In her annual year-end letter, Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy thanked employees for contributing to an editorial program that produced a “plethora” of award-winning books in 2014. Her letter also touched on the importance of publishers developing new authors and giving established authors the best chance to succeed in the market.
Reidy called Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See the “most satisfying publishing event of the year,” noting that not only has the book been a critical success, but it has been one of the bestsellers of 2014. She pointed out that All the Light is Doerr’s fifth book with S&S division Scribner, observing that the success of the title, “is a testament to the durable importance of the author-publisher relationship. Thus our emphasis on making the publishing experience the best it can be for each and every Simon & Schuster author—first timer, rising star, or major bestseller alike—remains of paramount importance.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of publishing “is our ability to launch new authors and to nurture them through the early stages of their career,” Reidy wrote, pointing to strong showings from new authors such as Matthew Thomas, Allison Pataki, and Terry Hayes.
On the business side, Reidy pointed to the launch of SAGA Press and Simon 451, as well as partnerships with Jeter Publishing, Keywords Press and TED Books. She also noted that S&S’s direct to consumer marketing and commerce “is increasing in volume and effectiveness,” adding that S&S’s newsletters and “content verticals” are “building social communities around our content and bringing us into a closer relationship with our readers.”
Reidy also noted the expansion of the company’s library e-book program, deals with subscription services for its backlist titles, and its sales agreement with Amazon that marked “a return to the agency model and the preservation of our authors’ share of income generated from e-book sales.”
