Dan Reynolds, who was named CEO of Workman Publishing Company in July, announced a restructuring at the company that will see, among other changes, David Schiller assume the role of group creative director, and Page Edmunds appointed associate publisher. Reynolds described some changes as "global, with the goal of lifting all the imprints," and others as "designed to strengthen and grow Workman’s core book business."
The full announcement is below.
To: All at Workman
From: Dan Reynolds
Workman’s opportunities are rich and varied, but it takes creative and dedicated work to unlock their potential.
With that in mind, a great deal of thought has been given during the past six months to the organization of our company. That conversation, which naturally intensified when I got to New York, was never about structure per se, but always about how we could all work together in a way that was most productive, efficient, inspiring, collegial, and conducive to growth.
To best utilize the talents in our group, I’m very pleased to announce the following changes. Some are global, with the goal of lifting all the imprints. Others are designed to strengthen and grow Workman’s core book business.
The talking about all this has been satisfying and has allowed me to get an in-depth feel for the company, but now I’m itching to get on with the work of making great books and building our business.
Effective immediately:
• David Schiller, Group Creative Director, will work alongside the publishers and myself to maintain the high creative standards of our products and how we publish them. Acting as our in-house creative agency, he will bring his way with words and problem-solving into Workman’s editorial process early, from acquisitions through marketing, helping forge each book’s individual message, packaging, and positioning. Working closely with Page, and then with Selina and Jessica, he will make sure that each book has its own compelling marketing/selling language. He will continue to be responsible for all catalog and jacket copy, as well as the look and feel of displays, promotional pieces, advertising, and video and digital initiatives. He will also expand on his advisory role to Algonquin, Artisan, Storey, and Timber to help them solve and elevate the expression of their ideas. David will report to me.
• Page Edmunds, Associate Publisher, will now be Susan (Suzie) Bolotin’s full partner in all matters related to the Workman book program, focusing primarily on the editorial-sales connection. Moving to the 9th floor, she will be involved from the moment of acquisition and throughout the publishing process so that she can better advocate for each book while also helping to identify markets and understand and communicate the needs of the sales department. Additionally, she will serve as the brand manager for What to Expect, Raichlen, 1,000 … Before You Die, and Boynton, developing marketing and sales programs to support these key brands. She will continue to act as sales liaison for The Experiment, Timber, and Storey, and will be transitioning her sales responsibilities in the months to come. Claire McKean, Managing Editor, will now report to Page, as will the promotions department (Tricia Remark, Promotion Manager, and Megan Harley, Promotion Associate), though it should be noted that David will continue as the department’s creative resource. Page will report to Suzie.
• Selina Meere, Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing, will oversee the integration of Workman’s publicity and marketing departments and will manage all aspects of the newly combined department. Her first task, which she will undertake with Jessica Wiener, Director, Integrated Marketing, is to reimagine what a Workman book campaign should look like, and how publicity, marketing, and social media should work together in the most effective, exciting way. Selina will be responsible for creating cohesive title-by-title plans for the front list, and will oversee the execution of those plans. She will make sure that all backlist programs have appropriate publicity and marketing support, and will also partner with Janet Harris to bring full publicity and marketing muscle to the calendar sales effort. New areas of responsibility for this combined department include strategic marketing, digital marketing, and advertising (though, again, the creative part of advertising will continue to fall to David). Selina, who will continue to oversee corporate communications, will report to Suzie. Jessica will report to Selina.
• Jenny Mandel, Executive Director, New Business Development*, will be leading our new charge to find and develop additional revenue streams across the company in both the print and digital worlds, including custom publishing, premium sales, licensing, third-party partnerships, and e-commerce initiatives—searching to find gold in nontraditional places, in the way that she has done so well. Kate Travers, Director, Digital Business, will now report to Jenny, and together they will aggressively find ways to strengthen our direct-to-consumer sales and develop other models in the digital sphere that leverage our many assets. Jenny will report to me.
• Emily Krasner, Director, Special Markets and Custom Publishing, will now oversee the day-to-day running of our special markets department, including our What to Expect business with OB/GYNs and pediatricians, new title outreach, and bulk sales. We will be hiring a replacement for Emily’s current position so she can expand her focus on proprietary publishing and custom projects. She will continue to report to Jenny.
• Randall Lotowycz, Director, Online Retail Accounts, in a move that will help integrate our physical sales with digital sales, will now be responsible for our ebook business with Amazon/Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Google. He will continue to handle our physical book business with Amazon, growing our business by working with their editors to increase our visibility on the site, and always making sure that our books and calendars are front-of-store and in-stock. Randy will continue to report to Jenny.
A key element of our future vision for Workman is to integrate the functions of the digital department into all aspects of what we do.
• Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, Executive Director, Digital Strategy & Operations, will be tasked with developing digital solutions that align with our sales, business development, and marketing goals. The new department she will head up will create and maintain the tools we need to run our business and reach our customers. Her main task, at least in the short term, is to recommend what Workman’s website should become and then to execute on that vision. Part of this project will be to develop the under-the-hood tools and technology for all of Workman’s divisions. Implementing Firebrand is part of this undertaking. Andrea’s team will include Thea James, Director, Publisher Operations and Digital Product Development. Thea will handle all asset management and digital development tools and will work with the divisions and business development on the creation of new digital products. Reporting to Thea, Molly Drislane, Manager, Digital Operations & Analytics, will manage files, metadata distribution, and sales reporting for our online accounts and will develop web analytics to better track the success of our websites and consumer campaigns. Andrea will report to me.
