Book Marketer Behind DC Zoom and Ink Leaves DC for Humanoids

Humanoids logo

Just saw an article about changes in the sales and marketing department for Humanoids, the publisher working on expanding beyond its traditional reprints of European sci-fi graphic novels. They’ve brought in an experienced person as new director of sales and marketing, but this is what struck me about her description:

Ailen Lujo, former DC Comics executive director of book trade marketing… She began her career at Soho Press, and during her tenure at DC she was instrumental in launching its DC Black Label, DC Ink, and DC Zoom book-trade focused imprints.

Interesting. Ink and Zoom are barely launched, with all of three titles out between the two imprints. If the person behind them is leaving already… but maybe this claim is over-inflated (it’s a press release-type announcement, after all) or she couldn’t resist taking a different opportunity when it came or she feels, now that the lines are started, they’re in good hands to continue.

As the article continues to point out, Humanoids launched new imprints for kids, young adults, and memoir over the past couple of years, and they’re gearing up for a superhero universe launch next month (which was promoted on Free Comic Book Day).

Humanoids has had trouble in the past finding the right person for this position, with Laurent Rischmann replacing Hillery Pastovich at the beginning of 2017, followed by Jud Meyers replacing Rischmann at the end of 2017. Meyers came out of comic book store retailing, so the more book-focused experience of Lujo may be considered more relevant these days. AS the PW article concludes, “Humanoids CEO and Publisher Fabrice Giger … said she will bring ‘book trade publishing expertise to Humanoids at a crucial time for the company’s continued evolution.'”



3 comments

  • Justin

    “but maybe this claim is over-inflated (it’s a press release-type announcement, after all) or she couldn’t resist taking a different opportunity when it came or she feels, now that the lines are started, they’re in good hands to continue. ”

    I wouldn’t rule out that the shifts from the Warner/AT&T things are a factor. There seems to be a lot going behind the scenes over there.

  • Tommy Raiko

    Coincidentally, I came to read this piece just as I was listening to the latest episode of the More to Come podcast, where they were talking about DC’s declining book trade sales. If DC is having difficulty publishing stuff that works in the book trade, it might be that the book-trade-specializing person might seek a different opportunity.

    In any case, good luck to Humanoids and their new team member!

  • Oh, excellent points, both of those. It’s true that DC’s book sales are heavily dependent on much older works (Watchmen, etc. from several decades ago) and that new owner AT&T seems to have some very different business attitudes.

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