Warner Press announced Friday that Rev. Joe Allison is retiring from his position as editorial director, discipleship resources and curriculum. He was responsible for overseeing the editorial development of curriculum, periodicals and discipleship resources.

Allison is retiring from a career of nearly 45 years in spent Christian publishing. He was first hired by Warner Press in 1971 and later worked for Thomas Nelson Publishers, Zondervan Publishing House and Evangel Publishing House. In 2004, he went back to Anderson, Indiana, to become the publishing and creative services coordinator for Church of God Ministries, where he coordinated the publishing ministry of Church of God Ministries. Allison returned to Warner Press in 2014.

David C Cook (DCC) announced Friday that industry veteran Dave Thornton has been hired as vice president of strategic partnerships.

In his new role, Thornton will continue cultivating relationships he has built through the years to serve denominations, churches, associations and ministries. He will be responsible for building the go-to market strategy for the direct-to-church channel and will work closely with David C Cook publishers and directors for the Learning Resources strategic ministry unit (SMU) as they create curriculum and trade books for the church.

Christopher Ferebee announced Monday the expansion of his literary agency, The Christopher Ferebee Agency, with the addition of publishing veterans Angela Scheff and Jana Burson. Scheff and Burson’s hiring represents the first expansion for the agency.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) announced Tuesday the company has hired Paul Fisher as the senior marketing director for its fiction publishing group. Fisher will work under the direction of Daisy Hutton, vice president and publisher for fiction.

In his new role, Fisher will be setting and leading the strategic marketing focus for both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan fiction publishing programs. He will be responsible for building and maintaining key stakeholder relationships as well as leading the fiction’s marketing enterprise.

Industry veteran Dennis Disney has joined Maxximum Artist Group as vice president. In this newly created position, Disney will oversee daily operations for Maxximum, which manages award-winning artists and producers, including Natalie Grant, Danny Gokey, Bernie Herms and Donald Lawrence.

Disney has held leadership and executive positions at major companies in addition to operating his own agency. He began in marketing at Word Records in 1985, moved into the manager role for Steven Curtis Chapman (1987-1990) and then back to the corporate side of the business. As vice president of marketing at Benson Music (Provident/Sony), he oversaw the faith-based team for Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses, Fred Hammond’s Pages of Life and 4HIM’s The Basics of Life. Recently, as vice president of marketing at Worthy Publishing, he led the marketing team for The Jeremiah Study Bible and John Hagee’s Four Blood Moons. Since 2009, Disney has been an adjunct instructor at Belmont University in Nashville, teaching a course on entertainment distribution and promotion.

After 30 years of leading Peachtree Editorial Services, June and Doug Gunden will retire in early 2016 and have announced plans to transition the company to new leadership. Paige Drygas will become the company’s president and will co-own the company with Chris Hudson of Hudson Bible. The transition will occur Feb. 1.

Industry veteran Drygas will step into the role of president with a season of overlap and transition. Drygas' background includes writing and editing for more than 125 Christian books and Bibles.

Zondervan recently announced a new initiative to expand its interest in distance learning. To further this effort, the Zondervan Academic division has hired Kent Hendricks as marketing director of online learning.

Hendricks comes to Zondervan from Logos Bible Software, where he served for seven years. With experience in marketing and sales, Hendricks’ responsibilities with Logos included key publisher accounts, the pre-publication program and add-on books, as well as working on Logos’ core base packages. Hendricks is a graduate of Calvin College and attended Calvin Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary. As the marketing director for online learning, Hendricks will collaborate with instructors and institutions within the academy to implement Zondervan Academic online courses in both residential and online classrooms as well as marketing courses to self-learners.