Faculty and Staff

Full-Time Faculty

Manuela Soares

Director

Prior to being named as Director in 2018, Soares had been a full-time faculty member in the MS in Publishing program since 2004. The courses she has taught include General Interest Books, Children’s Book Publishing, Marketing Principles and Practices, Entrepreneurship, and Ethics in Publishing. She also taught the Graduate Seminar, in which students write their Master’s thesis. She is on the Editorial Board of Publishing Research Quarterly, where many of the program’s thesis papers have been published in abbreviated form. Soares is also Director of Pace University Press, overseeing the publication of journals and books. In her over thirty-year career, Soares worked in both magazine and book publishing as a writer and editor, most recently as the Managing Editor at Scholastic, where she supervised the hardcover (and some paperback) imprints, including the first five Harry Potter books. Prior to that she was a Senior Editor at Rizzoli International, acquiring books in a variety of disciplines (fashion, design, cooking), but focusing mainly on art and photography.

Jennifer Romanello

Associate Director

Jennifer Romanello began her career in book publishing as a publicity assistant at Macmillan and its imprints, Scribner and Atheneum. She then moved on to Dutton, where she rose to Associate Director of Publicity and worked with a roster of critically acclaimed authors including Julia Alvarez, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jamaica Kincaid.

In 1995 she joined Warner Books, now Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette. She was VP, Executive Director of Publicity there for many years and worked with a wide range of bestselling authors including Nicholas Sparks, David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille, and Brad Meltzer, among others.

Jennifer has previously taught as an adjunct instructor in the undergraduate Publishing Studies program at Hofstra University. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Hofstra University and her poems have been published in Ovunque Siamo and VIA: Voices in Italiana-Americana (forthcoming). Her poems “Omphalos” (2018) and “I terri” (2015) received first place in the Concorso Internationale di Poesia held in Messina, Sicily.

Karen Jenkins-Holt

Lecturer

In January 2019, Karen Holt joined the full-time faculty of the Pace MS in Publishing Program, where she teaches writing and editing courses.

Prior to teaching, Holt enjoyed a decades-long career writing and editing. She began her career working as a newspaper reporter before moving on to books, magazines, and websites. She has been deputy editor of Publishers Weekly, books editor at O, the Oprah Magazine, senior editor at Guideposts Books & Inspirational media, founding editor of the Reservoir Square Books imprint, and a managing editor for Primedia. Her writing has appeared in publications including Essence, Parade, the New York Post, Folio, Working Mother, Publishing Research Quarterly, and many others. She discovered her love of teaching after joining the Pace MS in Publishing Program as an adjunct professor in 2016. She holds a BA from Western Washington University and an MFA from Manhattanville College.

Graduate Assistant and Student Aide

Shianne Henion

Shianne Henion is the Graduate Assistant for the Publishing program.  She grew up and still resides in Pine Bush, New York. Shianne graduated from the University at Albany with a double major in English and Journalism and a minor in Creative Writing. She has a background in editing, copywriting, and newswriting. She’s edited for the Albany Student Press and ARCH Literary Magazine, as well as tutored students at UAlbany’s writing center. Shianne works on her fiction novel in her free time or is cuddling her cat, Gingie Wingie.

Kaitlyn Keel

Kaitlyn is the Student Aide for the Publishing office, currently in her first year in the MS in Publishing program. Originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and Women’s and Gender Studies at Carthage College. During a year of service with AmeriCorps, Kaitlyn noticed the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation in systemically under-funded schools.  She hopes to become either an editor or a literary agent to publish more LGBTQIA+ books for the people who need them the most.

Faculty and Staff Bios

Joseph Caserto

Joseph Caserto

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor Joseph Caserto is an award-winning graphic artist, educator, and consultant, who is based in New York City and specializes in publication art direction and design.

Joseph earned a BFA with honors in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute, where he completed one of the first classes that covered the Mac as a design tool.

With over 25 years of professional experience, he is currently a freelance art director and designer whose clients have included Billboard, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Marie Claire, and Vibe magazines. He has won American Graphic Design Awards from GD USA magazine annually, since 2008, when he also received a Create Award. Joseph is a member of Freelancers Union and has been a member of AIGA, Graphic Artists Guild, and the Society of Publication Designers (SPD).

Joseph has taught at The City College of New York and NYU, and is a contributor to Udemy.com.

He is currently Contributing Creative Director of ADDitude magazine, published by New Hope Media.

Joseph was featured in our “Faculty in the Spotlight” series in March 2017.

Jacqueline deMontravel

Jacqueline deMontravel

Adjunct Lecturer

Jacqueline deMontravel is an editor, writer, designer, and stylist in design. She is the author of eight books and was the editor of Romantic Homes and the editorial director of Engaged Media’s Lifestyle group, which publishes Victorian Homes, Cottages & Bungalows, Yummagazines and special issues such as American Farm Style, Seaside Style, Cottage White, Happy Modern and Rooms. Formerly the editor of Country magazine, deMontravel held editorial positions at Conde Nast’s Self magazine and GQ. She has been a contributor with Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar. She also worked on the launch of Oxygen Media’s Style website, Lucky, andBlack Book magazine. deMontravel has channeled her editorial experience into marketing and content for a variety of clients with a focus on social media marketing.
Thomas A. DiMascio

Thomas A. DiMascio

Adjunct Lecturer

The supply chain is the beating heart of the business of publishing. Continuously managing and optimizing it is what publishers do every day.  With twenty-five years of experience in publishing operations, Professor Di Mascio describes the business of publishing from a unique perspective.  Today, he is the Director of Supply Chain Management & Logistics at DC Entertainment and throughout his career has worked for many other distinguished publishers such as Penguin USA, John Wiley & Sons, and Berlitz Publishing.  The course he teaches, PUB 22H “Introduction to Supply Chain Management in Publishing,” examines several distinct publishing supply chains: i.e. traditional book market, specialty book market, newsstand, subscription, and electronic. Professor Di Mascio received his undergraduate degree in Economics and MBA from Rutgers University and his MS in Publishing from Pace University.

The Pace Publishing Blog featured Di Mascio in the “Faculty in the Spotlight” series in April 2013.

Barbara A. Egidi

Barbara A. Egidi

Program Manager

Barbara A. Egidi received her A.A.S. in General Business and her B.S. in Office Information Systems from Pace University. She has been the Program Manager of the M.S. in Publishing Program since its inception.  Egidi carefully advises and guides students throughout their stay in the program and works closely with them to succeed and graduate in a timely manner.

The Pace Publishing Blog featured Egidi in the “Faculty in the Spotlight” series in March 2012.

Britney Fitzgerald

Britney Fitzgerald

Adjunct Lecturer

Britney Fitzgerald is a Pace Publishing alum who has worked in New York’s editorial and social media sectors for over a decade. Her writing has been featured in The Huffington Post, Parents magazine, Brit+Co, The Knot, and more. She has managed social strategy at several magazines and for an advertising agency. Currently, she is the head of social media at the American Museum of Natural History. Britney lives in Brooklyn with her husband and French bulldog, Sir Walter.

Kristen Flanagan

Kristen Flanagan

Adjunct Lecturer

Kristen Flanagan is an editorial professional with more than seven years of print and digital magazine experience. She has worked for top media brands in New York and London, including Martha Stewart Living, Forbes, Glamour, Shape, and SHE. Kristen is currently the Digital Editor at Architectural Digest.
Christine Ford

Christine Ford

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor Christine Ford is currently Vice President of Product Management for Kantar, a WPP Company. Prior to joining Kantar, Professor Ford worked as the Director of Consumer Marketing and Strategy at McGraw-Hill Higher Education. She has also worked for companies like Everyday Health, Inc., Disney Interactive Media Group, the Walt Disney Company, NYSE Euronext, and Condé Nast.

She has been teaching for the MS in Publishing program since 2011 and will be teaching PUB 622J “Seminar on Books & Magazines: Practical Applications of Product Management in Digital Media” this summer with Professor Aaron Goldsmid.  Professor Ford attended Chester College at Liverpool University in the United Kingdom and graduated from the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh in 1993 with a BA in English. She received her Master’s in Publishing at Pace University in 2000 and served as the Graduate Assistant at the Pace University Press while completing her education.

Ivy Jacobson Ford

Ivy Jacobson Ford

Adjunct Lecturer

Ivy Jacobson-Ford is the Digital Deputy Editor of ThePioneerWoman.com at Hearst Corporation and has a decade of experience creating lifestyle, wedding, and entertainment content. She’s held editorial positions at Country Living, The Knot, Hollywood Life, Bustle, and more.
Vincent Forgione

Vincent Forgione

Adjunct Lecturer

Vincent Forgione has more than 20 years of experience in media and communication.  He graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelors degree in Television/Radio and earned a Masters degree in Public and Organizational Relations from Montclair State University.  He has worked on the launch of NewsTalk Television, a cable television network that was a predecessor to FoxNews and MSNBC, managed public relations video projects for Edelman Public Relations, and spent over 16 years at Conde Nast leading production teams on various magazine brands such as The New Yorker and Wired.  He currently leads production and operations on a B2B brand at Hearst Corporation while teaching courses in media and communication.
Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson

Adjunct Lecturer

Rich Johnson has been in almost all aspects of bookselling, from store manager to buyer to publisher. He currently is a publishing consultant, as the Founder of Brick Road Media, LLC.

Most recently he was Vice President of Lion Forge Comics, where he was instrumental in transforming a publisher best known for 1980s nostalgia comics, into an award-winning graphic novel publisher. In 2017, its first year of relaunch, he acquired Lighter Than My Shadow a graphic memoir that was named Best Graphic Novel of the Year by Amazon.Johnson was Co-Founder and was the Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press a new graphic novel and manga imprint for Hachette Book Group. Previously he was Vice President of Book Trade Sales for DC Comics where he took the forefront in establishing graphic novels in the bookstore market.  Currently he is V.P. of Sales and Business Development at Diamond Book Distributors.

He was co-editor of COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology – which was included on the Washington Posts’ list of Best Graphic Novels of the Year 2021. He is the author of the graphic memoir Invisible and is one of the founding partners in the book and media IP packaging company Endpaper Entertainment. He is currently writing a series of Marvel art books for Rizzoli Books’ Universe imprint-which includes the title Spider-Man: Webslinger, Hero, Icon and Captain America: Avenger, Hero, Icon.

Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz

Adjunct Lecturer

Paul Levitz is a comic fan (The Comic Reader), editor (Batman, among many titles), writer (Legion of Super-Heroes, including four NY Times Best Sellers), executive (30 years at DC, ending as President & Publisher), historian (75 Years of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Myth-Making and educator (including teaching a course on “The American Graphic Novel” at Columbia and Princeton, as well as “Transmedia & The Future of Publishing” in Pace’s M.S. in Publishing Program). He won two consecutive annual Comic Art Fan Awards for Best Fanzine, received Comic-con International’s Inkpot Award, the prestigious Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, and the Comics Industry Appreciation Award from ComicsPro. His Taschen book won the Eisner Award, the Eagle Award and Munich’s Peng Pris, and his most recent book is BROOKLYN BLOOD, illustrated by Tim Hamilton. Levitz also serves on the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Boom! Studios.

The Pace Publishing Blog featured Levitz in the “Faculty in the Spotlight” series in February 2013 and another Spotlight article in April 2012.

Elena Mauer

Elena Mauer

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor Elena Donovan Mauer is a freelance writer and editor who creates content for a variety of print and online publications, including The Knot, The Bump, Parents, Real Simple, and Good Housekeeping.

Previously, she was Deputy Editor of The Bump, where she worked with top writers, OB-GYNs, pediatricians and other industry leaders to deliver best-in-class fertility, pregnancy and parenting information to millions of expectant and new parents. Online, Professor Mauer top-edited digital content and launched several highly popular pregnancy and parenting tools, as well as The Bump app. She headed editorial for The Bump Magazines, a large network of local pregnancy and parenting print publications. And she helmed the creation of two The Bump branded books.
Professor Mauer has also been an editor at CafeMom, iVillage, Modern Bride, Bridal Guide, and Lifetime Magazines. She’s coauthored three books on weddings and relationships.
Professor Mauer is an alumna of the Pace M.S. in Publishing Program and holds a B.A. in English from The Pennsylvania State University. She has been teaching Magazine Writing and Editing, Editorial Principles and Practices, and Specialized Publications since 2008.
Jillian McBain

Jillian McBain

Adjunct Lecturer

Jillian McBain is the Finance Director for Grand Central Publishing at the Hachette Book Group, where she has worked for over ten years. She has held positions as a Senior Financial Analyst, Business Manager, and Associate Financial Director at Hachette and is well-versed in collaborating with all departments in a publishing company to make strategic  decisions.
Thad McIlroy

Thad McIlroy

Adjunct Lecturer

Thad McIlroy is the president of The Future of Publishing, which provides in-depth coverage on the book publishing industry.  An electronic publishing analyst, author, and industry expert, McIlroy has written a dozen books and over 300 articles on cutting edge issues in publishing and media. He is also a founding partner in Publishing Technology Partners and a columnist for Publishers Weekly.

McIlroy is the author of An Authoritative Look at Book Publishing Startups in the United States (2017), The Metadata Handbook, 2nd Ed. (2015) (co-authored with Renee Register), and Mobile Strategies for Digital Publishing: A Practical Guide to the Evolving Landscape (2015). McIlroy is a consultant to a variety of publishing and media companies, including Disney,  MIT Press, Microsoft, and Pearson. He served as Program Director for Seybold Seminars, the publishing industry’s premier technology conference, for five years.

Tina McIntyre

Tina McIntyre

Adjunct Lecturer

Tina McIntyre has nearly 20 years of experience in trade marketing, digital marketing, publishing strategy, content development, and business development. Currently, she is VP, Marketing for Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. Previously, she was Senior Executive Director of Content Development at Hachette Book Group where she worked with all of Hachette’s publishing divisions to develop initiatives designed to generate revenue beyond the core publishing programs. In addition to building and overseeing the marketing department, she spearheaded all marketing efforts for The Twilight Saga, including the creation of thetwilightsaga.com—one of the first social networking sites created for a YA book series.

In 2011, Tina moved into the Young Readers publishing office as Executive Director, Digital Publishing and Operations, directing all digital publishing initiatives and business development.  In 2014, her role was expanded to Executive Director, Strategic Planning; Digital Publisher where she led the NOVL digital imprint and the overarching operations and strategy for the division.

She started her publishing career at Scholastic where she worked on the paperback and digital marketing, for such bestselling properties as Captain Underpants, Animorphs, Goosebumps, and the PUSH teen paperback imprint.

 

Jessica Napp

Jessica Napp

Adjunct Lecturer

Jessica Napp (Class of 2000) is Associate Director of Publicity for Rizzoli New York, a position she has held for the last 14+ years. One to the most respected illustrated book publishers in the world, Rizzoli specializes in fashion and luxary lifestyle brands, art-architecture-photography monographs, cookbooks, and pop culture tomes. Sister company Rizzoli Bookstore is one of the most celebrated independant bookstores in the world, with locations in New York (NoMad) and Milan (The Galleria). She has worked on book PR campaigns for Kim Kardashian, Diane Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, the Bob’s Burgers franchise, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, plus countless others. Before joining Rizolli she worked in publicity departments at Simon & Schuster, Little Brown, and Abrams/Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Starting Fall 2021 she will be co-teaching Marketing & Publicity Principals and Practices with Tina McIntyre. She lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband and two Shih Tzus.
Kathleen Ortiz

Kathleen Ortiz

Adjunct Lecturer

Kathleen Ortiz (she/her) founded KO Media Management in 2022, after working in publishing and international licensing for over a decade, including roles as Director of Translation, Subsidiary Rights Manager and Literary Agent. She earned her M.S. in Publishing from Pace University, and has spent her career helping build and elevate creative brands.

James Perry

James Perry

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor James Perry is a professed lifelong book lover. He is a veteran of both the book and magazine publishing industry for a combined total of nearly thirty years. James started in the accounting clerk position and worked his way up to executive financial management. Currently, he is the VP, Director of Finance for Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House. In addition to his fiduciary and business operation responsibilities, James also serves as RHCB’s Divisional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer. In that role, he is responsible for guiding the division’s diversity steering committee. On the personal side, James is the husband of Sabrina Perry, father to their blended family of 3 children, and serves in senior leadership in his home church in Westchester, New York.
Carl Potts

Carl Potts

Adjunct Lecturer

Carl has been a creative leader in publishing, entertainment, marketing, interactive, and education.

For most of his 13 years at Marvel Entertainment, Carl was an Executive Editor, whose duties included spearheading Epic, Marvel’s imprint of diverse creator-owned titles.

He discovered and mentored top comics creators including Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, June Brigman, Scott Williams, Larry Stroman, Jon Bogdanov, Art Adams and Mike Mignola.

While at Marvel, Carl developed original and established entertainment properties. Some of these properties became cross media franchises, spawning numerous publications, games, licensed products, and dramatic productions.

When he should have been sleeping, Carl also wrote and drew comics, covers and posters. He created new entertainment IP and developed established IP for contemporary audiences.

Watson-Guptill/Random House published Carl’s book, The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling.

Peggy Samedi

Peggy Samedi

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor Peggy Samedi is a production manager in the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Penguin Random House. She started her career as a publishing assistant at the Girl Scouts of the USA. She went on to be a bookseller at Barnes and Noble before joining Alfred A. Knopf in 2005. She has had the pleasure of working on titles including Metamaus and Cancer Vixen, as well as books by authors such as Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, Edwidge Danticat, and Tommy Orange. She is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York, with bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology.
Kirsten Sandberg

Kirsten Sandberg

Adjunct Lecturer

Professor Sandberg is a writer, editor, and consultant who works with executives and advisory boards to shape their publishing strategies in corporate, non-profit, and emerging market settings. She is currently serving as editor-in-chief of the Blockchain Research Institute and is studying how distributed ledger technology and smart contracts could transform publishing. She has extensive experience in negotiating publishing agreements and turning knowledge and expertise into branded content for a globally diverse audience.

Professor Sandberg teaches PUB 618, “The Legal Aspects of Publishing,” and PUB 632, “Academic Publishing,” both from a publishing innovator’s perspective. She serves on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Business Models, and periodically co-directs professional development programs for Chinese publishing executives.

For over a decade, she served as executive editor at Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, where she contributed to the opening of HBSP Corp Ltd in Mumbai/New Delhi. Professor Sandberg also wrote over a dozen articles for various HBS periodicals. Prior to Harvard, Professor Sandberg spent eight years at HarperCollins, first in the college division as a development editor and a marketing R&D manager and then in HarperBusiness as an acquisitions editor.

She started her media career as a computer graphics designer in the newsroom of WEEK-TV, an NBC affiliate at the time. Professor Sandberg holds a B.A. in English and TV/Radio Production from Bradley University and started an M.A. in English at Marquette University. She is a Chicago Cubs fan by birth and a Yankees fan by naturalization.

Carla Stockalper

Carla Stockalper

Adjunct Lecturer

Carla Stockalper is a full stack web developer currently serving as a Technical Lead at Hachette Book Group. As part of the web services team at HBG, she helps build and manage consumer facing web sites as well as develop technological solutions unique to the publishing world. Prior to HBG, she cofounded a small business where she directed web and digital marketing efforts. Carla holds a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego in Media Arts. She lives in San Diego on a horse ranch with her family and 3 rambunctious dogs. ​
Jason Wells

Jason Wells

Adjunct Lecturer

Jason M. Wells is the Books Marketing Director at the American Psychological Association, where he and his team promote APA Books, APA Videos, APA Style, Life Tools, and Magination Press Children’s Books. Previously Jason worked for almost 15 years at Abrams, where he invented and maintained for over a decade the marketing and publicity activities for the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, among other bestselling and award-winning titles. Jason has also held marketing and publicity roles at Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Disney, and Rodale. He lives in Washington, DC, has previously taught at the Colubmia Publishing Course, and has a master’s degree in information science.
Veronica Viviana Wilson

Veronica Viviana Wilson

Adjunct Lecturer

Veronica Wilson serves as National Digital Sales Director for PeopleEnEspañol.com, at Dotdash Meredith, where she is responsible for driving advertising revenue. Prior to People en Espanol she worked at The Nielsen Company, as Business Development Director from 2017-2019. She was Associate Publisher–Sales at Meredith Corporation from 2009-2017, for Latino focused lifestyle and parenthood brands, Associate Publisher–Sales at Conde Nast for the Bridal Group in 2008, and Time Inc./Essence from 1999-2008, where she last held the position of National Ad Sales Director. 

 

Veronica has lent her publishing expertise to Pace University (NYC) as an Adjunct Lecturer for their Masters in Publishing Program since 2008. Veronica holds a M.S. degree from Pace University and a B.B.A. degree from Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). Veronica lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is an avid global traveler.  

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