Big Changes at Penguin Publishing Group

Publishers Lunch

Tart Takes Over Viking As Ferraro Leaves, Putnam and Dutton Combine, Hudson Street & Gotham Close

Having taken over as president of newly-formed Penguin Publishing Group in September, Madeline McIntosh has moved quickly to reshape that group through "several major organizational alignments, leadership changes, and promotions." McIntosh notes to staff in a lengthy memo that "wide-ranging" reorganization "was a lot to absorb, but I hope that you will value being able to see the total picture all at once. I am delighted that these changes will provide new opportunities for growth for so many of our existing colleagues, and that they will set us up perfectly to continue to provide the very best service to our authors and readers for years to come."

President and publisher of Dutton, Gotham and Avery Brian Tart moves over to Viking as president and publisher, replacing Clare Ferraro, who will leave the company at the end of this month and has been president of Viking, Plume, and Hudson Street Press since 1999. Bolstering Tart's team at Viking is Andrea Schulz, who joins the line as editor-in-chief. Previously she was editor-in-chief at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Dutton will be "align[ed]...under one leader" with Putnam, overseen by Ivan Held, who becomes president, Putnam and Dutton. Both imprints will keep separate editorial departments and publishing lists.

McIntosh writes of Tart: "Brian has built [Dutton's] success through a great aptitude for deciding what and how to publish, a close and attentive partnership with his authors and their agents, and a collaborative leadership style that brings out the very best in his entire team. In this new role, Brian's leadership skills and marketplace instincts will ensure that the Viking imprint, and each book it publishes, reaches its maximum potential."

As for the departing Ferraro, McIntosh states: "Her contributions to our company in her thirty-five years of service, and especially to Viking since becoming its leader in 1999, are held in the highest regard by several publishing generations. In particular, [Ferraro] will always have our gratitude for preserving and building on Viking’s history, creating a legacy of literary and financial success of which we can all be proud, and which provides a solid foundation for the imprint’s future growth."

The Gotham and Hudson Street imprints will be discontinued after summer 2015, with their future titles and their backlists moving to other Penguin Group imprints. As a result of those closings, Gotham executive editor Charlie Conrad will move to Berkley, reporting to Susan Allison, with acquisitions in pop culture, narrative nonfiction, history, and biography set to be published under the Berkley banner from fall 2015 onward. Gotham editorial director Lauren Marino will leave the company.

Plume will now "join forces" with Blue Rider Press, with Plume editorial director Rachel Bressler and her team newly reporting to Blue Rider president and publisher David Rosenthal. McIntosh notes the two imprints "have often been linked informally through their many hard-soft publishing partnerships. Formalizing this relationship will allow them to benefit from a larger-scaled marketing and publicity team. That team will be overseen by Aileen Boyle, now promoted to vp, associate publisher, director, marketing and publicity for both imprints.

Avery will expand its health-and-wellness publishing program under the leadership of Megan Newman, promoted to vp, publisher. Hudson Street's Caroline Sutton will now serve as editor-in-chief, Avery, reporting to Newman, while Gotham editor Brooke Carey also moves over to Avery. Continuing at Avery are Lucia Watson, now promoted to executive editor, and Lindsay Gordon, now marketing and publicity director.

At Viking, reporting to new editor-in-chief Schulz are vp, associate publisher & nonfiction editorial director Wendy Wolf; vp, executive editor Paul Slovak; vp, editor-at-large Carole DeSanti; and Pamela Dorman, vp, publisher of Pamela Dorman Books. In addition, Kate Stark will join the imprint as vp, associate publisher, and director of marketing, while continuing her duties as marketing director for Riverhead (she will relinquish her duties at Putnam.) Stark succeeds Nancy Sheppard, who is transitioning into a new role as vp, director, advertising and promotions, Penguin Publishing Group.

At Dutton, Ben Sevier has been promoted to vp, publisher, in addition to his duties as editor-in-chief, now reporting to Held. Christine Ball, currently vp, associate publisher for Dutton, will also serve the same role for Putnam.

In other Penguin Publishing Group announcements and promotions, Catharine Lynch has been named associate publisher, reporting to McIntosh, in addition to her current role as svp, director, publishing management. Newly reporting to Lynch are Tory Klose, executive director of copyediting, Viking, Penguin Press, and Portfolio; Tricia Conley, executive managing editor, Viking, Penguin Press, and Portfolio; Matt Giarratano, executive managing editor, Penguin, Penguin Classics, and Plume; and Susan Schwartz, managing editor, Dutton; and Nancy Sheppard.

Allison Dobson has been promoted to the newly created position of vp, director, business development and strategy for the Penguin Publishing Group. And John Fagan, currently vp, director of marketing for Plume, and Hudson Street Press, will now focus solely on Penguin, including Penguin Classics and the Penguin brand.