George Maio
Division Manager
Printing and Reprographic Services
gmaio@bookpros.com
George Maio brings almost thirty years of achievement in consumer marketing, printing, sales and design to BookPros. His experience affords him broad insight into every aspect of what makes a quality book. As division manager he monitors the progress of BookPros books though the entire printing process and consults with authors on their various printing options.
Previously, Maio held management positions with several leading corporations, including a print-brokerage firm. In each of his positions, he set new corporate records in customer satisfaction and cultivated valuable relationships with both national and global vendors. His contacts and experience allow BookPros’ books to meet or exceed the quality of traditional publishing houses.
Lara Kramer
Senior Coordinator
Client Development
lkramer@bookpros.com
Lara is the first person to speak to our authors, discussing their book projects and scheduling their first steps in the publishing process. As a member of the client development team, Lara assists in drawing up proposals and contracts, as well as speaking with first-time authors about the complexities of the publishing industry.
She earned her double BA in creative writing and anthropology/sociology from DePauw University, where she worked on a campus literary magazine and wrote for the campus newspaper. Prior to working at BookPros, Lara interned in the writing department of New York Women in Film and Television and attended a semester of college at Auckland University in New Zealand. Oftentimes you can find Lara sharing a delicious meal with her roommates at Trudy's or browsing the fiction shelves at her local bookstore (where she also loves to ask and be asked for personal book recommendations).
Katie Stahl
Senior Project Coordinator
Publishing Services
kstahl@bookpros.com
Katie Stahl began her career at BookPros as an editor. Her tasks included editing manuscripts, writing and editing company documents, and copyediting company publications. Katie's excellent communication and project management skills soon brought her to the attention of the publishing team. As senior publishing coordinator, she now works closely with new authors throughout the publishing process.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Stahl graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in psychology. After college, she spent two years in a graduate program in child psychology at the University of Texas before deciding that publishing would be a much better fit.
Andrea Barbosa
Project Coordinator
Publishing Services
abarbosa@bookpros.com
Andrea Barbosa began her career at BookPros as a distribution and logistics coordinator, working closely with our distributors and assisting authors with distribution and reporting concerns. As a publishing coordinator, Andrea now works with new and published authors throughout the entire publishing process.
Barbosa received a BA in English with a minor in history from Texas State University, where she worked as an English and history tutor. Before coming to BookPros, she obtained experience in sales, marketing, billing, and accounting at Advantage Sales & Marketing and Solutions for Medical Billing. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crafting, and weekend road trips.
Michelle Filips
Project Coordinator
Publishing Services
mfilips@bookpros.com
Michelle Filips began her career at BookPros as distribution and logistics coordinator of client services, giving her a solid background in the technical aspects of the process, such as coordinating author payments from the distributor, placing orders, monitoring invoices, registering titles, and creating sales materials. As a publishing coordinator, Michelle now works with authors from the beginning of the publishing process through to distribution.
Michelle received a BA in English with minors in art history and business from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining BookPros, Michelle worked in the business center at the Hilton Austin, where she handled all of the incoming and outgoing shipments of convention materials. In her free time, she enjoys hammocks, stories, and outdoor adventures.
Stephanie Wright
Distribution and Logistics Coordinator
Publishing Services
swright@bookpros.com
Stephanie Wright joined BookPros as an administrative assistant. Her skills in organization and record keeping led to her promotion to accounting assistant and bookkeeper. Now the distribution and logistics coordinator of client services, Stephanie is responsible for ensuring that projects are completed in a timely, professional manner. This involves handling the technical aspects of the process, such as placing orders, monitoring invoices, registering titles, and creating sales materials for distributors. She also directly assists the accountant, handling most of the external accounting relationships, including receiving payments, cataloging and ordering supplies, invoicing, and all bookkeeping.
Wright is a certified paralegal, and before joining BookPros, she owned and operated a private day care. When she’s not at work, you can find her pretending to fly with a Batman cape around her neck, participating with the hit kids’ show Dora the Explorer, or acting out the notorious iCarly web casts with her three very energetic children.
Erin Werley
Senior Editor
Editorial Services
ewerley@bookpros.com
Erin Werley lends her editing skills to a wide variety of projects at BookPros, such as editing manuscripts, performing content reviews, writing and editing internal company documents and copyediting various newsletters and other company publications. She’s also a regular contributor to the BookPros[e] blog and newsletter.
Before joining BookPros as an editor, Werley taught English Composition at Baylor University, where she earned both a BA and an MA in English. A graduate of Baylor’s prestigious Honors Program, Werley also worked at the Baylor University Press and as a tutor in Baylor’s Writing Center. She is an active member of the Austin chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and enjoys reading, watching movies, and brandishing her library card.
Caitlin Topham
Editor
Editorial Services
ctopham@bookpros.com
As an editor at BookPros, Caitlin Topham juggles multiple manuscripts at a time, doing both copyediting and developmental editing, and edits in-house publications. She also performs content reviews and is a contributor to the BookPros[e] blog.
A New Hampshire native, Topham earned her BA in art history and French studies from Rice University, and her MA in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to working at BookPros, she held internships at Austin Monthly and numerous museums, including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Frances Elliott
Editor
Editorial Services
felliott@bookpros.com
From providing developmental advice to performing copy edits and reviewing layouts, Frances Elliott ushers books through every stage of the editing process at BookPros. She also performs content reviews and edits in-house documents.
Frances is a graduate of Yale University, where she was a semi-finalist for a Fulbright grant and a recipient of the German government's full-year DAAD fellowship. She has studied French, Latin, Italian, and Spanish, and is fluent in Dutch and German. She earned her Master's thesis in ethnomusicology at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she also enjoyed a busy freelance career as an academic editor before she joined BookPros.
Outside of work, Frances performs in the ensembles Bereket and Layalina, in which she plays flute and nay (a type of Arabic flute), and she can be found every weekend on Austin's Hike and Bike trail.
Our Corporate Partners at MSB Media Group, LLC
Monica Hollmann
Graphic Designer
mhollmann@msbmedia.com
Monica Hollmann started as an assistant and was promoted to design coordinator, where she oversaw the design process for all client and internal work for BookPros. Her graphic design talent proved indispensable, and she was subsequently named sole designer for all MSB Media Group’s marketing materials. She develops and executes the designs for all catalogs, client handbooks, brochures, event publications and a variety of other projects. Her expertise and discerning eye mean she is also frequently consulted for other departmental design projects.
Hollmann’s previous experience includes graphic design work for the Austin Toros and three other sister NBA developmental teams. She earned a BFA in communication design from Texas State University in San Marcos.
Madelyn Roberts
Corporate Accountant
mroberts@msbmedia.com
Madelyn Roberts handles all internal accounting responsibilities for the company. This includes establishing and maintaining new client accounts, handling accounts payable and receivable for the company and securing publisher payments.
Roberts graduated Cum Laude from the University of Utah with a BS in psychology and a minor in business. She gained experience developing and managing operations and accounting activities for various firms before joining the MSB Media Group team. Along with her two sisters, she also developed and launched Shy Girl Designs, an online boutique of children’s accessories.
Diana Odom
Administrative Assistant
dodom@msbmedia.com
Diana Odom oversees the administrative duties that keep MSB Media Group operating smoothly on a daily basis. Among her daily tasks are processing information requests from potential clients, filing, mailing and accounting assistance. She also provides translation services for our Spanish-speaking clients.
In her hometown of Bogota, Colombia, Odom did receptionist work for various companies and worked as a sales representative for cosmetic and clothing stores. She moved to the United States in 2002.
Our Corporate Partners at Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists, Inc.
Peggy Keefe
Client Development Director
pkeefe@phenixpublicity.com
As client development director, Peggy Keefe guides interested authors through the submissions process, from receiving materials to conducting media analysis meetings with the full P&P team. Keefe also handles much of the new client outreach and marketing for the company, including attending conferences and writers’ group meetings and maintaining the P&P online presence.
Prior to joining Phenix & Phenix, Keefe worked at BookPros, where her work in a variety of departments gave her an intimate knowledge of every step of the publishing process. She worked in the publishing department as a project coordinator for four years. Afterward she used her publishing know-how in the marketing department, developing and executing company marketing efforts, creating new strategies for authors, and coordinating the BookPros presence at industry events and trade shows throughout the year.
She earned a BS in advertising and a business minor at the University of Texas at Austin. Outside of work, Keefe is a leader of the Austin chapter of Room to Read, an international nonprofit whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty through education. The Austin chapter raises funds to help the group build schools and libraries, fund scholarships, and publish books in developing countries. In her spare time, she likes to eat good food and read, setting a personal goal to read at least 50 books every year.
Brittany Johnson
Project Consultant
bjohnson@phenixpublicity.com
Brittany Johnson started as an assistant publicist at Phenix & Phenix, and eventually transitioned to her current role. As project consultant, Johnson is the first point of contact for all submissions, discussing the publicity process with new authors and assisting in drawing up proposals and contracts. Johnson also works on client outreach and company marketing, including monitoring the P&P website, blog and Facebook and Twitter presence.
Johnson graduated with honors from the University of Texas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Advertising with a concentration in Business Foundations and a certificate in Latino Media Studies. While at UT, Brittany worked on advertising and public relations campaigns for clients such as Austin Java, Kimbia and Texas Baseball Camps.
Shelby Sledge
Manager of Media Relations
ssledge@phenixpublicity.com
Shelby Sledge comes to Phenix & Phenix with more than four years of experience in the public relations industry. She now manages national media campaigns for authors in a variety of genres, demonstrating particular success with fiction and spiritual titles. Some of her top bookings include Army News Service, Fox News (Austin), Better TV, El Paso Times and Sirius’ “Larry and Lorri Morning Show.”
Before joining the P&P team, Shelby owned and operated Vivid Tidings, a company that offered public relations and writing services to various businesses including Advanced Insulation of Texas and Lumatec Industries. Under Sledge’s direction, Lumatec’s retail line received national media attention including a feature in Parenting magazine and several top daily newspapers. Sledge shares her PR industry expertise in a monthly column for Identity Marketing Magazine called “Make Your Point,” which focuses on communications in business and the promotional products industry.
Sledge holds a BA in public relations from Texas Tech University. During her undergraduate education, she led a student campaign for literary awareness in conjunction with the Lubbock Area Coalition for Literacy. Here in Austin, she is a member of the Association for Women in Communications.
Amy Currie
Senior Publicist
acurrie@phenixpublicity.com
Joining the Phenix & Phenix publicity team in 2005, Amy Currie manages national media campaigns for authors in a variety of genres, with exceptional success in business, financial, sci-fi, and pop culture media markets. Some of her top media bookings include Money magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Air America Radio, “The Mancow Show,” Dow Jones' Marketwatch, Oprah & Friends Radio and Martha Stewart Living Radio.
Currie holds a BA in journalism and a BS in radio-television-film from the University of Texas at Austin and has developed relationships with some of the nation’s top radio show producers. During her education, Currie served on both the commercial production and news production teams at Austin’s CBS affiliate, KEYE-TV, and also served as an advertisement coordinator for Cinematexas International Short Film Festival.
Merritt Talbott
Publicist
mtalbott@phenixpublicity.com
With extensive experience in both education and publicity, Talbott uses her skills in communication and media outreach to coordinate national media campaigns for Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists. Her writing skills and creative pitches have helped land bookings for her clients in top national dailies. She works with titles across a variety of genres, helping her clients gain exposure in high-profile outlets such as Martha Stewart Radio, Dallas Morning News, Arizona Republic and Momversation.com. Some of Talbott’s top accounts include Chicken Soup for the Soul, American Christian Fiction Writers and other key organizations that Phenix & Phenix partners with.
After graduating magna cum laude from Texas A&M University with a BA in English literature, Talbott enrolled in a master's program at Texas State University with a focus on middle school education. Here in Austin, she is a volunteer for Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a program that feeds the city’s homeless.
Maia Levenson
Publicist
mlevenson@phenixpublicity.com
A native of northern California, Maia Levenson brings hands-on public relations experience to Phenix & Phenix, including a stint in Dublin, Ireland, where she helped create a campaign for the Irish government’s health organization. As a student, she was involved in several PR campaigns for local clients and businesses and was a member of the PRSSA. In her current role as publicist, Levenson works with a variety of genres and has booked clients with media outlets such as the OC Register, New Jersey Star-Ledger, and ComputerWorld.com.
Levenson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in public relations with a concentration in business foundations.
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