Ten Speed Press Team

Aaron Wehner (he/him) is Executive Vice President of Crown Publishing and Publisher of Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press. He has been with the group since 1997, serving as editor, editorial director, and associate publisher of Ten Speed before taking over as publisher in 2008. After Ten Speed was acquired by Random House in 2009, he led the integration of the imprint into Crown and took on the additional role of publisher of Clarkson Potter and Harmony Books in 2014, and of Rodale Books in 2018. Aaron oversees the publishing programs of such luminaries and brands as Ina Garten, Yotam Ottolenghi, Martha Stewart, The Home Edit, Marie Kondo, Death & Co, and Dungeons & Dragons. As co-lead of Crown Publishing, he works closely with the Crown team to shape ambitious, cross-imprint, and multi-book collaborations with the group’s incredible roster of authors.

​​Molly Birnbaum (she/her) joined Ten Speed Press as VP and Editor in Chief in 2022. Previously, she spent more than a decade editing and publishing groundbreaking, award-winning cookbooks—as well as digital, print, and audio content for both adults and kids—at America’s Test Kitchen. Molly is author of the acclaimed memoir Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way, published by Ecco and nominated for an IACP award in 2011. She is interested in dynamic, narrative books in the cooking, science, and lifestyle space.

Jill Flaxman (she/her) is Senior Vice President, Deputy Publisher of Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press, Harmony Books, and Rodale Books, and Publishing Director, Potter Gift. Prior to this role, she was the Director of Publishing Operations for the Crown Publishing Group for 6 years, preceded by 3 years as Executive Director of Marketing for the group and 6 years as Group Sales Director. She has worked on bestselling books from authors such as Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, George W. Bush, Ina Garten, Gillian Flynn, Deepak Chopra, Yotam Ottolenghi, and Marie Kondo, among others.

Kaitlin Ketchum (she/they), Editorial Director of Art, Gift, and Popular Culture, specializes in illustrated and prescriptive nonfiction titles that are stylish, entertaining, and smart. She is particularly interested in books on art, culture, science, nature, history, lifestyle, self-improvement, and social justice, and is the lead on Ten Speed’s graphic novel list. She has acquired and edited six New York Times bestsellers, most notably the cultural phenomenon Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky and Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer by Amanda Lucidon. She also edited the Eisner Award–winning graphic novel The Black Panther Party by David F. Walker and Marcus Anderson. Other notable titles include We Are Everywhere by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown; Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau; Notable Native People by Adrienne Keene; Read this to Get Smarter by Blair Imani; and the centennial anniversary edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette by Lizzie Post and Daniel Post Senning.

Kelly Snowden (she/her), Editorial Director, Food, Beverage, and Wellness, is interested in smart, compelling narratives that encourage readers to explore new territory. A large focus of her list is culinary; she has edited numerous bestsellers and award winners such as the New York Times bestsellers FOODHEIM and Turkey and the Wolf, the NAACP Image Award winner Vegetable Kingdom, the James Beard Award winner and Wall Street Journal bestseller The Pho Cookbook, the Publishers Weekly bestseller Hot for Food Vegan Comfort Classics, and the André Simon Prize winner Champagne. She is also the in-house editorial director for 4 Color Books, an imprint focused on BIPOC talent that she helped found with author and activist Bryant Terry. Other authors she works with include Matty Matheson, Melissa King, and Ashley Neese.

Julie Bennett (she/her), VP, Executive Editor, acquires in the cooking/beverage, wellness, pets, photography, gift, home and pop culture categories. She collaborates with chefs, journalists, artists, and other passionate experts to share each one’s singular voice and wisdom with the world. In addition to executing the book programs for the award-winning kitchen and home brand Food52 and Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, Julie has edited world-renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo (Kurashi at Home); James Beard Award–winners Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park), David Kinch (At Home in the Kitchen), and Bobby Stuckey (Friuli Food and Wine); New York Times bestselling cookbook authors Aaron Franklin (Franklin Smoke), Danielle Walker (Healthy in a Hurry), David Lebovitz (Drinking French), and Heidi Swanson (Super Natural Simple); iconic cocktail writer David Wondrich (The Comic Book Story of Cocktails); and the talented team at Death & Co (Welcome Home). A California native, Julie lives in the mountains near Lake Tahoe.

Matt Inman (he/him), Executive Editor, Crown and Ten Speed Press, loves distinctive voices, immersive journeys, and books that entertain as they teach. He’s looking for narrative and illustrated nonfiction, including memoir, biography, cultural history, humor, pop culture, and pop reference, as well as select art/photography, how-to, and business books. Matt has acquired and edited New York Times bestsellers by Matthew McConaughey (Greenlights), Jimmy Chin (There and Back), The Moth (How to Tell a Story and Occasional Magic), Rhett & Link (Rhett & Link’s Book of Mythicality and The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek), Conor Knighton (Leave Only Footprints), and The Onion (The Ecstasy of Defeat). His authors also include Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Andrew Rannells, The New York Times, The Explorers Club, Gracie Gold, Dave Holmes, Mike Matheny, and Olivia de Havilland, as well as the creative teams of The Crown, Parks and Recreation, and Shark Tank.

Dervla Kelly (she/her), Executive Editor, Ten Speed Press and Rodale, is passionate about acquiring books of diverse subject matters in the cooking, lifestyle, and home décor spaces by authors who can inspire and challenge their readers. Since joining the Penguin Random House family in 2018, she has acquired books for Ten Speed such as James Beard Award–winning In Bibi’s Kitchen by Hawa Hassan, My Everyday Lagos Kitchen by Yewande Komolafe, Minimalista by professional organizer Shira Gill, Home with Rue by Kelli Lamb, and Old Brand New by designer Dabito. For Rodale, she has acquired books such as New York Times bestseller True Comfort by Kristin Cavallari, the three-time bestselling Run Fast, Eat Slow series by Elyse Kopecky and Shalane Flanagan, Everyday Dinners by Jessica Merchant and The Feel Good Foodie by Yumna Jawad.

Shaida Boroumand (she/her), Assistant Editorial Director, Ten Speed Press, acquires and edits illustrated pop culture, graphic novels, and licensed publishing that explores fan-favorite games, books, and film/television from new angles. She is the editor of a fun and eclectic list that includes Dungeons & Dragons illustrated nonfiction (the Young Adventurer’s Guide series and more), the darkly humorous Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village, pop culture cookbooks inspired by fictional worlds from Stephen King’s Maine (Castle Rock Kitchen) to the edges of the Continent’s map (The Witcher Official Cookbook), and Sí, Se Puede, a graphic novel history of the Latino heroes who changed the US. Before joining Ten Speed Press in 2019, Shaida was publishing manager at Prima Games, a publisher of video game guides, collectors’ boxed sets, and art books.

Vedika Khanna (she/her), Senior Editor, exclusively acquires graphic novels for Ten Speed Press. She is actively looking for genre-bending commercial fiction and smart, engaging memoir with relatable themes. Before joining Ten Speed Press in 2022 she worked at William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, for five years and was on the company’s first DEI committee. In addition, she is a member of Inkluded, a nonprofit focused on improving diversity in the publishing industry, and a frequent mentor for the Representation Matters Mentorship Program (RMMP).

Claire Yee (she/her), Senior Editor, acquires and edits for both Ten Speed Press and 4 Color Books. She focuses on food, drink, craft, and lifestyle titles, and is passionate about amplifying voices that are underrepresented in the traditional publishing space. She is the editor of a diverse list of titles and authors, including Shelley Lindgren, Fly By Jing’s Jing Gao, Tu David Phu, and Soleil Ho. Before joining Ten Speed Press in 2022, she was an editor at Weldon Owen, and prior to that, was at Callisto Media. Claire is also the secretary of People of Color in Publishing, a grassroots group dedicated to supporting, empowering, and uplifting racially and ethnically marginalized members throughout the publishing industry.

Lisa Regul (she/her) joined Ten Speed Press in 2000 and became Managing Editor in 2009, after previously working as Publicity Manager. She acquires and edits books on gardening, floral arranging, and houseplants that are beautiful, inspiring, and instructive, including The Little Book of Bonsai, The Flower Workshop, American Horticultural Society award-winners The Bee-Friendly Garden and Fruit Trees for Every Garden, Striking Succulent Gardens, The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food, Xerophile: Cactus Photographs from Expeditions of the Obsessed, and Welcome to the Jungle: Rare Tropical Houseplants to Collect, Grow, and Love.

Kim Keller (she/her), Editor, acquires and edits a broad scope of beverage, food, and wellness titles such as Modern Classic Cocktails, The Olive Oil Enthusiast, Sheet Pan Chicken, Essential Oils to Boost the Brain and Heal the Body, and The Cannabis Gardener, as well as lifestyle and art related works such as Everyday Watercolor Seashores and Beneath the Moon, a storybook based on artwork by Yoshi Yoshitani. She has also edited a series of books with the Stanford d.school on design methods and mindsets. Kim has worked for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Tricycle Press, and a few successful startup publishing ventures, including the Yosemite Conservancy’s publishing program..

Kimmy Tejasindhu (she/her), Associate Editor, is excited about books that champion new perspectives and challenge the boundaries of genre and format. Kimmy has experience editing and acquiring comics/graphic novels, graphic adaptations, photography, pop culture, gift, and more. She edited Nora Krug’s New York Times bestselling adaptation of Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny and has acquired Krug’s Diaries of War. Kimmy spearheads the comic book cookbook publishing at Ten Speed with titles such as Let’s Make Ramen! and Let’s Make Dumplings! by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan, a graphic adaptation of Ken Forkish’s award-winning Flour Water Salt Yeast, and Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kauppinen.

Zoey Brandt (she/her), Assistant Editor, edits and acquires across a range of topics. She works on licensed Dungeons & Dragons titles and has acquired books such as Chrissy Tracey’s upcoming cookbook Foraged & Fired and Gordon Walker’s Dr. Fun Guy’s Passport to the Fungi Kingdom. She has also provided editorial support for books such as Hot for Food All Day, Black Food, and Women Making Waves. She initially joined Ten Speed as an intern in 2020. Prior to that, she completed her master’s degree in publishing at Kingston University, interned at Portal Books, and was the copy editor at Welum.

Kausaur Fahimuddin (she/her), Editorial Assistant, joined Ten Speed Press in June 2022. She has provided support on titles such as Project 562, the graphic adaptation of Stamped from the Beginning, and How to Win at Chess. She previously interned at North Atlantic Books, worked as a copy editor for Kodansha, and is a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course.

Gabby Ureña Matos (she/her), Editorial Assistant, joined Ten Speed Press in June 2022. Her interests are mostly in food and lifestyle with the aim of amplifying voices that are often overlooked in publishing. She’s super excited by projects whose narratives touch on the impact of community and food systems on the meals shared and written about.