Meet Voracious

We are Voracious: an imprint at Little, Brown led by Editorial Director Michael Szczerban that launched our first list in Fall 2019. Our publishing interests are wide-ranging, but our books are driven by twin forces: appetite and curiosity.

We have an appetite for food, but more broadly for enjoyment and pleasure, for meaningful new experiences, for narrative and self-improvement and the things that tickle our brains. (What is curiosity but an appetite of the mind?)

To us, books are a matter of passion. Our mission is to connect readers with what they love most—from politics and Instant Pots to irreverent advice and pop culture. Most of our books are illustrated, and all of them are designed to make readers pick them up and immediately engage with them. Our authors are artists, entrepreneurs, cooks, photographers, tastemakers, thought leaders, scientists, storytellers, historians, humorists—and more.

Michael Szczerban

VP, Editorial Director

I publish visual books across a range of interests, from food and culture to storytelling, science, current events, and beyond. I love working with authors to connect readers to their passions. Happily, those collaborations have resulted in many acclaimed bestsellers, including Pete Souza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait, Samin Nosrat and Wendy MacNaughton’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Sarah Knight’s No F*cks Given Guides. I got my start as a reader of poetry manuscripts at Carnegie Mellon University Press while studying computer science, and joined Little, Brown in 2014 after working for Simon & Schuster and the Regan Arts imprint at Phaidon. I was a 2017 Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree and the 2012 recipient of the Lawrence Peel Ashmead Editorial Award, and I write occasionally for Poets & Writers.

Thea Diklich-Newell

Associate Editor

I joined Voracious in 2020 as editorial assistant, and work primarily on cookbooks and books in the illustrated non-fiction category. Previously, I worked in the food media space at the Austin Chronicle and for Eater Austin, before moving to New York and joining the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency as an assistant. During my time at Voracious I have had the pleasure of working on projects from Ayesha Curry, Wally Koval, Christopher Kimball and the Milk Street Team, Sam Heughan, Simon Rich and more. My own titles include Judith Tschann’s Romaine Wasn’t Built in a Day, as well as the forthcoming Mostly Veggies from blogger Brittany Mullins, and Plantas, a vegan Mexican cookbook from @alexafuelednaturally. I received my BA from Boston University and hold a Master’s in French Language & Literature from Boston College.

Jessica Chun

Senior Director of Marketing

I have worked in publishing for over a decade with a focus on marketing nonfiction books that inspire readers to pursue their passions and have a find joy in life. I joined Little, Brown in 2018 and Voracious in 2021. Previously, I worked at various imprints across Penguin Random House, including Dutton, Gotham Books, Avery, and Dorling Kindersley. At Voracious I have the pleasure of working with some really amazing authors such as Christopher Kimball, Brad Leone, Leah Thomas, and many more.

Katherine Akey

Senior Marketing Manager

I joined Voracious and Little, Brown Spark in 2021, with focus in marketing nonfiction books that inform and feed readers’ passions. At Voracious, I’ve worked with incredible authors including Sam Heughan, Jeffrey Eisner, Zoe Adjonyoh, and Dan Richer. Previously, I marketed ELT books at Oxford University Press, and medical books at Thieme Medical Publishers. I have a master’s degree in Literature from the University of Colorado, and BAs in English and French.

Gianella Rojas

Marketing Assistant

I joined Little, Brown as the Marketing Assistant in 2022, working across imprints with Voracious, Little, Brown Spark, and Mulholland Books. I’m passionate about sharing books that offer new and thoughtful insight into the world around us, and love finding homes for each book in its different audiences. At Little, Brown, I’ve had the honor of working with wonderful authors such as Marcela Valladolid, Kerri Maniscalco, and Claire Goodchild. A graduate of Macalester College, I earned a BA in Education and English.

Juliana Horbachevsky

Director of Publicity, Spark/Voracious

I am the publicity lead for Voracious and Little, Brown Spark, focusing on the cooking, lifestyle, health/wellness, science, and psychology/self-help categories. I’ve spearheaded publicity campaigns for bestselling authors including Nicholas Christakis, Bobby Flay, Josh Axe, Mark Hyman, David Perlmutter, Jillian Michaels, and Deepak Chopra. At Little, Brown, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside authors such as Christopher Kimball, Maida Heatter, Isaac Toups, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, and David Tamarkin. Previously, I worked in publicity at Penguin Random House, Abrams, and Simon & Schuster. A graduate of Loyola University Maryland, I earned my BA with majors in Writing and Marketing.

Lauren Ortiz

Publicity Manager

I joined Little, Brown in 2020 as an Associate Publicist with our Little, Brown Spark and Voracious imprints to focus on lifestyle, cooking, health and wellness, science, and psychology titles. Prior to joining Little, Brown, I worked at NBCUniversal as a Page in NBCU’s Page Program and later as a publicity coordinator with NBC Entertainment, where I assisted in publicity campaigns for late night and prime time television shows including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Law & Order: SVU. In my time at Little, Brown, I’ve had the opportunities of working with award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors such as Sam Heughan, Christopher Kimball, Stacey Mei Yan Fong, and Shawn Stevenson. A graduate of Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick, I earned my BS in Business Marketing.

Aayushi Agarwal

Publicity Assistant

I joined Little, Brown as a publicity assistant in 2023, after graduating from the University of Connecticut with a BA in English and Psychology. I mainly work as part of the Little, Brown Spark and Voracious imprints, focusing on lifestyle, cooking, health and wellness, science, and psychology. Previously, I have interned at Beacon Press and Barefoot Books.