14 Stars to Watch in the Publishing World

If you’re like me you want to stay absolutely on top of newly released books, trends, and current events. One of the best ways to do that is to know who the best and brightest writers, editors, columnists, and journalists in the business are. Here are 14 stars to watch in the publishing world right now who will keep you informed about just about anything you can think of.

Juliet Brooke, senior editor, Chatto & Windus

Juliet Brooke is considered one of best commissioning editors working today. She has a keen eye for both up-and-coming authors and heavy hitting bestsellers in non-fiction and fiction. She recently sold rights to her Hogarth Shakespeare project in 20 territories and 14 languages—before publication even began—and she is slated to edit and commission the project through 2020 to start. Brooke was named one of 2015’s “Rising Stars” by a panel of publishing experts commission by The Bookseller.

Michelle Malkin, senior editor, Conservative Review

Michelle Malkin is an unapologetically conservative author, blogger, and columnist. She began her career at the Los Angeles Daily News and later worked for the Seattle Times. Since that time she has published numerous nationally syndicated newspaper columns and six books.

Soledad O’Brien, broadcast journalist, executive producer, and philanthropist

Soledad O’Brien reports for CBS, CNN, HBO, NBC, PBS, and other major media outlets. Recognized as award-winning journalist, she has won three Emmy awards for her reporting on race issues and election news and Peabody Awards for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill. She is also a documentarian and created the highly successful “Latino in America” and “Black in America” series for CNN. O’Brien also launched the multi-platform media distribution and production company, Starfish Media Group (SMG). SMG focuses on using personal narratives to produce challenging yet empowering stories that explore divisive issues such as class, poverty, race, and wealth.

Sophie Buchan, commissioning editor, Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Sophie Buchan is one of the leading editors in publishing today because she not only finds amazing new works, but also takes the lead on digital initiatives in her industry. She is known for being very active in the Weidenfeld & Nicolson social media communities and for her international and fiction in translation focus. She also commissioned her company’s first exclusively digital publication, and has experimented with moving already successful publications into new formats to maximize success with new audiences.

Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Fareed Zakaria is an author and journalist. He hosts Fareed Zakaria GPS, CNN’s most important foreign affairs show, and was called “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation” by Esquire Magazine. Zakaria also writes a weekly column for The Washington Post and serves as a contributing editor for The Atlantic. He is also and a New York Times bestselling author. Foreign Policy named him one of 2010’s top 100 global thinkers.

Abigail Fenton, audio editor, digital editor, HarperCollins

Abigail Fenton is a major force driving audio publications. When she joined the HarperCollins team in 2011 the company was publishing around 60 to 80 audiobooks annually, and now their numbers are at around 400, which includes almost every narrative title each year. Podcasts and social media are closely tied to this change and the audio book explosion is tied to selling the audio versions to the growing audience who loves listening to podcasts.

Brian Stelter, Host, Reliable Sources and senior media correspondent, CNN

Brian Stelter founded TVNewser and landed at CNN all before age 30. TVNewser is a media reporting outlet and as host of Reliable Sources he continues to report on media, but even so Stelter breaks stories and asks probing questions within the confines of the cable news parameters at CNN.

Hu Shuli, founder and editor-in-chief, Caixin Media, China

Hu Shuli is in a unique position as a Chinese journalist trying to operate independently within serious state-run media constraints in China. She founded the independent media outlet, Caixin Media, in 2009 and is now its editor-in-chief. Before that she was the international editor and chief reporter for the China Business Times. In 2011 Time magazine named her among the Top 100 Influential People worldwide and Forbes called her the 87^th most powerful woman in the world. She also serves in a regional advisory capacity for the International Center for Journalists and on the Reuters Editorial Advisory Board.

Shereen Bhan, managing editor of CNBC-TV18

Shereen Bhan is the Executive Head and Delhi Bureau Chief of CNBC-TV18 in India. Day to day she is also a news anchor, producer, and reporter who produces various flagship shows for the network including The Nation’s Business, India Business Hour, Power Turks, and Young Turks. She is a award-winning national favorite and has been honored as the 2005 FICCI Woman Of The Year and one of the the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders of 2009.

Eric Deggans, TV critic, NPR

Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic and one of the most respected critics in the US. His role as a cultural critic extends far beyond television and media and Deggans has a long history as a journalist; he also serves on the selection board for the prestigious Peabody Awards. He is the author of “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation” and a contributor to the first ethics book for digital journalists: “The New Ethics of Journalism.” He has also written for the Chicago Tribune, CNN.com, the Detroit Free Press, the New York Times online, Rolling Stone Online, Salon magazine, the Seattle Times, Village Voice, and the Washington Post.

Glenn Greenwald, co-founding editor, The Intercept

Glenn Greenwald is a constitutional lawyer, journalist, and author of four New York Times best-selling books on law and politics and law. He is best known for breaking the Edward Snowden story in 2013; for that work he won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2014. Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2013 and he is now one of three founding editors of The Intercept, an investigative journalism watchdog group.

Erik Wemple, columnist, Washington Post

Erik Wemple of the Washington Post is known for being ambitious and for doggedly pursuing stories without regard to the affiliations of the parties involved in them. This classic investigative media reporting behavior has earned him a reputation for being a straight shooter—and for calling out hypocrites.

Callie Schweitzer, Editorial Director of Audience Strategy and Editorial Director of Motto, Time Inc.

Callie Schweitzer works to expand audiences and oversees engagement and social media. She is also a journalist who has written for The Huffington Post, Mashable, The New York Times, PEOPLE, and TIME. Forbes placed her on its 30 Under 30 in Media in both 2012 and 2013 and also in 2013 she was one of the 30 Most Important Women in Tech Under 30 according to Business Insider. AdWeek placed her on its 2015 list of Future Publishers.

Dylan Byers, Senior Reporter for Media and Politics, CNN

Before he was reporting for CNN, Dylan Byers was a media reporter for POLITICO and a tech and media reporter for Adweek. Before that he was a research assistant and student. As a media and politics reporter he scoops numerous stories and is extremely active on social media, especially Twitter. Following his feed is likely to keep you up to date on almost all American and world politics. These are my picks for the 14 stars to watch in the publishing world right now. Can you think of any that should be on this list that I missed? Let me know in the comments.