Who's Who

Quirk Books publishes innovative and buzzworthy books that entertain, amuse, and inform.
Founded in 2002, we publish books that are objects of desire and delight--in the categories of pop culture, humor and gift, horror, sci-fi, and mystery, food and drink, parenting, pets, history, crafts, reference, and of course, "irreference." We publish 25 new titles per year, in print and digital formats.
We are best known as the publishers of the international best-seller PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES and as the creators of the best-selling WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK series—but we do so much more.
Read on to learn all about the team here at Quirk.
David Borgenicht
President and PublisherDave is the founder of Quirk Books and the creator/co-author of the wildly successful Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. His passions include live music, tennis, embarrassing his children, and the Marx Brothers. Favorite Non-Quirk Book: The Princess Bride, by William Goldman. "No ever one said life is fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all."
Brett Cohen
Vice PresidentBrett likes his vodka on the rocks, his meat on the grill, and his Sundays on the couch watching football. As VP, he likes Quirk’s projects to deliver on time, the P&Ls to be on budget, and sales to exceed expectations. He's the author of Stuff Every Man Should Know, and the co-author of Recipes Every Man Should Know.
Doogie Horner
Art DirectorDoogie has designed a lot of book covers, including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Miss Peregrine, Taft 2012, and many others. His chart design has appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Boing Boing, and the Believer. He is the author and designer of Everything Explained Through Flowcharts.
Eric Smith
Marketing & Social Media CoordinatorWhen he isn’t slinging social media and Quirk titles, he spends his time teaching students at local colleges and playing video games, often with those students. If they can beat him in Halo, they get extra credit. He runs Geekadelphia in his free time, of which he has very little. Email Eric if you want to review our titles on your blog. eric@quirkbooks.com
Jane Morley
Editorial AssistantJane brings a variety of traits and talents to her work as Editorial Assistant, including scarily neat handwriting and a knack for spotting extra spaces between words. Her affinity for grammar dates to elementary school, when she was introduced to the semicolon; it remains her favorite punctuation mark. She also loves running, crossword puzzles, breakfast, and funk music.
Jason Rekulak
Associate Publisher and Creative DirectorAn alumnus of St. Martin’s Press and Quality Paperback Book Club, Jason Rekulak has acquired a number of Quirk favorites, including the international best seller Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and the smash sensation Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. When he’s not identifying our next big hit, he manages our spectacular team of book editors and designers.
Jennifer Adams
Senior EditorJennifer Adams is the author of more than a dozen books, including Little Miss Austen and Little Master Shakespeare in the popular BabyLit series. She loves old cemeteries, lightning storms, letterpress printing, good design, expensive chocolate, decipherable poetry, Italian shoes, and playing with words for a living.
John J. McGurk
Production ManagerA former comedian and a graduate of the Second City Writers Conservatory, his greatest claim to shame is foisting the character “Abraham Lincoln, Naked Superhero” on a terrified public. Father of two, John successfully coaxed his wife into naming their first child after George Carlin, which was tricky since their first child is a girl.
Katie Hatz
DesignerKatie Hatz hails from the budding metropolis of Leola, PA, which already has a grocery store and a Subway (sandwiches, not trains). Someday, someone will offer Katie an absurd amount of money to wiggle her ears, assuming she can’t. And then you’ll want to make friends with her, because that guy was wrong and now she can afford to buy everyone drinks all the time.
Margaret McGuire
EditorAs Quirk’s Editor, Margaret can tell you the difference between *that* and *which*, a distinction that (which?) the rest of us can never remember. Along with Managing Editor Mary Ellen Wilson, Margaret is a charter member of Quirk’s Finer Things Club. Want to pitch a book her way? Visit the submissions page.
Mari Kraske
PublicistOriginally hailing from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Mari Kraske has worked for The Muppets, as a bartender at a horse racetrack and at a cupcake bakery in Berlin. Germany that is, not New Hampshire. After living in New York for 12 years and a shortlived layover in Baltimore, she is now happy to call Philly home. You can email her at mari@quirkbooks.com.
Mary Ellen Wilson
Managing EditorMary Ellen Wilson has worked in educational and scholarly publishing and definitely prefers the quirkiness of Quirk Books. A self-professed wall flower, she enjoys sewing sachets of lavender, starting sweet-pea seeds on her windowsill, backyard birding, and analyzing paintings and architecture.
Melissa Jacobson
Production and Sales CoordinatorMelissa plays with books of all shapes, ages, and smells. She refuses to discriminate. When she’s not moving books around or fiddling with spreadsheets at Quirk, she volunteers for The Institute for the Study of Others as their Purveyor of Conchurllan Artifacts. She enjoys imaging what real life would be like with a Portal gun.
Nicole De Jackmo
Publicity ManagerNicole called NYC her home for eight years where she spent her time enjoying Greek food, beer gardens, & working at Simon & Schuster. She now happily calls Philly her home and has learned how to properly order a cheese steak, pledge her allegiance to Philly sports—but refuses to eat scrapple. E-mail Nicole if you want to review our titles or feature our authors.
Mr. Pringles
Quirk met Mr. Pringles while visiting with paper vendors in South America, and we all fell in love with his witty personality. Today, Mr. Pringles is an integral part of Quirk’s daily operations; he can be reached via e-mail with concerns about overdue payments. He is the only one who can help you with such issues, so don’t try to get in touch with anyone else, please.
