EMILY BESTLER
Senior Vice President, Editor-in-Chief
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Emily attended Barnard College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s degree in English and received her M.A. in English from ColumbiaUniversity. After attending New York University’s Publishing Program, she began her career at Macmillan Books and then moved to Random House where she became a Senior Editor. Emily was named Editorial Director of Pocket Books and became Executive Editorial Director at Atria/Pocket Books. In 2011, she founded Emily Bestler Books, where she is a Senior Vice President and Editor-in-Chief.

LARA JONES
Senior Editor

Lara joined Emily Bestler Books in 2015. Prior to joining the imprint, she held an editorial position at Europa Editions, working on a wide range of critically acclaimed and bestselling novels in translation. Raised in Portland, Oregon, Lara is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course and Seattle University, where she studied English and Italian. Her list includes upmarket and commercial suspense, thrillers, mysteries, horror, rom coms, and book club fiction. Her authors include TJ Alexander (Chef’s Kiss), Jaclyn Goldis (The Chateau), Ally Wilkes (Where the Dead Wait), Kit Frick (The Split), and Amy Pease (Northwoods), among others.

HYDIA SCOTT-RILEY (SHE/THEY)
Editorial Assistant

Hydia joined Emily Bestler Books/Atria in September 2023 and assists editor-in-chief Emily Bestler. Before joining the imprint, Hydia came to Simon & Schuster in January 2022 through the Associate’s Program. She grew up in Bermuda and holds a BA in English from Howard University. She is drawn to upmarket and commercial fiction with atmospheric writing, dynamic plots, and nuanced characters.