Cover Story : 50 Top Women in Book Publishing

Book Business honors leading female executives who are helping to shape the industry.

Sylvia Hecimovich, Design & Production Director, University of Chicago Press
Hecimovich has built business processes for accurate profit and loss projections, established a digital book print center with a vendor and distribution center, and assisted in managing the development of a database to track digital content. She is a contributing author for “The Chicago Manual of Style,” and was a member of the board of the Association of American University Presses. In her free time, Hecimovich develops a small business that she established with her brother in 2006, the Mendoza Publishing Group (MPG), which has published three graphic novels.

• Tip: “Love what you’re doing, keep an open mind, be fair, and stay positive.”

Nina D. Hoffman, President, Books and School Publishing, National Geographic Books; Executive Vice President, National Geographic Society
Hoffman joined the National Geographic Society in 1996 to head and expand its book and school publishing divisions, significantly increasing the annual number of adult and children’s titles published as well as building its presence as a major educational publisher. She oversees the publishing of nonfiction and illustrated reference books for consumers and libraries. Prior to National Geographic, she held key publishing positions at major trade houses including Simon & Schuster and Bantam Doubleday Dell.

• Tip: “Immerse yourself in the world, everything from pop culture, politics and science to bird watching. An understanding of as many domains as possible makes for an understanding of market needs.”

Leslie Hulse, Vice President, Digital Business Development, Harper-Collins Publishers
Hulse focuses on crafting partnerships with retailers, search engines and others to distribute digital content for marketing and commerce, including the launch of “Browse Inside.” She also works closely with HarperMedia staff and other publishers to drive e-book, digital audio and other digital revenues. Hulse also oversees HarperCollins’ online consumer-membership programs AuthorTracker, First Look, newsletters and others. She is a co-chair of the Association of American Publisher’s Digital Issues Working Group and chair of the Book Industry Study Group’s Digital Standards Committee. She has worked at HarperCollins for 12 years in a variety of senior financial and management roles.

• Tip: “… Find an area in which you excel and where you can differentiate yourself from others, and then always be curious to explore new opportunities and new ways of doing business.”

Gwenyth Jones, Vice President of Publishing Information Systems and Technologies, John Wiley & Sons
Jones has worked at Wiley for more than 25 years in the professional and trade operation, in roles ranging from publicist to publisher. She now oversees various digital publishing services, including media development, e-business development and Web site management.

• Tip: “To navigate a successful journey from print to digital, take a tip from Virginia Woolf and be sure that, as you move through the trough of the waves, you never forget the view from the lighthouse. You must understand both the long view of where your customers are headed, and execute successfully by paying attention to every detail.”

Carrie Kania, Senior Vice President and Publisher, Harper Perennial & It Books
Kania started her career at Random House. She joined HarperCollins in 1999 and became publisher of Harper Perennial in 2006, where she oversees publication of titles such as “Dandy in the Underworld” by Sebastian Horsley and “Down and Out in Murder Mile” by Tony O’Neill. Harper Perennial is also the home of many notable backlist titles (“To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Bell Jar,” and “Brave New World,” among many others) and new voices such as Simon Van Booy, Justin Taylor and Lydia Peelle. In 2009, Kania became publisher of It Books, a new pop culture imprint, publishing titles from Dita Von Teese and Neil Strauss, among others.

• Tip: “Love what you do. You need to eat, drink and sleep this if you want it to work. And if you don’t love it—truly, heartbreakingly love it—then don’t do it.”

Florrie Binford Kichler, President and Founder, Patria Press Inc.
Kichler’s Patria Press Inc. is publisher of the award-winning “Young Patriots” series for children. A 17-year veteran of the publishing industry, Kichler is president of the Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly PMA), a 26-year-old trade association that supports, educates and advocates for more than 3,500 members. She also serves on the Book Industry Study Group board and BookExpo America Conference Advisory Board. Kichler is a member of the Children’s Book Council and the Women’s National Book Association.

• Tip: “Never forget that it is the reader you must please. Have access to at least four times as much capital as you think you will need. Then double that amount.”

Bonnie E. Lieberman, Senior Vice President, Higher Education, John Wiley & Sons
Lieberman oversees Wiley’s global higher education business. Before being named to this position in 1997, she served as vice president and editorial director for the college division, where she was responsible for product acquisition and development. Lieberman joined Wiley in 1990 as publisher—sciences, foreign language and psychology, and has held various positions at other publishing houses, including Macmillan and McGraw-Hill.

• Tip: “Be willing to displace your own products with new ones that may change the basis of competition. If you don’t, your competitors will.”

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