Macmillan has acquired cookbook and recipe Web site Cookstr. Founded in 2008 by Katie Workman and Will Schwalbe, Cookstr has reached as many as eight million unique visitors a month via its own consumer-facing recipe web site, as well as powering recipe searches in partnership with other organizations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Schwalbe, formerly senior v-p and editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books, and at William Morrow and Company, will stay on to lead Cookstr, as well as assuming the additional role of v-p of editorial development and content innovation for Macmillan. In his expanded role, Macmillan officials say Schawlbe will acquire books to be published across Macmillan’s publishing imprints. He will report to Andrew Weber, Global Trade COO for Macmillan Publishers. Kara Rota, director of editorial and partnerships for Cookstr, will also continue in her existing role, and will report to Schwalbe.
Schwalbe has worked with a range of bestselling authors, including Mitch Albom, Chris Anderson, David Halberstam, and Nigella Lawson, and Jamie Oliver. He also edited the FISH! series of business books, which have sold more than six million copies to date, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club.
In a statement, Macmillan CEO John Sargent calls Schwalbe “one of the great talents in publishing,” and that Cookstr will provide Macmillan cookbook authors with “a platform to reach recipe fans directly, and will give them new ways to grow their audience.”
Schwalbe says he anctipates his new role with Macmillan would be “enormous fun,” and that Cookstr will have “a great new home where it will operate independently and can continue to thrive and grow.”
