Seattle Weekly announced Monday that 15-year newspaper veteran Alisa Cromer has been named publisher.

Cromer, 39, has been the publisher of Orlando Weekly since 1996. She will start work in Seattle Aug. 1, three months after former publisher Michael Crystal left the position. Cromer said her Orlando replacement will be announced Monday.

Before she arrived in Orlando, the Washington D.C. native launched several publications in Las Vegas, including Las Vegas Business Press, PRIME Magazine, and the alternative newsweekly Las Vegas City Life.

Revenues more than tripled and readership nearly doubled during Cromer's tenure in Orlando. She also created the Orlando Music Awards and chaired the Online Advisory Group for Times Shamrock, the Weekly's parent company.

As publisher of Seattle Weekly, Cromer will report to Michael Sigman, executive vice president of parent company Village Voice Media.

Sigman said Cromer's experience and "dynamism" convinced him that she was the right person for the job.

Cromer said she wants to get a feel for Seattle before making any decisions about the paper.

"I have some ideas but I'm a visceral kind of a person and I want to spend some time in the market talking to readers, looking at papers," Cromer said from her Orlando office Tuesday. "It's like [what Justice Potter Stewart said about] pornography: I'll know it when I see it."

As if publishing a weekly paper isn't enough, Cromer recently directed a movie that will be shown at this year's Florida Film Festival. Although she is excited about that accomplishment, Cromer said she will devote her considerable energy exclusively to the Seattle Weekly.

"It's a city that deserves something unique and wonderful every week," Cromer said.