MA/MS in Book Publishing: Advisory Board

Helena Brantley

Helena Brantley is most alive in the world when she is reading or listening to something good. She is the founder and principal of Red Pencil Publicity and Marketing, where she works with academics, subject experts, and other organizations to introduce new books, authors, and ideas into the culture. Helena is treasurer of Publishing Professionals Network (PPN) and has held volunteer and board positions with the Northern California Book Publicity and Marketing Association (NCBPMA), Bay Area Book Festival, Litquake, PubWest, and Left Margin Lit. Helena is a proud New Jersey native, who began her career in communications, working at public relations and marketing agencies and a faith-based nonprofit, before being recruited to work in publishing for HarperCollins and relocating to the Bay Area, where she lives with her husband and two daughters, all avid readers.

Fin Leary

Fin Leary (they/them) is an author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and a faculty member at GrubStreet and at Emerson College, where they teach in the MFA program. Fin is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books, and the 2026 Westfield State University Alumni of the Year. They are a contributor to the young adult horror anthology These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, 2025). They were a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction and a 2024 Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree. Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

Jenny Kimura

Jenny Kimura (she/her) is an Associate Art Director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, designing bestselling and award-winning work for middle grade, young adult, and new adult books, and sometimes graphic novels and picture books too! She also freelances book design work with Indigo: Editing, Design, and More, is a proud member of Hachette Workers Coalition (the largest union in trade publishing!), and is currently trying to become an amateur ceramicist on the side. She holds a BFA in graphic design from Pacific Lutheran University and a MA in Book Publishing from Portland State University. Originally from Kailua, Hawai‘i, she now resides in Brooklyn, NY with her partner and her cat, Basil. You can see her recent book design work at jennykimura.com.

Tom Hoeler

Tom Hoeler is the Editorial Director of Fiction & Special Projects at Random House Worlds, part of Penguin Random House. For twelve years, Tom has worked primarily in fiction publishing, specializing in science-fiction and fantasy and pop culture books. He has worked with authors including Peter F. Hamilton, Naomi Novik, Delilah S. Dawson, Pierce Brown, Timothy Zahn, Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Rebecca Roanhorse and others, as well as collaborated with major pop culture brands like D&D, Star Wars, Blizzard Entertainment, Disney, DC, Marvel, and more. He has edited over 80 novels, including 25+ New York Times bestselling novels and three #1 hardcover bestsellers. He lives in New York.

Lara Jones

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet is the Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Book Publishers Associations. Andrea began her tenure as CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association in 2022. Prior to that she was the founding vice-president and publisher of HarperCollins’ lifestyle imprint, Harper Horizon. Andrea spent fifteen years in sales, digital media, and business operations at Workman Publishing and was Director of Content Acquisition at Ingram Content Group. She was formerly on the board of the Book Industry Study Group.

Jill Walters

Jill Walters is a copyeditor and proofreader of nonfiction with nearly 15 years experience. She has served as the Northwest Editors Guild’s social media coordinator since 2017 and was awarded the 2019 Guild Award of Excellence for contributions to the editorial community. She is dedicated to building professional development for editors and supporting new voices to present about editing and publishing, serving as a board member and events co-coordinator for the Editors Tea Club and previously chairing the Red Pencil Conference committee for the Guild. She holds certificates in Editing and Writing for Children from the University of Washington. She lives in Seattle with her longtime partner and too many houseplants.

Andrew Albanese

Andrew Richard Albanese is co-founder and editor of Words & Money, (www.wordsandmoney.com) a media site that centers the role of libraries in the 21st Century publishing business, and the editor-in-chief of the international publishing trade journal Publishing Perspectives. A veteran library and publishing industry reporter, he spent 16 years at Publishers Weekly and nine years at Library Journal, where he was known for his in-depth coverage of some of the industry’ biggest moments, including the Google Books and Apple E-book price-fixing cases, developments in the digital library market, book bans and freedom to read issues, the open access movement, and copyright issues. He is a former associate editor of American history at Oxford University Press, and the author of The Battle of $9.99: How Apple, Amazon, and the Big Six Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight.

Mateus Teixeira

Man with dark hair and a dark button up shirt

Mateus Teixeira is Vice President and Director of Digital Publishing, Production, and Design at W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. In tandem with Norton’s College Department, his team integrates business strategy, editorial vision, and technology to deliver learning and teaching tools that balance innovation, usability, and scale while upholding Norton’s high standards. His group produces both print and digital products, also supporting editorial teams in developing forward-looking pedagogy. Previously, Teixeira served as Vice President and Product Manager for Norton Illumine, the Norton Ebook Reader, and Norton Testmaker. He entered product development through production and R&D for titles such as The Norton Shakespeare, the Norton Digital Anthologies, Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty!, and Interactive Psychology. Teixeira collaborates with Norton’s Trade Department on accessibility, product innovation, and market expansion. He previously represented Norton on the advisory committee of the World Wide Web Consortium and chaired the strategic initiatives committee on the advisory board of the Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont, his alma mater.

Maria Jesus Aguilo

Maria Jesus Aguilo is Rights Director at Blue Star Press and its subsidiary Sasquatch Books, both based in the Pacific Northwest, where she was hired to launch the company's in-house subsidiary rights program. She spent most of her career at Berrett-Koehler Publishers, where she served as VP of Direct and Partner Sales, building the company's subsidiary rights program, leading its transition to digital publishing, and launching its in-house audiobook program. She holds a master's degree in publishing from the University of Barcelona and began her career in independent publishing in California. After three decades in California, Maria Jesus recently returned to her native Spain, where she's glad to find the Frankfurt and London book fairs a little closer to home.