North Adams, MA (PRWEB) February 22, 2015
Tupelo Press announced on Friday that Nicco Mele has been appointed the press's Deputy Publisher. Since his early days as one of Esquire Magazine's "Best and Brightest" in America, Mele has been a sought-after innovator, media commentator, and speaker.
Jeffrey Levine, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press, said today, "For an independent literary press to lay claim to someone with Nicco Mele's extraordinary mind, his gift for innovation, and his richly-diversified talents in the world of digital marketing, well, this is such stuff as a publisher's dreams are made on."
Mele joined the Los Angeles Times as its Deputy Publisher in January, focusing on content, revenue, product and audience development. He will retain both posts.
Of his new role, Mele says, "It is an honor and a delight to be joining Tupelo Press. I start my day and end my day reading poetry, and over the years I've read many fine volumes edited by Jeffrey and his team. I've always been astounded at the volume and quality of Tupelo's output. At a time when the country is hungry for the kind of compelling, serious work that is Tupelo's hallmark, opportunities abound for one of the top small presses in America. I'm grateful for the chance to be associated with an organization that is deeply engaged in the real work of writers and poets."
Born to Foreign Service parents, Mele spent his early years in Asia and Africa before graduating from the College of William and Mary in Virginia with a bachelor's degree in government. He then worked for several high-profile advocacy organizations where he pioneered the use of social media as a galvanizing force for fundraising. As webmaster for Governor Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid, Mele and the campaign team popularized the use of technology and social media that revolutionized political fundraising and reshaped American politics.
Subsequently, he co-founded Echo & Co., a leading Internet strategy company working with nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 companies, among them Google, AARP, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the United Nations. Mele is also co-founder of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
His first book, The End of Big: How The Internet Makes David The New Goliath, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2013. For the last six years, Mele has served on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School teaching graduate-level classes on the internet and politics.
Tupelo Press, Inc., which is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year, is an independent, literary press devoted to discovering and publishing works of poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction by emerging and established writers. Tupelo Press is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company.
