Sean Manning has been promoted to publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint, effective immediately.
Manning joined S&S in 2016 and was named VP and executive editor in 2022. During his tenure, he has published bestselling books by such authors as James Lee Burke, Bob Dylan, Val Kilmer, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, and Alex Trebek, as well as Jennette McCurdy's 2022 “explosive” memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died. He succeeds S&S CEO Jonathan Karp in the position, in which he has served since the departure of Dana Canedy in 2022.
“In our one hundred years, the Simon & Schuster imprint has only had twelve publishers, starting with Richard Simon,” said Karp in a statement. “It’s been my honor to have led our flagship imprint for twelve deeply satisfying years—so satisfying that I wanted to keep working with this outstanding group of people even when it was time to turn my attention to the CEO job. It is just as satisfying to pass the baton to someone as talented and innovative as Sean, who has the most enterprising editorial imagination I have seen in my years at Simon & Schuster."
Per the announcement from S&S, Manning is known to approach authors and work with them to develop their books, including Stern, Trebek, photographer Beth Garrabrant, and comedian Steven Wright. He also oversaw the redesign and relaunch of the Hunter S. Thompson catalog, commissioning new introductions by such varied creative voices as Tim Heidecker, Johnny Knoxville, Rachel Kushner, Sturgill Simpson, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Lars Ulrich.
“I cherish the imprint’s storied history, its literary integrity, and its commitment to publishing work that documents the past, leads the current cultural conversation, and envisions the future,” said Manning in a statement. “As we contend with so many alternate modes of information and entertainment, I’m exhilarated by the challenge of figuring out ways to reach new and younger readers—and show them why books remain the greatest technology ever invented.”
Prior to joining S&S, Manning held roles at Popular Mechanics and the United Airlines in-flight magazine Rhapsody. A graduate of the fiction MFA program at the New School, he has also edited several anthologies, contributed longform journalism to GQ, Esquire, Playboy, and the Village Voice, and published a memoir, 2010’s The Things That Need Doing.
