Random Puts Its House in Order

The restructuring of Random House's three publishing groups was completed last week, with many of the company's most prominent executives remaining in place or in new jobs, while an unspecified number of positions, mostly at the mid and lower levels, were eliminated. Although Random released few details about the layoffs, it is evident that positions were cut in all departments, from editorial to production.

While the approaches taken to the reorganization by Random House Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday and Crown varied, they all involved some form of consolidation of departments. This was clearest at Random, where Tom Perry and Bill Takes were named deputy publisher and director of publishing and business operations, respectively. All publicity and marketing functions for the Random group now fall under Perry, while rights and publishing operations report to Takes. Random president Gina Centrello also unified all trade paperback operations for the group under Jane von Mehren, a move that resulted in the elimination of the post of executive editor of Villard, held by Bruce Tracy. The restructuring also kept the Bantam Dell and Ballantine mass market groups separate, with Nita Taublib promoted to executive v-p, publisher and editor-in-chief of Bantam Dell. Libby McGuire will continue to oversee all of Ballantine.

At Knopf Doubleday, Pat Johnson was named executive v-p, publishing director for both Knopf and Pantheon; with the departure of Janice Goldklang, Dan Frank will head editorial at Pantheon. Doubleday's top editors—Bill Thomas Phyllis Grann and Nan Talese—now report to Knopf Doubleday chairman Sonny Mehta, while Suzanne Herz will report to group president Tony Chirico. Herz is now senior v-p, publishing for Doubleday and will continue to oversee the Flying Dolphin Press imprint.

The major changes at Crown include the appointment of Michael Palgon as executive v-p and deputy publisher for the group and Stacy Creamer as v-p and editor-in-chief of Broadway. Palgon will continue to oversee Doubleday Business, which is being renamed Broadway Business.

While some in the industry expect more changes to come at Random, company spokesperson Stuart Applebaum maintained, “No more major staff adjustments are anticipated.” Some minor changes to the sales organization are expected soon, although no significant moves are planned.