Two months after completing its acquisition of Morrow and Avon from the Hearst Corp., HarperCollins has organized the combined operations into two major operating segments--the general books group and the children's book group--while also establishing HarperCollins International.

As a result of the integration, 74 jobs were eliminated in HC's editorial, marketing and operations departments; the number of adult imprints was reduced from 24 to 16 and the number of children's imprints from 17 to 8. HC president Jane Friedman said that despite the consolidations, HC will continue to publish in all areas in which it already has a presence. "We kept the imprints that we felt had the strongest identities," Friedman told PW. The job cuts, which represented 3.8% of HC's total workforce, fell heaviest at Morrow/Avon, where about two-thirds of the reduction took place.

Under the new structure, Cathy Hemming will head the general books group as president and publisher, and Susan Katz will serve as president and publisher of the children's group. Other top executives in the general books group include Michael Morrison, who has been promoted to executive v-p and group publishing director, and Brian Murray, who has been named to the newly created post of senior v-p and managing director.

The general books group will consist of four divisions, Harper Trade, Morrow/Avon, Harper Information and Harper San Francisco. The Harper Trade division will feature seven imprints: HarperCollins will be led by Hemming and continue to publish hardcover fiction and nonfiction; Perennial and Quill will remain trade paperback lines under the direction of Susan Weinberg; Cliff Street Books will continue to be led by its founding editor, Diane Reverand; the recently acquired Ecco Press will publish literary books under Dan Halpern; HarperAudio and Harper Large Print Editions will be overseen by Morrison; and Regan Books will continue to be led by Judith Regan.

The Morrow/Avon division will consist of five imprints: William Morrow will concentrate on commercial fiction and nonfiction under Lisa Queen; Avon will hold the company's two mass market paperback houses, Avon and Harper Torch, under the leadership of Jennifer Hershey, who will also have editorial oversight of Eos and Harper Entertainment. The creation of Morrow/Avon resulted in the departure of Michael Murphy, publisher of Morrow, and Lou Aronica, senior v-p and publisher of Avon. Rob Weisbach's imprint was also discontinued (see box). Michael Greenstein, formerly president of Avon, will serve as a consultant. Marjorie Braman, formerly publishing director of HarperPaperbacks, has been named executive v-p of HC and will acquire a wide range of titles.

Harper Information will include Harper Business, Harper Resource, Access Travel, William Morrow Cookbooks and the branded books publishing program. Adrian Zackheim has been appointed senior v-p, associate publisher and editorial director of the division and will oversee Harper Business, Access Travel and the brand book program. Morrow Cookbooks will fall under the direction of Pam H nig, while Harper Resource will be managed by Megan Newman. John Silbersack, who had been involved with parts of what is now Harper Information, has left the company.

Harper San Francisco will continue to publish religion, spirituality and New Age titles and will be run by Steven Hanselman, who succeeds the departed Diane Gedymin.

In the children's area, Susan Hirschman will continue as senior v-p and publisher of Greenwillow Books. The HarperCollins imprint will be led by Kate Morgan Jackson and will publish hardcover picture books, fiction and nonfiction for young readers. Mary Alice Moore will head up Harper Festival, which will encompass novelty and audio books, including board books. Among the children's imprints that will be closed are Michael di Capua Books, Morrow Junior Books, Lothrop Lee & Shepard, Beech Tree and Mulberry. Among the adult imprints that didn't make the cut are several new Avon imprints, including Flare, Spike and Twilight.

HarperCollins International will serve primarily as an exporter of American titles under the direction of Roland Algrant.

Acknowledging that last Tuesday was "a difficult day," Friedman nonetheless said she was proud that the transition team was able to implement the integration so swiftly. "We wanted to make this transition quickly to minimize the impact on our employees," Friedman said. She estimated that HC will publish about 1700 books next year, approximately 20% fewer titles than if HC and Morrow/Avon had remained independent companies.

The integration process still has a way to go; HC is consolidating its children's publishing operations in Morrow's location on Sixth Avenue, while all adult operations and most administrative functions will be located at HC's building on East 53rd St. The move is expected to be finished by the end of October. Still to come is the consolidation of the company's sales forces, which is set for November.

Reacting to the consolidation, the Authors Guild executive director, Paul Aiken, said the organization would be "closely watching that all contracts are honored." Aiken added that "closing 17 imprints and eliminating 74 jobs is troubling in that it narrows the pipeline for quality works."

Robert Gottlieb of the William Morris Agency said that while further consolidation was not healthy for the industry, he thought HC had strengthened its position in the marketplace "by finally lassoing a major paperback publisher." The lack of a strong paperback partner had "held Harper back" in competition, he said.