Nelson Books, a nonfiction imprint of Thomas Nelson, has announced the hiring of Jessica Wong as senior acquisitions editor. Effective Nov. 24, Wong will become the newest member of the Nelson Books team, filling the role previously held by Joel Miller.

Wong comes to the imprint with more than seven years of publishing experience. She began her career at Thomas Nelson, and in 2009, she joined the editorial team at Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Family Christian Stores announced Tuesday that Dan Hubka is being promoted internally from media strategic business unit team leader to vice president of merchandise, effective immediately.

“Dan has a wonderful 20-year history with Family Christian that began in the field as a store manager,” said Chuck Bengochea, CEO of the nonprofit chain of stores. “Dan brings the balance of internal knowledge and creative thinking that we are looking for to drive our merchandising strategies of the future.”

Steve Laube, president of Enclave Publishing, has hired Thomas Umstattd as its sales and marketing director. Known as Marcher Lord Press under previous ownership, Enclave is now owned by literary agent Steve Laube and publishes science fiction and fantasy for the Christian market.

“Thomas will bring another level of excitement and expertise into our publishing efforts,” Laube said. “I have long been a fan of his unique abilities. I could not be more pleased that he has joined us.”

Zondervan has announced the promotion of Tom Dean to vice president of marketing for the nonfiction trade team.  

Dean began his career with Zondervan in 2001 and has held various positions during his tenure. Originally hired to be the associate publisher for the Inspirio gift imprint, Dean has worked with the nonfiction trade team for the past six years. 

Harvest House Publishers has announced the hiring of Don Sage as the company’s new manager of financial operations. Sage began his tenure with the company Oct. 13.

As an accomplished MBA with several years of financial management experience, Sage steps into an important role for Harvest House. As manager of financial operations, he will provide overall leadership, vision, logistical and budgetary analysis and planning for the company’s accounting/finance department. In addition, he will be responsible for financial and risk management for the company and its related entities, including cash management, budgeting, accounting functions, and financial statement preparation and analytics. 

David C Cook has appointed industry veteran Tim Close as senior director of marketing, joining the trade book team, effective Sept. 8.

Close comes to Cook with a wealth of experience in marketing and publishing, with expertise in new product development, digital marketing technology and leading marketing teams in strategic and successful campaigns.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) announced Wednesday that Doug Lockhart will join the company as senior vice president of Bible marketing and outreach. The move to hire the Biblica executive signals a strategic decision by HCCP to continue the focus on its Bible business.

Lockhart joins HCCP from the nonprofit Biblica, a longtime publishing partner of the company’s Zondervan publishing group. Biblica is the copyright holder and worldwide publisher of the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation, and has licensed its North American publishing rights to Zondervan for more than 40 years. Lockhart was CEO, first in North America and then global, for a combined five years. Before Biblica, Lockhart’s senior leadership experience included roles at The McGraw-Hill Companies and Zondervan.