Kevin Hamric out at Viz; Simon to Mad Cave; Jones to IDW

So a little editorial shuffle this week: Kristen Simon has joined Mad Cave as Senior Editor. You may recall only a few days ago, Simon was part of the layoffs at IDW, so good work on finding a job so fast!

At Mad Cave, Simon will oversee adult titles in various formats for both the Direct Market and the book trade.

“I’m so excited to be joining the Mad Cave team,” said Kristen Simon. “I’ve been keeping my eye on what they’ve been doing, and it turns out it’s even better than I imagined! I look forward to being part of a company that believes in the potential of the comics industry and its creators.”

Simon was formerly Group Editor at IDW, and Editor In Chief at Netmarble F&C, and before that…well, she’s seen and done it all.

“As Mad Cave continues to grow within both the direct and book markets, it’s only natural that our editorial group expands, as well,” said Mad Cave Studios Editor in Chief, Mike Marts. “We’re extremely fortunate to be adding someone with as much industry experience and respect as Kristen. She’ll be hitting the ground running and helping Mad Cave to reach areas of the market that we haven’t completely explored yet.”

Meanwhile, back at IDW, Cassandra Jones has joined the company in editorial according to a tweet:

Some of y’all guessed it: a little career update. VERY excited to announce I’m joining the editorial team over at @IDWPublishing.

Today is day one; let’s get it done. https://t.co/ooNGHJPd7V pic.twitter.com/X4X8BRnQyY

— Ser Cas 🗡✨ – EDITOR OF LET HER BE EVIL (@CassAnnJones) April 22, 2024

Jones has been working as a freelance editor, and recently  edited the anthology LET HER BE EVIL, with work by Heather Antos, Brent Fisher, Rio Burton, Lauren Knight, Kamila Krol and Moe McGonagle, and more.

In the going department, this is a bit of a shocker: Kevin Hamric, who was formerly Vice President – Publishing Sales at VIZ, will no longer be at the company as of Friday; his position has been eliminated, ICv2 reports.

As ICv2 notes, “Hamric was an invaluable source of information on the manga market for ICv2 readers; we typically interviewed him about twice a year for updates on the business (see “ICv2 Interview: Kevin Hamric on Manga Sales Trends“).” The Beat can back that up: any time you needed information on the manga market in the US and Viz’s place in it, Hamric was the go to guy. Viz is also the #1 publisher in the US bookstore graphic novel market so eliminating any sales position is…unexpected.

2024 is already a wild year, y’all.