nights and The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, and later Agatha Christie’s mysteries, P.G. Wodehouse’s hilarious novels, and E.B. White’s essay collections.  In college, I dreamed of landing a job that would pay me to read.  Lucky for me, that dream job has been mine for decades.  Finding great voices and great stories is as thrilling today as it was back when I was an Editorial Assistant, and how exciting that in my role as Digital and Paperback Publisher, I get to explore a variety of ways to share books with readers.  I work hand in glove with Editorial, Publicity, Marketing, and Sales to whip up enthusiasm for our books, and occasionally I get to say “mid-roll” in ebook meetings. Add my leadership of the Editorial and Marketing/Publicity teams of Forever, our romance and women's fiction imprint, and my own acquisitions in suspense/thiller, women's fiction, historical fiction, and commercial nonfiction categories -- well, like I said, a dream job.

My twenty-three-year path in publishing has taken me from W.W. Norton to ICM, to St. Martin’s, to Crown and now to my current role as VP and Publisher for Twelve Books. The mission and boutique nature of Twelve is a publisher’s dream—Twelve is a terrific home for authors to receive excellent attention and every chance to succeed with their writing. I have worked on a number of major bestsellers including Decision Points by President George W. Bush, Russian Roulette by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, And the Good News Is… by Dana Perino, Tribe by Sebastian Junger, 13 Hours by Mitch Zuckoff, and  Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich.  Other authors  I  have worked with include Michael Beschloss, Condoleezza Rice, Maureen Dowd, Charles Krauthammer, David Sanger, Alyssa Mastromonaco, William McRaven, John Dickerson, Michael Morell, Dan Pfeiffer, Russ Feingold, Max Brooks, Richard Wolffe, Ken Gormley, Mike Pesca, Henry Paulson, Peggy Noonan, Jack Hitt, Harold Ford, Jr., Brian Windhorst, Magic Johnson, Al Franken, Laszlo Bock, Robert McKee, Anne Kornblut, Chris Dodd, John Podesta, Glenn Greenwald, Stan Greenberg, Byron Dorgan, Kenny Mayne, Joe Conason, Johnnie Cochran, and Ralph Nader.

I began my career in book publishing after graduating from college and moving to New York. I worked at several houses, including John Wiley and Harlequin, before landing at Grand Central Publishing's editorial team where I worked for ten years, before leaving for a stint at Gallery Books/Scout Press, a division of Simon and Schuster. I have since returned to GCP as VP, Editorial Director where I oversee Hardcover Fiction and manage a team of talented editors who primarily acquire fiction for the imprint. I also acquire a list of my own, and have been lucky to work with a number of tremendous authors on such titles as Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg, Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova, Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, and novels by #1 New York Times bestseller Nicholas Sparks; and nonfiction projects Dewey by Vicki Myron, The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel, and Irena's Children by Tilar Mazzeo. What excites me most about being in this business is discovering new storytellers whose voices can entertain, educate, and enlighten me as a reader. I'm a native Texan who now lives in Manhattan with my husband and son.

I joined Grand Central in 2016. In more than two decades in publishing I have held editorial roles at Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. I specialize in Nonfiction, including Memoir, Biography, Humor, Women’s Issues, Pop History, Current Events, and Pop Culture (celebrity, music, film, television). Some of my critically acclaimed and bestselling books are Acid for the Children by Flea; I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson; Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me and Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling, Dad Is Fat and Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan, Sisters First by Barbara and Jenna Bush; Rod by Rod Stewart; and Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust by Loretta Lynn. Upcoming books include titles by Rachel Bloom, Jamie Foxx, Andrew McCarthy and Sutton Foster; a biography of the fascinating and tumultuous relationship between Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh by Stephen Galloway; Stolen, a riveting memoir by Elizabeth Gilpin about her harrowing experience of psychological manipulation and abuse at a "therapeutic" boarding school for "troubled" teens; Rafa the Great, the story of how as a teenager, screenwriter Rafael Agustin accidentally discovered his family was undocumented and how he and his parents navigated their shared secret life; and Five Floors Up, a history of the NYC fire department through the eyes of a four-generation firefighting family by journalist Brian McDonald.

Gretchen Young is Vice President, Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing. Prior to joining Grand Central Publishing, Young spent fifteen years at Hyperion where she launched the ESPN imprint and was the editorial director of ABC Synergy. Over her career, she has acquired and edited close to 100 New York Times bestsellers, including twelve books with Caroline Kennedy, and Elizabeth Alexander’s Pulitzer Prize finalist The Light of the World. Young has had the privilege of editing books by a diverse array of authors, including comedians Mike Birbiglia, George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Larry Wilmore, and Jessi Klein; inspirational politicians and activists John Lewis, Jennifer Palmieri, and John Prendergast; athletes Tiger Woods and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; business and thought leaders such as Google’s Eric Schmidt, Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld, and Cal Newport, among many others. A few highlights on her recent and upcoming list are books by Amber Ruffin, Misty Copeland, Sir David Attenborough, Katie Hill, classic Disney film star Hayley Mills, and Alanis Morissette and Diablo Cody. Growing up, the most important room in her house was her father’s library, and she couldn’t help but inherit his profound reverence for books. She looks forward to continuing to acquire new titles that resonate with readers and that her father would have been proud to keep on the shelf.

I vividly recall sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table waving around a Learn-to-Read book and protesting to all who would listen that I never wanted to learn how to read. Ever.  I’m not sure what magic those brothers Grimm infused in that edition of Snow White and Rose Red, but from that moment on I knew I had to live my life surrounded by books. Flash forward a few decades, and here I am entering my twelfth year at Hachette, where we publish the best and brightest stars in romance and women’s fiction. As Editor-in-Chief of Forever, I’ve had the pleasure of guiding the publication of numerous home-grown successes and bestselling authors and as an editor, I’ve worked with New York Times bestselling authors such as Elizabeth Hoyt, Kristen Ashley, Mia Sheridan, Corinne Michaels, and Rachel Van Dyken. I’m looking for authors with vividly authentic voices who write stories that make me laugh or cry (or both) and I’m eager to find the next big breakout star in the genre.

I’m currently acquiring commercial women’s fiction and romance. My titles run the gamut from Regency romance to laugh-out-loud romantic comedies, from heart-wrenching women’s fiction to light beach reads. I’m particularly looking for #ownvoices contemporary romance; stories about mothers and daughters, sisters, or best friends for women in their 30s or 40s; a fun summer beach read; or WWI- or WWII-set historicals, especially if there is a dual time element along with juicy family secrets. Some of my current bestselling authors include Carolyn Brown, Grace Burrowes, Helena Hunting, Abby Jimenez, Natasha Lester, and Farrah Rochon. When not reading, I’m happiest travel planning, tending my terrace garden, or cheering on the Red Sox.

My favorite night at home—and we’ve certainly had plenty of those—involves cracking open a new thriller and reading until the crack of dawn. However, I’m always on the lookout for intriguing fiction of any kind. I acquire primarily women’s fiction, historical fiction, thrillers/psychological suspense, and romance/rom com. For nonfiction, I’d love to be able to incorporate my own personal interests by adding heartwarming pet books and art history about well-known artists.  Right now, it’s an honor to be the editor of mother-and-son New York Times bestselling authors Iris and Roy Johansen, and I’m so pleased that Nina Laurin’s Girl Last Seen has gone back to press fifteen times. In the near future, I’m looking forward to the publication of WWII women’s fiction from Kelly Bowen and Jaclyn Goldis and upcoming thrillers from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Allen and USA Today bestselling author Cate Holahan as well as Angela Marsons, who has sold over four million copies of her Detective Kim Stone series.  And I’d like to give a special shout-out to my hardworking romance authors, including USA Today bestsellers Debbie Mason, Hope Ramsay, Annie Rains, and Melinda Curtis. It’s a thrill to discover new authors and help them find success, and I have always loved sharing my favorite books. After earning a journalism degree from Northwestern, I worked as a bookseller at Borders (remember them?) on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. I did not yet have the dream to come to New York City but I’m so glad that I did.

I joined Grand Central in 2016 to continue Grand Central’s tradition of excellence in the commercial thriller, supernatural fiction, and literary horror genres. I’m drawn to upmarket suspense with strong, sympathetic characters, high concept thrillers, series fiction that endures book after book, year after year, and page-turning stories that engage, play with, or subvert genre expectations. I also edit nonfiction that appeals to male readers—stories that interrogate, explore, and challenge contemporary masculinity. My authors include the #1 New York Times bestsellers Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Stephen Chbosky, and nationally bestselling authors Chuck Hogan, Ben Mezrich, and Chuck Palahniuk, to name a few. Prior to joining GCP, I helped launch Little, Brown’s Mulholland Books imprint, where I worked with authors like C. J. Sansom, Joe Ide, and more. Authors I have worked with have received the ALA Alex Award, the Nero Award, the Macavity Award, the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut, have been featured as Best Books of the Year in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and have received or been nominated for Edgar Awards in the Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Paperback Original categories.

I am a senior editor at Grand Central Publishing, where I acquire primarily narrative nonfiction as well as the occasional novel. The best way to describe me is to say that I’m an escapist at heart. I grew up in a house in the woods on the side of a mountain in Wyoming, and reading was the first way she saw the world. Now that I have left the Rockies behind, I am drawn to strong voices that have feminism, identity, and diversity at the forefront and offer unique takes on recent history and our contemporary life, especially cultural criticism, true crime, science, history, investigative journalism, memoir, and personal essays. My list includes bestsellers  The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe  by Dr. Steven Novella and Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito,  The Heir Affair  by bestselling authors Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, Out East by John Glynn, Too Much  by Rachel Vorona Cote and the forthcoming  We Keep the Dead Close  by Becky Cooper. Prior to joining Grand Central, I made stops at Weed Literary and Alfred A. Knopf.

I joined the Grand Central team in 2019 acquiring commercial and upmarket fiction as well as select narrative non-fiction and memoir. I’m especially interested in books that look at identity and contemporary life through diverse, often feminist lenses, and encourage me to think about the world in a new way. I love immersive and voice-driven fiction that offers a unique, clever take on classic tropes, and features complex female protagonists and inclusive points of view.  Upcoming novels I’m thrilled to publish include Naima Coster’s What’s Mine and Yours, Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June and The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. I’m also excited to be publishing Yusef Salaam’s forthcoming memoir, Better, Not Bitter. I’ve previously worked at Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, Scribner, and publishing start-up, Pronoun. I’ve worked with bestselling authors including Jojo Moyes, Parker Posey, and J. Ryan Stradal. Before editing books, I got my start by selling them at a small seaside bookstore in Australia, which actually sounds like the perfect beginning to a novel.

When it comes to romance, I’m a bit of a late-bloomer, having not discovered the genre until I was a publishing intern. But I’ve been making up for lost time, consuming every happily-ever-after I can get my hands on. Since joining the Forever team in 2013, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many bestselling and critically acclaimed writers including A.J. Pine, Tessa Bailey, Paula Quinn, Lauren Smith, Piper J. Drake, April Hunt, Cecilia Tan, and Carly Bloom, among others.  As an Editor, I’m looking for fun, fresh, diverse voices across all subgenres of romance—especially historical, cowboy, small-town contemporary, and romantic suspense—as well as in romantic comedies and women’s fiction. I want to be surrounded by characters who mostly make me laugh, only occasionally make me cry, and always make me believe in true love.  When not helping my authors craft HEAs, I enjoy baking, watching old movies, and needlepointing Christmas ornaments.

I’ve loved romance since probably before I should have, and I enjoy all forms of HEAs. I joined the Forever team in 2019, after spending eleven years at Penguin Random House, and I acquire all subgenres of romance and commercial women’s fiction. I love when stories make me feel things, whether they make me laugh out loud or sob uncontrollably, and stories that highlight women’s relationships and experiences, both modern and historical. I am particularly drawn to #ownvoices, fun romcoms with unique hooks, and emotional dramas about family, sisterhood, and friendships. Throughout my career, I have worked with many New York Times, and USA Today bestselling authors and I’ve been lucky enough to work with authors such as Mariah Stewart, K.A. Linde, Monica McCarty, Emily March, Christy Craig, Jenny Holiday, R.C. Ryan, among many others. When not immersed in romance, I love hanging out with my kids, watching football, and discovering new restaurants.

I got my start in publishing right here at Grand Central in 2014. As a reader and editor, I love compulsively readable stories that let me both escape the world and see it in a new light, and I’m drawn to strong voices, offbeat families, diverse perspectives, and dark humor. I’m looking for upmarket and commercial fiction, speculative fiction and genre-bending fantasy, and clever thrillers. I’m also interested in narrative non-fiction and memoir, and I have a soft spot for animal books, whether they’re heartwarming or hilarious. During my time at GCP, I’ve worked with New York Times bestselling authors like Sandra Brown, David Baldacci, Scott Turow, Nicholas Sparks, Min Jin Lee, and more. Recently published and upcoming titles I’m excited about include So We Can Glow and This Close to Okay by award-winning author Leesa Cross-Smith, Nala’s World by Dean Nicholson, Ice and Stone by New York Times bestselling author Marcia Muller, and reissues of Octavia E. Butler’s award-winning novels.

I’m a hopeless romantic, so it’s no surprise I joined the Forever team in 2019. However, I started my publishing career on the agency side of the industry, where I learned just how many pieces go into making a book a success. While assisting Forever ed-in-chief Amy Pierpont, I’ve had the privilege of working with talented authors such as Alexis Hall, Amalie Howard, Elizabeth Hoyt, Manda Collins, Miranda Liasson, Sara Richardson, and Rachel Van Dyken. I’m currently looking for stories in all sub-genres of romance, women’s fiction, and historical & contemporary fiction, with a particular interest in works from queer and BIPOC voices and people of underrepresented genders and faiths. I’m drawn to the paranormal and fantastic as well as the untold eras of history, and I have soft spot for retellings, high-concept rom-coms, and unexpected genre mash-ups. The best ways to sweep me off my feet are an exciting hook, heartwrenching and emotional romance, fantastic friendships, and found family. When not reading or editing, I can usually be found singing (and pretending) my life is a musical or practicing for my future win on The Great British Bake Off.

I joined Twelve in 2016 following a rather circuitous route through the millennial job market. I graduated from Eugene Lang College in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in Literary Studies. I've dabbled in everything from the cosmetics industry to luxury stationery, ghostwriting to slinging espresso, theater to bookselling. As a result, my interests are many and omniverous, but as a non-fiction editor working alongside Twelve's publisher, Sean Desmond, I have a particular affinity for history, war/military, nature, social justice, and previously-unsung hero narratives.

I joined Grand Central Publishing in 2019 after graduating from Pace University’s M.S. in Publishing program. Originally from Canada, where I completed an undergraduate degree in journalism, I moved to New York to study, which led to internships at two literary agencies and a boutique publishing firm in the city. At GCP, I support Karen Kosztolnyik and Colin Dickerman, and am starting to build my own list. On the fiction side, I am particularly interested in commercial and upmarket women’s fiction across genres—books that combine rapid pacing with artistic prose, nuanced character development, and complex themes—but will admit that I have a soft spot for all things contemporary, romantic, and psychological (and anything involving magic). On the nonfiction side, I gravitate toward narrative nonfiction and memoir, especially works that reflect on art, culture, and the lasting effects of history.

Yes, I’m a hyphenate! The second half of my title is because I work very closely with VP Beth de Guzman on paperback and digital publications across GCP. The first half is because I acquire and have on my list crime and psychological thrillers, historical and contemporary women’s fiction, and contemporary romance. What they have in common is that they make me feel ALL the feels, and between you and me, if there’s that spark of magic in the story, all the better. Before joining GCP in 2017, I worked at HarperCollins and Penguin Random House, both in children’s and adult publishing, and I have a Master’s in Publishing from NYU and a Bachelor’s in Literary Studies from Bard College.

I was born in Burundi, raised in Missouri, and books are my guiding light. I graduated from The American University of Rome with a BA in Communications and received an MS in Publishing and Digital Media from New York University. In February 2019, I happily joined the team at Grand Central Publishing. It’s a joy to be able to work with the wide range of books that I love, including memoir, narrative nonfiction, women’s fiction, horror, romance, and more. I currently assist Wes Miller and Seema Mahanian. I look forward to seeing where else reading takes me.

I joined GCP in June 2019, following several years at Atria Books where I managed a diverse list of women’s fiction, suspense, and practical and narrative nonfiction, including USA Today bestseller The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley. Prior to Atria, I held editorial internships at The Feminist Press, Overlook Press, and Columbia University Press, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University, with Honors in my double majors of English and Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. I assist Gretchen Young, and am building my own list with a particular interest in pop culture, social justice, humor, personal finance, and pop science on the non-fiction side, as well as voicey upmarket fiction, suspense/thrillers, horror, and speculative fiction with mainstream cross-genre appeal. Across all categories, I am invested in championing marginalized voices (LGBTQA+, (BI)POC, disabled, non-majority faith, etc.).

My love of romance books began when I started sneaking them out of my mom’s room as a kid, and it hasn’t dwindled since! So after graduating from GSU’s creative writing program and moving across the country to gain editorial experience with publishing internships, I landed in my role as an Editorial Assistant to Leah Hultenschmidt and Alex Logan in the Forever team in 2019. I most enjoy reading books that allow me to explore a colorful tapestry of voices. When I’m not reading, I’m coming up with new dinner recipes in the kitchen or watching my latest K-drama obsession.

I joined GCP in 2019 after working at Palgrave Macmillan, having previously interned at HSG Literary and Frances Goldin Literary Agency. In 2017, I graduated from Hamilton College, where I majored in English and Economics before promptly forgetting everything I learned from the latter.

 

I enjoy nonfiction, especially narrative, with a pop culture, feminist, deeply reported journalistic, or sociological bent, as well as comedic or culturally relevant memoir. On the fiction side, I gravitate towards voice-driven, quirky or literary titles with a unique perspective. I support Suzanne O’Neill and Maddie Caldwell.