Knopf Doubleday Reorg Done
-- Publishers Weekly, 1/14/2009 6:46:00 AM
The organization of the newly restructured Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group was announced this morning with Tony Chirico remaining president of the combined group, continuing to report to chairman Sonny Mehta. Among those now reporting to Mehta are Bill Thomas who is senior v-p, publisher and editor-in-chief of Doubleday; senior editor at Doubleday Phyllis Grann, and Nan Talese, who remains head of her own imprint. Most of the former Doubleday editorial staff now reports to Thomas. On the marketing and publicity side, Suzanne Herz has been named senior v-p, publishing, Doubleday, reporting to Chirico. She will also continue as publisher of Flying Dolphin. Pat Johnson has been named executive v-p, publishing director Alfred A. Knopf and Pantheon, and will also report to Chirico. Dan Frank, editorial director of Pantheon, will head up the editorial effort following the departure of Janice Goldklang.
Paul Bogaards, executive v-p executive director, publicity, promotion and media relations for Knopf Doubleday (and the group spokesperson), confirmed that a round layoffs did place at the company, but declined to discuss specifics. Among the areas where some consolidation has taken place are sub rights, publicity and production. Bogaards said there will be no change in the title count at any of the imprints in the group.
Below are the letters from Mehta and Chirico.
January 14, 2009
Dear Colleague,
As we settle into a new year, and our first official season as the Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group, I am very excited about our prospects. 2009 will see us publishing an extraordinary
breadth of titles, including new works from Margaret Atwood, Maeve Binchy, Ken Burns, A. S.
Byatt, Lincoln Child, Pat Conroy, Alain de Botton, James Ellroy, Kazuo Ishiguro, John Grisham,
Stieg Larsson, Jonathan Lethem, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Russo,
David Sibley, Alexander McCall Smith, Joe Torre, Anne Tyler, John Updike, Abraham Verghese,
Colson Whitehead, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. These authors represent just a handful of the
remarkable books we will release this year, all of which you will have a hand in publishing.
Our publishing program, as you know, has always been driven by decisions made on the
imprint level. Editors strengthen our lists with sound acquisitions, and the acumen of our
colleagues in production, art, and design; sales and marketing; publicity and promotion; and
new media help determine how those titles fare in the marketplace. Of course new technologies
and evolving business models continue to have an impact on our industry, but our success
hinges on our ability to publish good books well. And so we are very fortunate to count among
our group some of the best imprint teams in the industry.
With the integration of the Knopf Doubleday Group now complete, I would like to briefly
highlight some of our structural changes. Tony will address others in a separate memo.
Now reporting to me will be:
Bill Thomas, Senior Vice President, Publisher and Editor in Chief, Doubleday. Bill has been at
Doubleday since 1993. Some of the best sellers he has edited include The Dark Side by Jane
Mayer, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, Ghost Soldiers and
Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides, The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, Motherless
Brooklynand The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom,
and Who’s Your Caddy? by Rick Reilly.
Phyllis Grann, Senior Editor, Doubleday. Phyllis began her career at Doubleday in 1958. She
has also worked at William Morrow and Simon & Schuster and was CEO and Chairman of the
Putnam Berkley Group. As Doubleday Senior Editor Phyllis has worked with a wide range of
authors including Tim Weiner, Tina Brown, Linda Fairstein, Barbara Delinsky, and Jeffrey
Toobin. At Knopf, she has edited Stephen Carter.
Nan A. Talese, Publisher, President and Editorial Director, Nan A. Talese Books/Doubleday.
Nan began her publishing career at Random House and subsequently was a Senior Editor at
Simon & Schuster and Publisher and Editor in Chief at Houghton Mifflin. She joined Doubleday
in 1988 and launched her own imprint two years later. Nan counts among her authors
Peter Ackroyd, Margaret Atwood, Thomas Cahill, Pat Conroy, Jim Crace, Ian McEwan, Antonia
Fraser, Thomas Keneally, and Barry Unsworth.
Reporting directly to Bill Thomas will be:
Gerry Howard, Vice President, Executive Editor, Doubleday. Gerry has been with Doubleday
since 1998. Some of the authors he has worked with include Bill Bryson, Kate Christensen,
Walter Kirn, Bill O’Reilly, Chuck Palahniuk, and Gore Vidal. In 2001, Gerry received the
PEN/Roger Klein Award for Editing.
Jason Kaufman, Vice President, Executive Editor, Doubleday. Jason joined Doubleday in 2001.
Some of the fiction writers he works with include Dan Brown, Lincoln Child, Jeff Lindsay, and
John Twelve Hawks. Jason has also edited Leigh Montville’s The Big Bam, James Dodson’s Ben
Hogan and the forthcoming biography Munson by Marty Appel.
Alison Callahan, Executive Editor, Doubleday. Alison joined Doubleday in 2007. Some of her
authors include Molly LeCraw, Carolyn Parkhurst, and Peter Straub.
Kristine Puopolo, Senior Editor, Doubleday. Kristine joined Doubleday in 2001. Some of her
authors include Pulitzer Prize winners Anne Applebaum and David Oshinsky as well as James
Bamford, David Hoffman and bestselling author David Bach.
Rebecca Holland, Executive Managing Editor, Doubleday. Rebecca is a two decade industry
veteran who started her Random House career at Broadway in 1996. Recent authors she has
worked with include Tina Brown, Thomas Cahill, John Grisham, and Tim Weiner.
John Fontana, Senior Vice President, Creative Director, Doubleday. John joined Doubleday in
2000. In addition to overseeing the Doubleday art department, John also designs jackets for
books by John Grisham, Ian McEwan, and Jon Krakauer.
Continuing to report to me will be:
Carol Janeway, who has been named Senior Vice President, Director, International Rights,
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Carol was previously Senior Vice President, Director,
International Rights, Knopf Publishing Group. Carol will handle all foreign rights for our
publishing group. She remains a Senior Editor at Knopf as well.
The year ahead promises to be a challenging one, but with our spectacular list and publishing
team—and maybe just a little luck—I am confident our books will find the readerships they so
deserve. As always, our ultimate success will be determined by your contributions. I know
they will be significant. They always are.
Sonny
January 14, 2009
Dear Colleague,
I want to take a moment to thank you all for your dedication to our books, our authors, and our
publishing group during what can only be described as a trying few months. I know everyone
has been affected in some way by the restructuring. Now that it is behind us, however, we can
focus on the year ahead. And what a year it promises to be.
One of our greatest assets as a publishing group has always been having the very best people
working on behalf of our books and authors. Your work has enabled us to develop an
exceptional publishing program through the years, and that has never been more true than now.
Given the lists that are in place at Alfred A. Knopf, Anchor, Doubleday, Everyman’s Library,
Nan A. Talese, Pantheon, Schocken, Vintage, and Vintage Español, and the personnel we have to
publish them, I am very excited about our future.
I would like to take this opportunity to outline some of the changes we have made over the past
few weeks, beginning with the Doubleday imprint:
Suzanne Herz has been named Senior Vice President, Publishing, Doubleday, reporting to me.
She will continue in her role as Publisher, Flying Dolphin Press. She was previously Senior Vice
President, Executive Director of Marketing, Doubleday Publishing Group. Suzanne joined
Doubleday in 1995. Some of the best-selling books she has worked on include The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown, the novels of John Grisham and Ian McEwan as well as Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays
with Morrie. She also worked previously at Pantheon. Advertising Age named Suzanne
Entertainment Marketer of the Year (2003) for her work on The Da Vinci Code.
Suzanne’s reports will include:
Alison Rich, Vice President, Executive Director of Publicity, Doubleday. Alison began her
career at Doubleday, moved to Pantheon, and then returned to Doubleday in 1995. Some of the
authors she has worked with include Margaret Atwood, Tina Brown (spearheading the
campaign for her number one best seller, The Diana Chronicles), Pat Conroy, John Grisham,
Jonathan Lethem, and Colson Whitehead.
John Pitts, Vice President, Director of Marketing, Doubleday. John joined Doubleday in 1986.
He has worked on marketing campaigns for works by Margaret Atwood, Thomas Cahill, Pete
Dexter, John Grisham, Jane Hamilton, Arnold Palmer, Patti Smith, and Barry Unsworth. In 2000
he was honored by Advertising Age for his work on Tuesdays with Morrie.
Judy Jacoby, Vice President, Advertising, Doubleday. Judy began her career at Crown and
Bantam and joined Doubleday in 1997. Judy has worked on advertising campaigns for books
by Mitch Albom, Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, Bill Bryson, Pat Conroy, Jon Krakauer, and
John Grisham among others.
And at the Knopf and Pantheon imprints:
Pat Johnson has been named Executive Vice President, Publishing Director, Alfred A. Knopf
and Pantheon, reporting to me. Pat was previously Executive Vice President, Publishing, Alfred
A. Knopf. Pat started at Doubleday in 1986, was publisher of Random House Audio from 1992
to 1996, and joined Knopf in 1996 as Vice President, Associate Publisher. Among her recent
best-selling publishing campaigns: Mireille Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat, Nora Ephron’s
I Feel Bad About My Neck, and Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In addition to her
responsibilities at Knopf, Pat will lead the publishing and marketing efforts for Pantheon.
And at the Doubleday, Knopf, and Pantheon imprints:
Jeff Yamaguchi has been named Director of Online Marketing for Knopf, Doubleday and
Pantheon, reporting to me. Jeff was previously Associate Director of Online Marketing,
Doubleday Publishing Group. Jeff has ten years of experience in online marketing and has
worked at building online assets connecting readers to authors. He has directed online
marketing campaigns for books by John Grisham, Artie Lange, and Chuck Palahniuk.
Finally, at the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group:
Andy Hughes has been named Vice President, Director of Production, Knopf Doubleday
Publishing Group, reporting to me. Andy was previously Vice President, Director of Production,
Knopf Publishing Group. Andy started at Knopf in 1979. During his years overseeing
production for the Knopf Publishing Group, he has been credited not only with upholding a
long tradition of fine bookmaking at a house that has been singled out for its beautiful works,
but also with helping to pioneer many of the innovations and technologies that have become
standards in the industry.
Justine LeCates has been named Director of Business Operations, Knopf Doubleday Publishing
group, reporting to me. She was previously Director of Business Operations, Knopf Publishing
Group. Justine will handle business operations for the group.
Sean Yule has been named Director, Domestic Rights, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,
reporting to me. Sean was previously Director, Domestic Rights, Knopf Publishing Group.
Sean will be in charge of domestic subsidiary rights for the group including audio, book club
and reprint rights.
Paul Bogaards has been named Executive Vice President, Executive Director, Publicity, Promotion
and Media Relations, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, reporting to me. Paul was previously
Senior Vice President, Executive Director, Publicity, Promotion and Media Relations, Alfred A.
Knopf. Paul has become a trusted adviser to both Sonny and me on many company matters.
He also plays an invaluable role advising his colleagues in publicity across the entire group.
With this promotion, he will continue acting as spokesman for our group as well as directing the
publicity efforts at Knopf. In addition, Pantheon’s publicity department, headed by Associate
Director Michiko Clark, will now report to Paul.
I believe all of these changes will stand us in very good stead in the years to come.
Tony
