Outgoing Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp announced this Saturday on Instagram that Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter by Neil deGrasse Tyson will be the first title published by Simon Six, the new imprint he is launching at S&S. The book is scheduled for publication in May.
"By reading about aliens, you're actually learning a lot about humanity and human nature," Karp said. "In a world where a lot of things are going wrong right here on Earth, I wanted to think about something bigger and something more magnificent."
Karp praised Tyson as "one of the most entertaining writers on science alive" and said the book examines "the practical, scientific aspects of what alien visitation would look like." He described the title as "a book that enlarged me, and it gave me hope."
The launch of Simon Six marks Karp's return to hands-on editorial work after five years as CEO of S&S, a role he assumed after the sudden death of Carolyn Reidy in 2020.
During his tenure, Karp guided the company as it was marketed for sale, first to Penguin Random House and then to its eventual buyer, KKR. He also oversaw the publication of approximately 2,000 books annually.
"The CEO job is a bit of a paradox," Karp said. "You get promoted into it because you have an enthusiasm for publishing books, and then once you have the job, you hardly get to do that at all."
Karp announced his intention to step down from the CEO position in August last year. S&S has continued to search for a new CEO, but no successor has been named.
Simon Six will publish six books annually, each defined by what Karp has called an "X-factor": "extraordinary stories, exciting voices, exclusive access, exemplary individuals, excellent accomplishments, and exquisite prose." Karp originally considered naming the imprint X Books but abandoned the idea after "somebody else kind of ruined the whole X thing," he said in the announcement, flashing a photo of Elon Musk.
The imprint model recalls Karp's earlier venture, Twelve, which he founded at Hachette Book Group in 2005 and which published one book monthly. "For Simon Six, I will acquire and edit half as many books each year and publish them with twice as much emphasis," Karp said on the imprint's website.
After 36 years in publishing, during which he has edited more than 200 books and overseen publication of at least 1,000 others, Karp said he is "looking for six more each year that will enlarge the lives of readers and are worthy of exhortation."
