Baron Out at Putnam
by Steven Zeitchik, PW NewsLine -- Publishers Weekly, 2/18/2005
The woman promoted to fill Phyllis' shoes at Putnam is walking out the door. Carole Baron, who ascended to the role of Putnam president when Phyllis left in a kerfuffle with Pearson management over three years ago, is leaving the company as well as vacating her role as Dutton president. Susan Petersen Kennedy, currently president of Penguin Group U.S., will oversee Putnam; Dutton publisher Brian Tart will take over as Dutton president. The house wouldn't specify reasons, but Baron, who is said to have made the decision herself as a result of what one source said was her "dissatisfaction," had reportedly been discussing her departure with Penguin for some time. Baron came to Penguin imprint Dutton from Dell/Delacorte in 1999--where she edited the likes of Grisham, Steel, Blume and Elmore Leonard--after the latter was placed under Bantam. She was later named Putnam chief but retained her role at Dutton, which she was credited with reviving. In a statement, Baron was non-committal about her plans. "It’s time for me to let go of the day-to-day detail and concentrate on taking a look at the larger picture of our industry," she wrote. "I look forward to being involved in publishing in a way that will take advantage of my years of experience and at the same time always allow me that exquisite pleasure of working with writers." As Putnam president, Baron had been reporting to Susan Petersen Kennedy, a chain of command that was memorialized at the time as the de-Putnamization of Penguin Putnam. Company spokesperson Marilyn Ducksworth declined to comment on whether Petersen Kennedy, whose purview is quite wide, will oversee Putnam on a permanent basis, responding to the question only that "She will be running Putnam." Putnam did not have a significant drop-off in PW bestsellers last year; in fact the number inched up from 30 to 31. But the average number of weeks book spent on the list plummeted from about 5 1/2 weeks to 3 1/2. The house had several, but not many, bestsellers from non-franchise authors in 2004--The Cusslers, Cornwells and Clancys were responsible for the bulk of the bestsellers, while bestselling books by Maureen Dowd and Karen Jay Fowler were among the sleepers. Dutton's number of bestsellers was roughly constant.
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