Simon & Schuster just got a little smaller. The publishing division of CBS Corp., known for Bob Woodward bestsellers, Glenn Beck polemics and Stephen King novels, announced Tuesday that it was consolidating its imprints into four publishing groups. Most significantly, the Free Press, a 65-year-old publisher of serious non-fiction as well as blockbusters by Mehmet Oz and the prize winning novel The White Tiger, will now be part of the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group. Martha Levin, the imprint's publisher since 2001, and Dominick Anfuso, its editor-in-chief, will leave the company Nov. 2. Staff cuts overall will number in the single digits, according to an executive close to the company. In a letter addressed to "everyone at Simon & Schuster," CEO Carolyn Reidy wrote Tuesday that the new arrangement "will lead to a sharper editorial focus for our imprints even as it takes consideration of the natural affinities among them." A spokesman declined to comment on any other reasons for the reorganization, but insisted that cost-cutting was not a significant driver. He acknowledged that there will likely be fewer titles published. "The group presidents are being asked to consider what is the right number of titles to publish, and we do think that will ultimately result in some title count reduction in the groups," he said. Revenue at Simon & Schuster was flat in 2011. Rapid growth in digital book sales failed to make up for declining print sales, though profits... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'
[ Crains New York | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]