Meet The Team
At Diamond, we are dedicated to making graphic novels, manga, games, and other pop-culture merchandise available to bookstores, libraries, schools, mass merchants and more, worldwide. We help our publishers get their stories to readers, grow their businesses, and reach new markets. We provide our publishers insightful guidance at every stage of the publishing process — from initial concept, to marketing, sales, and fulfillment.
What sets us apart is our approach to service. We pride ourselves in giving our clients direct access to our expert team members. You’ll always be able to put a face to a name. We have over 40 sales experts worldwide, covering national accounts, independent bookstores, libraries, schools, big box stores, as well as international and specialty accounts. No matter where your audience is, we can connect your stories to them.
TONY LUTKUS is President of Diamond Book Distributors. He has built an international publishing career in marketing, sales, and distribution at the most prominent publishers in the United States. While at Hachette Book Group and Penguin Random House Tony was on the teams that spearheaded DC Comics', Marvel, and Dark Horses efforts to expand graphic novels into international markets. Tony has worked with such authors as James Patterson, Brad Meltzer, David Baldacci, and Stephanie Meyer.
RICH JOHNSON is Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Diamond Book Distributors. Rich has been involved in all aspects of bookselling and graphic novel publishing. Most recently he was VP of Lion Forge Comics. Johnson was also the Co-Founder of Yen Press, a manga imprint for Hachette. He was also the first VP of Book Trade Sales for DC Comics where he was instrumental in establishing graphic novels in the trade bookstore and library markets. Johnson has taught at Pace and Drexel universities and has written a series of Marvel art books for Rizzoli. Rich was on the team at Lion Forge that acquired Lighter Than My Shadow. At DC, he developed sales and marketing strategies for Sandman: Endless Nights, Batman: The Dark Kight Strikes Back, Fables, Y the Last Man, and Preacher.
EMILY BOTICA is Vice President of Publisher Relations & Marketing at Diamond Book Distributors. Emily came to Diamond from Borders where she bought graphic novels & manga, backlist fiction, classics, short stories, and memoirs. Since coming to Diamond, Emily has worn many hats, from Sales Manager to Associate Director of Sales to Director of Sales and Marketing. Today she brings all this experience to her work with publishers, helping them manage and bring their titles to market. Emily is proud to have worked on such diverse titles as, March, Gender Queer, Sheets, The Walking Dead, and Saga.
ASHLEY KRONSBERG is the Marketing Manager for Diamond Book Distributors. She has been with Diamond for almost a decade and oversees all marketing for our client-publishers. Along with creating and executing marketing plans for key titles, Ashley is the editor of Diamond Bookshelf Magazine, a triannual resource for librarians, educators, and booksellers about the very best in manga, comics, graphic novels, role-playing games, and pop-culture. Ashley has brought her skills to a variety of titles including, Strangers In Paradise, Sheets, It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, and Summertime Rendering.
TERRY HELMAN is the Associate Director of Online Sales and works on DBD’s supply chain. He has been with Diamond for over twenty years with most of that time focused on the book market. Starting as a Sales Manager for national booksellers, Terry was also instrumental in building the presence of graphic novels in the library market. Terry is proud of his efforts selling the graphic memoir March. As our resident Role-playing Game expert, he works hard to get enthusiastic gamers the titles they crave, whether its Elden Ring artbooks or the Pathfinder Role-playing Games.
STUART CARTER is a Sales Manager at Diamond Book Distributors. Stuart is currently responsible for Barnes & Noble, Ingram and Kinokuniya. Stuart came to Diamond from Borders & Waldenbooks where he created the graphic novel section for Walden while also buying other categories. Since coming to Diamond, Stuart worked with Amazon to create their graphic novel section. Stuart has been responsible for many retailer exclusives and has been instrumental in building sales success for The Boys, March, Monstress, Steins;Gate and the Elden Ring art books.
DEVIN FUNCHES is Sales Manager overseeing sales to mass merchandise retailers and to independent booksellers. He is also our liaison to our Canadian distribution partner, The Manda Group. Devin was previously Direct of Retail Sales at Z2 Comics. Prior to that he worked at Oni Press, Lion Forge Entertainment, and BOOM! Studios selling and marketing graphic novels that include Lumberjanes, Gender Queer, Adventure Time, and Voltron.
PHIL GIBSON is a Key Accounts Manager for Diamond Book Distributors UK. His territories include the UK, Europe, UAE, Australia, and New Zealand. He has been in the role for 10+ years and enjoys developing new accounts in new regions. He is a huge fan of pop culture and has worked in and owned a Comic shop. Some of the book projects that are stand-outs for Phil have been the award winning It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, and working with the UK Book Charity Book Trust on a sale of the middle grade graphic novel Crush. He worked closely with a leading UK cinema chain at cross promoting DC Graphic Novels for the Suicide Squad and Killing Joke movie releases.
SIMON BYRNE is Key Accounts Manager for Diamond Book Distributors UK, developing and managing key UK and international accounts including Amazon UK and Waterstones, working on sell-in at the retailer level and on finding marketing solutions for manga, graphic novels and associated merchandise. Simon’s territories include the UK, Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Romania, Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Norway, Serbia, Croatia, Malta, Egypt and Jordan. Simon has over 25 years of book publishing experience. Prior to his time at DBD, Simon worked for the UK publishing trade press and worked in book retail. Simon is proud to be a part of the efforts to bring Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, The Walking Dead, Attack on Titan and Solo Leveling to readers everywhere.