Kaplan Trade Ramps Up

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 8/5/2008 2:08:00 PM

Kaplan, known for its academic and professional development titles, is expanding its trade publishing program. Its new trade division, Kaplan Publishing, has acquired a new book by National Book Award winner Sherwin B. Nuland, titled The Soul of Medicine; the deal was done by executive editor Don Fehr, who recently joined Kaplan. Kaplan president and publisher Maureen McMahon said Nuland “represents the best of the kind of authors we at Kaplan are looking to bring on board as we expand our trade publishing operations.” Nuland’s book How We Die won the NBA in 1994.

The acquisition follows other recent announcements in Kaplan’s trade publishing program, including Almost Home, a memoir by neonatal pediatric surgeon Christine Gleason; Diabetes Rising by journalist Dan Hurley; a biographer of influential surgeon William Stewart Halsted by Dr. Gerald Imber; and Both Sides of the Law by Alan Pfeuffer, a 20-year veteran beat cop turned DEA agent who is now a federal public defender. Michelle Patterson, executive director of marketing for Kaplan, said the house is banking on a January 2009 title, Labor of Love by Cara Muhlhahn, about the author's work as a midwife, to be its "first big hit."