Debra Dorfman began her publishing career at Scholastic in the Book Club division, where she worked for twelve years. In 2001, she left for Penguin Young Readers Group, where she was the President & Publisher for two imprints, Grosset & Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan. She is proud of the many titles and series she spearheaded during her seven years at Penguin, including the bestselling Who Was…? series, Mad Libs® (especially Fear Factor), Strawberry Shortcake, and Hank Zipzer, the bestselling series by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. In 2008, she returned to Scholastic, where she currently oversees their global licensing, media, and brands publishing. Her passions have always been licensing, original fiction, all things pop culture, and George Clooney (she cried when she met him). Her group focuses on original fiction, guidebooks, novelty titles, activity books based on the hottest gaming properties, popular TV shows, and top brands. The team recently launched a gaming imprint, AFK (Away From Keyboard), and a new line of graphic novels, Graphix Media.

Key titles & properties: I Survived series (prose and graphic novels) by Lauren Tarshis, Five Nights at Freddy’s (prose and graphic novels) by Scott Cawthon, Riverdale original fiction, Marvel middle grade original fiction and graphic novels, Hello Neighbor, Peppa Pig, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Harry Potter media titles, and the Hope series by Alyssa Milano and Debbie Rigaud. WISHLIST: An abundance of smart, quality, diverse media & brands. I look for creative partners who will work with us to create original stories.

Featured in: Brainpick—Leaning into Licensing