Cover Story : 50 Top Women in Book Publishing

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

Kathy Schneider, Senior Vice President, Associate Publisher for Harper, Amistad, HarperBusiness, Collins Reference, Smithsonian & Rayo imprints, HarperCollins Publishers
Schneider joined HarperCollins in 2005. She now oversees the publication of close to 200 books a year, with a focus on marketing, publicity and sales. She has recently presided over such books as Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”; Michael Crichton’s “Next”; and Steve Harvey’s “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.” Schneider previously was vice president and publisher of Miramax Books. She joined Talk Miramax Books as publishing director to launch the imprint in 2000, and worked with authors such as Rudy Giuliani and Madeleine Albright. Schneider also held senior-level positions at Random House, Prentice Hall and Crown Publishers. She has served on the executive committee of New York Is Book Country.

• Tip: “If you’re not learning what’s happening online, start today. Marketing online is becoming one of the most important ways … to reach consumers. … Also, we have to keep getting better at understanding what the larger population wants, … [break] out of the New York City mindset.”

Katherine Schowalter, Senior Vice President, Professional and Consumer Publishing, John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Schowalter joined Wiley 28 years ago. After holding a number of positions in production, she was promoted to acquisition editor in the professional/trade division, and then named executive publisher, with responsibility for the general interest, computer technology, architecture and culinary publishing programs. Schowalter was named senior vice president, professional and consumer publishing, in 2002, and she was responsible for the company’s integration of Hungry Minds, which at that time was the largest acquisition in Wiley’s history. She is responsible for a range of categories in the professional/trade division such as cooking, reference, travel, general interest, technology and architecture, including the best-selling “Dummies,” “Frommer’s,” and “Cliffs-Notes” brands.

• Tip: “Publishing is a business of relationships—with colleagues, authors, agents, accounts and suppliers. It also … requires good instincts and calculated risk-taking. … You need to learn by your successes and your failures …, learn as much as possible from your colleagues and surround yourself with a team of talented people.”

Melissa Serdinsky, Vice President of Manufacturing, The Perseus Books Group
During her eight years at Perseus, Serdinsky has developed a successful digital program, and is currently wrangling the online and e-book realm with the newly formed Constellation Digital Services. Prior to joining Perseus, Serdinsky held positions at Macmillan, Stewart, Tabori & Chang and Sterling Publishing. She “caught the publishing bug” working at the original BookStop in Austin, Texas.

• Tip: “Learn the entire publishing process—from project acquisition to file creation … to planning a publicity tour. If you don’t know what goes on before a project hits your desk or where it goes after you, you are missing the point (and fun!) of publishing.”

Vickie Stringer, CEO, Triple Crown Publications
“Queen of Hip-Hop Literature” Stringer is a pioneer of the hip-hop literary genre. She started Triple Crown in 2001 with the self-publishing of her debut novel, “Let That Be the Reason.” Since then, Triple Crown has been featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, Newsweek, Millionaire Blueprints and Writer’s Digest. As a literary agent, Stringer has brokered over $2 million in book deals and launched the careers of several novice authors. Triple Crown is currently celebrating 8 years and over 1 million copies in print.

• Tip: “… Follow your gut … when selecting properties. And, build a brand that solidifies who you are and what you believe in.”

Airié Stuart, Senior Vice President and Publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan
Stuart heads the U.S. division including editorial, sales, marketing, publicity, operations and distribution for all lists. She also edits books on current affairs, business and biography, and has worked with such authors as John Dean, Abe Foxman, Ilan Stavans and Walid Phares. She has previously held editorial positions at John Wiley & Sons, Simon & Schuster, Warner Books and HarperCollins.

• Tip: “Succeeding in book publishing [is] about three things: One is being able to stick with it. Of the group of editorial assistants at my first job at HarperCollins, 75 percent of them dropped off. The second thing is loving the books. … The last is to be open to different realms of the business.”

Nan Talese,Senior Vice President, Doubleday, and Publisher and Editorial Director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, Random House Inc.
Talese began her publishing career at Random House, and later joined Simon & Schuster as an editor, beginning editorial relationships with such authors as Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Barry Unsworth and Thomas Keneally, all winners of the Booker Prize. She joined Houghton Mifflin in 1981, eventually becoming editor-in-chief and publisher, and began her association with Pat Conroy as editor of his novel, “The Prince of Tides.” She joined Doubleday in 1988, and two years later introduced her author-oriented imprint Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, publishing critically acclaimed and best-selling authors such as Pat Conroy, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Thomas Cahill, Barry Unsworth and Thomas Keneally.

• Tip: “Read deeply and widely to discover what you love, expect a long apprenticeship to understand the business, and know that publishing is a vocation, not just a job.”

Nita Taublib, Executive Vice President, Publisher, Editor in Chief, Bantam Dell, Random House Inc.
Taublib is responsible for the adult hardcover and mass market publishing program from acquisition to scheduling, to packaging and production. Prior to joining Bantam Dell, she worked at Macmillan, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, and WH Smith as advertising, promotion and publicity director.

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